A harassment free workplace is not only required by law, it is good for business. Employees and managers that are free from harassment are more productive, have higher morale, and are more likely to achieve long term success at work.
California is leading the way once more with a new law to train supervisors about abusive conduct, better known as bullying. Just like with sexual harassment training back in 2004, this new California legislation requires additional abusive conduct training obligation for managers.
So if you’re training in California or want to provide complete and current harassment training anywhere, then it is crucial to include abusive conduct, or bullying, in your current curriculum.
So what exactly has changed? The newly-enacted California state law AB-2053: Employment Discrimination or Harassment: Education and Training: Abusive Conduct adds an additional training obligation on employers covered under AB 1825. These employers must now provide managers with training on the prevention of “abusive conduct”.
Who will be affected? All employers that conduct business in California and have 50 or more employees must comply with AB 2053 (and AB 1825).
What should my organization do? Employers are required to provide managers with two hours of harassment training (under AB 1825) and additional training on prevention of abusive conduct (under AB 2053) every two years—and within six months for newly hired or promoted managers.
AB 2053 does not explicitly prohibit “abusive conduct.” It does mandate prevention training on this topic.
- The law does not provide guidance on what must be covered in the training, or identify any minimum training time requirements.
- The law defines “abusive conduct” to mean, “…conduct of an employer or employee in the workplace, with malice, that a reasonable person would find hostile, offensive, and unrelated to an employer’s legitimate business interests.”
The descriptive language in AB 2053 is very broad and includes the following categories of conduct:
- Like harassment, a single act is not considered to be abusive conduct, unless it’s “severe and egregious”
- Repeated infliction of verbal abuse, such as the use of derogatory remarks, insults, and epithets
- Verbal or physical conduct that a reasonable person would find threatening, intimidating, or humiliating
- The gratuitous sabotage or undermining of a person’s work performance
Compliance is a culture, not just a policy. Here are five steps to take to enhance your culture of compliance.
- Enact a straightforward policy and set of expectations regarding abusive conduct and bullying.
- Train managers and employees on organization policy and expectations.
- Consider adding additional training, like more frequent and shorter brush-up programs, or add more information to your current workplace harassment training.
- If you have managers and employees who have engaged in abusive conduct, make them aware that there are new rules and they will be held accountable.
- Educate managers and employees about retaliation and how to report abusive conduct.
New legislation is not the only reason to address abusive conduct in the workplace. Any organization, in any state, will benefit from expanding their current harassment prevention training. Workplace bullying is a drain on productivity and employee morale. Left unaddressed, abusive conduct can, and in many cases does, escalate into unlawful harassment.
ATS Media Bullying Video Programs
Let’s Talk . . . Bullying, Abusive Conduct, & Their Consequences
Let’s Talk . . . Harassment-It Happens!