By Joan Farrell, JD, Senior Legal Editor
New amendments have recently been approved to California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) regulations, and employers must take notice and act accordingly. BLR® Senior Legal Editor Joan Farrell, JD, has the necessary information to bring you up to speed.
 |
California’s Fair Employment and Housing Council approved amendments to its FEHA regulations and that means changes for employers in California. Among other changes, the amendments require employers to develop a written harassment, discrimination, and retaliation prevention policy that:
- Lists all current protected categories covered under FEHA
- Indicates that the law prohibits coworkers and third parties, as well as supervisors and managers, from engaging in unlawful conduct
- Creates a complaint process to ensure complaints receive an employer’s assurance of confidentiality to the extent possible, a timely response, impartial and timely investigations by qualified personnel, documentation, and tracking for reasonable progress, appropriate options for remedial actions and resolutions, and timely closures
- Provides a complaint mechanism that does not require an employee to complain directly to his or her immediate supervisor (e.g., direct communication with a designated company representative such as a human resources manager, EEO officer, or other supervisor; a complaint hotline; access to an ombudsperson, and/or identification of the Department of Fair Employment and Housing and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as additional avenues for employee complaints)
- Instructs supervisors to report any complaints of misconduct to a designated company representative, such as a human resources manager, so the company can try to resolve the claim internally. Employers with 50 or more employees are required to include this as a topic in mandated sexual harassment prevention training
- Indicates that when an employer receives allegations of misconduct, it will conduct a fair, timely, and thorough investigation that provides all parties appropriate due process and reaches reasonable conclusions based on the evidence collected
- States that confidentiality will be kept by the employer to the extent possible, but not indicate that the investigation will be completely confidential
- Indicates that if at the end of the investigation misconduct is found, appropriate remedial measures will be taken
- Makes clear that employees will not be exposed to retaliation as a result of lodging a complaint or participating in any workplace investigation
The new regulations also require employers to disseminate the policy in one of the following ways:
- Printing and providing a copy to all employees with an acknowledgment form for the employee to sign and return;
- Sending the policy via e-mail with an acknowledgment return form;
- Posting current versions of the policies on a company intranet with a tracking system ensuring all employees have read and acknowledged receipt of the policies;
- Discussing policies upon hire and/or during a new hire orientation session; and/or
- Any other way that ensures employees receive and understand the policies.
If ten percent or more of the workforce at an employer’s facility or establishment speaks a language other than English as their spoken language, the policy must be translated into every language that is spoken by at least ten percent of the workforce.
Employers in California with five or more employees (including out-of-state employees) should review and update their policies to ensure compliance with the amended regulations.