In the HR world, the start of a new year means change. Changes to policies, changes to procedures, and annual updates as needed to ensure compliance with state, federal, and industry-related regulations. No exception to this transition from one year to the next, 2015 is bringing with it a number of changes that will impact both your employees and your organization as a whole. California is leading the pack in implementing one change that has affected many organizations in recent years and is tackling the ongoing issue of “bullying” head on.
The state of California requires all employers with over 50 employees to provide at least 2 hours of harassment training to all supervisors and managers. Newly hired or promoted managers must be trained within six months of the start of their supervisory duties. Beginning January 1, 2015, “anti-bullying” training must be a component of the current harassment training requirement which must include education on the prevention of “abusive conduct.”
In a previous blog post (Do You Have a Bully in Your Midst?), we defined what bullying is, discussed the detrimental effects bullying can have on an organization, and provided some quick steps to take if you witness such behavior. With the new legislation, “abusive conduct” is defined as: malicious conduct that a reasonable person would find hostile or offensive and is unrelated to an employer’s legitimate business interests.
Regardless of whether you are an employer in the state of California or not, we recommend that you ensure that your managers are adequately trained on the subject of harassment. Harassment doesn’t just occur in organizations with over 50 employees.
HRCentral specializes in harassment training and focuses on providing your managers with the tools and resources necessary to handle these situations, and conducts training in a sensitive, professional, and interactive manner. Be proactive in taking the necessary steps in ensuring that your managers are properly trained and will have the knowledge to be able to detect harassment or bullying behavior and will have the tools and resources necessary to effectively handle these difficult situations.
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