California Assembly Bill 2053 requires employers already covered by the state’s sexual harassment prevention training law to include prevention of abusive conduct as part of that training. Signed on September 9, 2014 and effective January 1, 2015, AB 2053 amended Government Code Section 12950.1. It did not create a new lawsuit for workplace bullying. It added one topic to a training program employers were already required to deliver.
What AB 2053 Added to the Training Law
Before AB 2053, California supervisors at employers with 50 or more employees had to receive two hours of interactive sexual harassment prevention training every two years under AB 1825. AB 2053 kept that structure and inserted a new component: prevention of abusive conduct.
Two later laws expanded who the training covers. SB 1343 extended the obligation to employers with five or more employees and, for the first time, required training for nonsupervisory workers. SB 778 set the compliance deadline for that expansion at January 1, 2021. The abusive conduct piece introduced by AB 2053 now sits inside this broader program, and the current version of Government Code Section 12950.1 is the controlling statute.1California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12950.1
How the Statute Defines Abusive Conduct
Abusive conduct is behavior by an employer or employee in the workplace, carried out with malice, that a reasonable person would find hostile, offensive, and unrelated to the employer’s legitimate business interests.2California Legislative Information. California Assembly Bill 2053 – Employment Discrimination or Harassment All three elements must be present: malice, a reasonable person’s view that the conduct is hostile and offensive, and no legitimate business purpose.
Examples that can meet the definition include repeated verbal abuse such as derogatory remarks or insults, physical or verbal conduct a reasonable person would find threatening or humiliating, and the deliberate sabotage of someone’s work performance. A single incident generally does not qualify unless it is especially severe.2California Legislative Information. California Assembly Bill 2053 – Employment Discrimination or Harassment
The malice element matters because it separates abusive conduct from blunt management. A supervisor who gives harsh but genuine feedback about work quality is not engaged in abusive conduct, because the criticism serves a business purpose. A supervisor who repeatedly humiliates an employee with personal insults unrelated to the job is. The training is meant to help managers and employees see that line.
Which Employers Have To Train
The training obligation now applies to any employer with five or more employees.1California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12950.1 The five-employee count includes full-time, part-time, and temporary workers, as well as unpaid interns, unpaid volunteers, and independent contractors. The workers do not have to be at the same location or live in California. An out-of-state employer with five total employees, some of whom work in California, is covered.3Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 2 Section 11024 – Required Training and Education Regarding Harassment Based on Sex, Gender Identity, Gender Expression, and Sexual Orientation
The training itself only needs to be delivered to the California-based employees, even though the headcount is company-wide.
What the Training Must Look Like
Supervisory employees need at least two hours of training. Nonsupervisory employees need at least one hour. Training can be delivered individually or in a group, and employers can break it into shorter segments as long as the total time is met.1California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12950.1
It has to be interactive. Handing out a pamphlet or playing a video with no follow-up does not count. Classroom instruction, live webinars, and e-learning with quizzes and engagement features all qualify. The trainer must have knowledge and expertise in harassment, discrimination, and retaliation prevention.1California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12950.1
The abusive conduct component sits inside a larger required curriculum that also covers federal and state harassment prohibitions, remedies available to victims, practical examples of harassment and retaliation, and harassment based on gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation.
Deadlines and Frequency
Covered employees must be retrained every two years, measured from the date they last completed the training.4Civil Rights Department. Sexual Harassment Prevention Training – Information For Employers For new workers, the deadlines turn on the role:
- New nonsupervisory employees must be trained within six months of hire.
- New supervisors must be trained within six months of assuming the supervisory role, whether by hire or promotion.
- Seasonal and temporary workers hired for less than six months must complete training within 30 calendar days of hire or within 100 hours worked, whichever comes first.
These deadlines cannot be extended, so building training into onboarding is the safest route.4Civil Rights Department. Sexual Harassment Prevention Training – Information For Employers
Records You Need To Keep
California regulations require employers to keep documentation of training for a minimum of two years. The records must include the names of employees trained, the training date, sign-in sheets, copies of completion certificates, the type of training provided, all written or recorded training materials, and the name of the training provider.5California Civil Rights Department. Attachment B – Changes to 2 CCR 11024 Sexual Harassment Training and Education
Two years is the regulatory floor. Because the training cycle itself runs on a two-year clock and harassment claims can arrive months or years after an incident, many employment attorneys recommend holding records longer in practice.
What AB 2053 Does Not Do
This is the most misunderstood piece of the law. AB 2053 is a training mandate. It does not create a standalone cause of action for abusive conduct, and workplace bullying is not independently illegal under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act because of this statute.
The statute cuts the other way too: an employer’s failure to provide the required training does not, by itself, create liability in a sexual harassment lawsuit, and completing the training does not insulate an employer from harassment claims.2California Legislative Information. California Assembly Bill 2053 – Employment Discrimination or Harassment In litigation, though, whether an employer actually trained its workforce routinely comes up.
What Happens if You Skip the Training
If an employer fails to provide the required training, the California Civil Rights Department can seek a court order compelling compliance.2California Legislative Information. California Assembly Bill 2053 – Employment Discrimination or Harassment The CRD accepts complaints from anyone who believes an employer has not met the requirements.6California Civil Rights Department. Employment
There is no specific statutory fine for a first-time failure to train. The real exposure is indirect. An employer defending a harassment or discrimination lawsuit will struggle to show it took reasonable steps to prevent harassment if it never provided the training the state requires.