California employers must distribute the Civil Rights Department’s sexual harassment fact sheet to every employee, post the state’s workplace discrimination and harassment poster where employees gather, and maintain a written harassment prevention policy that includes a complaint process. Those are the core California sexual harassment fact sheet requirements under Government Code 12950, and they apply alongside the training obligations in Government Code 12950.1. Skipping any of them increases an employer’s legal exposure if a harassment claim arises.
Which Employers Have to Comply
The distribution and posting duties reach broadly. California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act covers every employer in the state for harassment purposes, including businesses with fewer than five employees.1California Civil Rights Department. California Civil Rights Department – Employment The five-employee threshold that people sometimes cite applies to discrimination claims, not harassment.
Coverage also runs past traditional employees. Job applicants, unpaid interns, volunteers, and independent contractors fall within FEHA’s harassment protections, which is why the fact sheet and poster need to be visible to anyone who interacts with the workplace in a professional capacity.1California Civil Rights Department. California Civil Rights Department – Employment2California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. California Law Prohibits Workplace Discrimination and Harassment
The training piece of the prevention package, discussed below, kicks in at five or more employees. But the fact sheet distribution, poster display, and written policy obligations do not disappear at smaller headcounts.
The Sexual Harassment Fact Sheet
Government Code 12950 requires employers to give each employee the Civil Rights Department’s information sheet on sexual harassment, form CRD-185P, titled Sexual Harassment — The Facts.3California Civil Rights Department. Sexual Harassment – The Facts The document explains what sexual harassment is under California law, how to report it, and what remedies are available to someone who has experienced it.
Employers do not have to use CRD’s version verbatim. An alternative document is allowed if it covers the same required content.3California Civil Rights Department. Sexual Harassment – The Facts Most employers find it simpler to hand out the CRD form itself and know they are compliant, but a customized handbook section can satisfy the rule as long as nothing required is missing.
Distribution happens at the individual employee level. Posting the fact sheet on a bulletin board is not a substitute for giving each employee a copy.
The Workplace Poster
Separate from the fact sheet, employers must display CRD’s California Law Prohibits Workplace Discrimination and Harassment poster in conspicuous locations where employees congregate. That means hiring offices, break rooms, bulletin boards, and similar shared spaces.4California Civil Rights Department. California Law Prohibits Workplace Discrimination and Harassment
The poster and the fact sheet are different documents with different jobs. The poster signals to employees, contractors, applicants, and visitors that state law protects them. The fact sheet gives each employee a copy they can take away and read on their own time.
The Written Prevention Policy
Alongside distribution and posting, employers must develop a written harassment prevention policy. CRD sets specific content requirements. The policy has to:5California Civil Rights Department. Sexual Harassment Fact Sheet
- List all protected categories under FEHA.
- Set out a complaint process employees can use.
- Provide a way to report harassment that bypasses the employee’s direct supervisor, so the person accused cannot control the complaint pipeline.
The policy is a written document that the employer maintains and communicates to its workforce. It is not satisfied by a manager verbally telling employees to come to them with problems, and it is not satisfied by the fact sheet or the poster alone.
Training Requirements That Go With the Fact Sheet
Employers with five or more employees, counting seasonal and temporary staff, have to provide interactive sexual harassment prevention training. Supervisors need at least two hours; non-supervisory employees need at least one hour. Training repeats every two years.6California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 12950.1 – Sexual Harassment Training Requirements
Timing rules for new hires:6California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 12950.1 – Sexual Harassment Training Requirements
- Non-supervisory employees: within six months of hire.
- New supervisors: within six months of stepping into the supervisory role.
- Seasonal or temporary workers hired for less than six months: within 30 calendar days after hire or within 100 hours worked, whichever comes first.
Training is a separate legal duty from the fact sheet, poster, and policy, but the four pieces work together as the prevention package California expects employers to have in place before something goes wrong.
Why the Fact Sheet Requirements Matter
California treats prevention as an active employer obligation, not a suggestion. Government Code 12940 makes it the employer’s responsibility to take reasonable steps to prevent harassment, and courts look at whether the employer met the distribution, posting, policy, and training duties when they weigh liability.7California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 12940 – Unlawful Practices, Generally
An employer that never handed out the fact sheet, never displayed the poster, or never wrote a compliant policy has a harder time arguing it did what the law required to prevent harassment. That gap becomes evidence if an employee later brings a claim.
The employer’s duty to act also reaches beyond its own workforce. Liability can attach for harassment by non-employees, such as customers, clients, or vendors, when management knew or should have known about the conduct and failed to take prompt corrective action.8U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Harassment7California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 12940 – Unlawful Practices, Generally The prevention package, including the fact sheet, is part of how an employer shows it built a system meant to catch that conduct early.
What the Fact Sheet Does Not Do
The fact sheet is a notice document. Distributing it does not shield an employer from a harassment claim, and receiving it does not limit an employee’s rights. California’s Legislature has stated that a single severe incident can be enough to support a hostile work environment claim, and that the standard is whether a reasonable person would find the conduct made it harder to do the job, not whether the employee’s productivity actually dropped.9California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 12923 – Legislative Intent Regarding Harassment
An employee who received the fact sheet at hire, saw the poster on the wall, and read the written policy still has the full range of FEHA protections, including the right to file a complaint with the Civil Rights Department within three years of the last incident of harassment.10California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 12960 – Filing Complaints The prevention documents inform employees of those rights; they do not shrink them.