AB 1661, as amended, McCarty. Local government: sexual harassmentbegin insert preventionend insert training and education.
Existing law requires all local agency officials to receive training in ethics, at specified intervals, if the local agency provides any type of compensation, salary, or stipend to those officials. Existing law also requires any civil or political subdivision of the state and all cities to provide at least 2 hours of training and education regarding sexual harassment to all supervisory employees, as specified.
This bill would additionally require local agency officials, as defined, to receive sexual harassmentbegin insert preventionend insert training and education if the local agency provides any type of compensation, salary, or stipend to those officials, and would allow a local agency to require employees to receive sexual harassmentbegin insert
preventionend insert training or information. The bill would also require an entity that develops curricula to satisfy this requirement to consult with the Attorneybegin delete Generalend deletebegin insert General, city attorney, or county counselend insert regarding the sufficiency and accuracy of that proposed content.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Article 2.4.5 (commencing with Section 53237)
2is added to Chapter 2 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the 3Government Code, to read:
4
For the purposes of this article, the following terms
9have the following meanings:
10(a) “Local agency” means a city, county, city and county, charter
11city, charter county, charter city and county, or special district.
12(b) “Local agency official” means any member of a local agency
13legislative body and any elected local agency official.
(a) If a local agency provides any type of
15compensation, salary, or stipend to a local agency official of that
16agency, then all local agency officials of that agency shall receive
17sexual harassmentbegin insert preventionend insert training and education pursuant to
18this article. A local agency may also require any of its employees
19to receive sexual harassmentbegin insert preventionend insert training and education
20pursuant to this article.
21(b) Each local agency official, or employee who is so required,
22shall receive at
least two hours of sexual harassmentbegin insert preventionend insert
23 training and education within the first six months of taking office
24or commencing employment, and every two years thereafter.
25(c) An entity that develops curricula to satisfy the requirements
26of this section shall consult with the Attorneybegin delete Generalend deletebegin insert General,
27city attorney, or county counselend insert regarding the sufficiency and
28accuracy of that proposed content. An entity is permitted to include
29local sexual harassmentbegin insert preventionend insert training and education
policies
30in the curricula.
31(d) The training and education required by this section shall
32
include information and practical guidance regarding the federal
P3 1and state statutory provisions concerning the prohibition against,
2and the prevention and correction of, sexual harassment and the
3remedies available to victims of sexual harassment in employment.
4The training and education shall also include practical examples
5aimed at instructing the local agency official in the prevention of
6sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation, and shall be
7presented by trainers or educators with knowledge and expertise
8in the prevention of sexual harassment, discrimination, and
9retaliation.
10(e) A local agency or an association of local agencies may offer
11one or more training courses, or sets of self-study materials with
12tests, to meet the requirements of this section. These courses may
13be taken at home, in person, or online.
14(f) All providers of training courses shall provide participants
15with proof of participation to meet the requirements of this article.
16(g) A local agency shall providebegin delete informationend deletebegin insert a recommendationend insert
17 on training available to meet the requirements of this article to its
18local agency officials and its employees at least oncebegin delete annually.end delete
19
begin insert annually in written form.end insert
20(h) A local agency official who serves
more than one local
21agency shall satisfy the requirements of this article once every two
22years without regard to the number of local agencies he or she
23serves.
(a) A local agency that requires its local agency
25officials or employees to complete the sexual harassment
26begin insert preventionend insert training and education prescribed by this article shall
27maintain records indicating both of the following:
28(1) The dates that local agency officials or employees satisfied
29the requirements of this article.
30(2) The entity that provided the training.
31(b) Notwithstanding any other law, a local agency shall maintain
32these records for at
least five years after local agency officials or
33employees receive the training. These records are public records
34subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act
35(Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of
36Title 1).
The requirements of this article are in addition to any
38other law requiring similar or related training, and nothing in this
39article shall be construed to supersede the requirements of Section
4012940 or 12950.1.
The Legislature finds and declares that all employees
2should have the same opportunity to work in a safe and
3harassment-free environment and therefore, sexual harassment
4begin insert preventionend insert training and education for all local agency officials is
5a matter of statewide concern and not merely a municipal affair,
6as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of the California
7Constitution. Therefore, this act shall apply to charter cities, charter
8counties, and charter cities and counties.
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