Who can deliver California harassment prevention training for a small employer?

Who has to be trained, and when?

Government Code 12950.1 applies once you have 5 or more employees anywhere, as long as some work in California. The Civil Rights Department counts employees outside the state toward the 5, even though only California-based employees must be trained.

• Supervisors: at least two hours, within six months of becoming a supervisor, then every two years.
• Everyone else: at least one hour, within six months of hire, then every two years.
• Seasonal and temporary workers hired for under six months: within 30 calendar days or 100 hours worked, whichever comes first.

The glossary entry on harassment prevention training has the short version. The training can be split into shorter segments as long as the total hours are met.

Option 1: The state’s free course

The Civil Rights Department publishes free online courses that satisfy the requirement, one for supervisors and one for everyone else, in several languages. For a 6-person company with a tight budget, this is a legitimate way to comply. Keep a record of who completed it and when.

The limit is fit. A generic course cannot cover your complaint process, your reporting channels, or the situations your managers actually face. Supervisors come out knowing the law in general, not what to do on a Tuesday afternoon when an employee walks in with a problem.

Option 2: A qualified trainer, live

The state’s regulations at Title 2, section 11024 define who counts as a qualified trainer. The categories include attorneys with at least two years of employment law practice, HR professionals and harassment prevention consultants with at least two years of practical experience in the field, and law school or college instructors with relevant expertise.

Live training fits when:

• Your managers are new to managing, which is common in a company of 10 to 50.
• You have had a complaint, or a near miss, and need the team to hear the standard from someone outside it.
• Your workforce is remote, and the training doubles as a chance to state the reporting process clearly.

Option 3: E-learning from a vendor

Interactive e-learning counts if it was built with qualified trainers and gives employees a way to reach a trainer with questions within two business days. Ask any vendor to show you both before you buy.

What must the training cover?

• What harassment, discrimination and retaliation are under California and federal law, with practical examples.
• Harassment based on gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation.
• Abusive conduct, even when it is not tied to a protected characteristic.
• How to report, what happens after a report, and the limits of confidentiality.
• For supervisors: their duty to report and how to respond when a problem reaches them.

Training is not a policy

Training works only when the rest of the system backs it up: a written anti-harassment policy, more than one way to report, a manager who knows what to do next, and no retaliation against the person who spoke up. If the training describes a reporting process your company does not actually have, fix the process first. The same goes for pay: employees who learn they can discuss wages freely will, so make sure your pay ranges can stand up to the conversation.

What records do you need to keep?

Keep a sign-in sheet or completion record, certificates, the training materials and the trainer’s name for at least two years. If a claim is ever filed, the record of training is part of your defense, and missing records read as missing training.

How it fits the rest of your compliance

Training is one line on a longer list. At 5 employees you also take on CFRA leave, the Fair Chance Act and the full ban on discrimination and retaliation. The headcount hub shows what starts when, and the compliance check-up confirms it all at once.

McKinley holds a J.D. but is not a licensed attorney. Articles here are general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, talk with an employment attorney.

Data current as of September 2026. Sources are linked where each figure appears.