Will hiring make you responsible for mandatory annual training?

Business success and expansion is as much a danger as it is a goal. When there is more demand than you can reasonably meet for services or products, it can hurt your company’s brand or market share. Consumers may turn to your competitors or may come to associate your brand with long delays or bad customer service.

Keeping adequate staff is crucial for meeting demand for what your business has to offer. You will need to know when to add new staff members to your organization to keep everything operating smoothly. However, as your company continues to grow, there will be more employment laws that apply to your business’s operation.

As a company in California, you are subject to certain mandatory workplace training rules when you have a certain number of staff members. Will adding a new employee to your roster trigger this training requirement?

Workplaces with five or more employees must provide sexual harassment training

Sexual harassment is a widespread and commonplace issue in the workplace. California has passed laws that expand the federal requirements for employers regarding sexual harassment.

Although there are no federal requirements to train workers about sexual harassment, there are strict state requirements in California that apply to every company with five or more workers. By requiring that companies train their workers when they hire them and then provide continuing education, California hopes to deter workplace misconduct.

Companies with five or more employees need to provide one hour of training to their workers every two years focusing on abusive sexual conduct and harassment. Those in supervisory or managerial roles must receive two hours of training every two years.

Proper training will limit your company’s risks

Few things will stunt your company’s expansion more quickly than regulatory non-compliance and the financial penalties that result. Ensuring that your workers have ongoing training about sexual misconduct and harassment on the job will not only keep you in compliance with state laws but may also reduce your risk of complaints or sexual harassment lawsuits.

Learning about California employment laws and proactively ensuring that your company is in compliance with them will minimize your liability that comes from adding new employees to the business.