Texas sexual harassment training requirements apply to three groups: state agency employees, registered lobbyists, and employees of colleges and universities. Private employers in Texas face no state training mandate, but a 2021 law expanded harassment liability to every employer regardless of size, which is why many still train voluntarily.
State Agency Employees
Every Texas state agency must provide an employment discrimination training program that covers sexual harassment. The obligation comes from Texas Labor Code § 21.010 and reaches departments, commissions, and other state-level bodies.1State of Texas. Texas Labor Code LAB 21.010 – Employment Discrimination Training for State Employees
New state employees have to complete training within 30 days of their hire date. After that, they must attend supplemental training at least once every two years for as long as they remain employed with the agency.1State of Texas. Texas Labor Code LAB 21.010 – Employment Discrimination Training for State Employees The Texas Workforce Commission develops the materials agencies use, though each agency chooses how to deliver the content. Interactive online modules and in-person workshops both satisfy the statute.
The law does not set a required number of training hours. What it does require is coverage of the agency’s discrimination policies and complaint procedures, including those addressing sexual harassment. Each employee must sign a statement confirming attendance, and the agency files that statement in the employee’s permanent personnel file. Online completion certificates or learning-management-system records typically serve the same purpose.
Higher Education Employees
Colleges and universities in Texas operate under a separate framework created by Senate Bill 212 and House Bill 1735 in the 86th Legislature, codified in Texas Education Code Chapter 51, Subchapters E-2 and E-3.2Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Title IX Coordinator Training These rules apply to public and private postsecondary institutions.
The central obligation is a reporting duty. Any employee who witnesses or receives information about an incident they reasonably believe involves sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, or stalking must promptly report it to the institution’s Title IX coordinator or deputy coordinator.3State of Texas. Texas Education Code EDUC 51.252 – Reporting Required for Certain Incidents The report must include all relevant information the employee knows, including whether the alleged victim requested confidentiality. Limited exceptions apply to designated confidential employees and to campus peace officers handling pseudonym forms.
Failure to report carries criminal consequences. Knowingly failing to make a required report is a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 180 days in county jail and a fine of up to $2,000. If the employee intended to conceal the incident, the offense rises to a Class A misdemeanor. On top of criminal exposure, the institution must terminate any employee it determines violated the reporting requirement through its disciplinary process.4State of Texas. Texas Education Code EDUC 51.255 – Failure to Report or False Report Offenses
HB 1735 added structural training requirements, directing the Commissioner of Higher Education to establish an advisory committee that develops recommended training for employees and Title IX coordinators and reviews it annually.5Texas Legislature Online. HB 1735 Bill Text The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board publishes approved training materials, and the chief executive officer of each institution must submit an annual certification to the Board by October 31.2Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Title IX Coordinator Training
Registered Lobbyists
Anyone registered under Chapter 305 as a lobbyist must complete a sexual harassment prevention training course approved by the Texas Ethics Commission. The initial course is due within 30 days of filing an initial registration, and a new approved course must be completed every two years after that.6Texas Legislature Online. CSHB 4661 Bill Analysis
Lobbyists must file a certificate of completion with the Ethics Commission in the form the commission approves. Proof of a completed course within the prior two years is a required element of the registration filing itself, so the training and the registration are tied together administratively.
Private Employers: No Mandate, But Broader Liability
Texas does not require private employers to provide sexual harassment training.7National Conference of State Legislatures. Sexual Harassment Policies and Training in State Legislatures The practical case for training got substantially stronger in 2021, though, when Senate Bill 45 rewrote the definition of “employer” under Texas Labor Code § 21.141 to include any person who employs one or more employees.8State of Texas. Texas Labor Code Section 21.141 – Definitions Before SB 45, only employers with 15 or more employees could face sexual harassment claims under state law. Now every Texas employer is exposed, down to a sole proprietor with a single worker.
SB 45 also broadened who can be personally liable. The definition of “employer” now includes anyone who “acts directly in the interests of an employer in relation to an employee.” That language opens the door to personal liability for owners, officers, managers, and potentially supervisors or coworkers involved in the harassment or in a failure to address it. Under Texas Labor Code § 21.142, an employer is liable when sexual harassment occurs and the employer or its agents knew or should have known about the conduct and failed to take immediate corrective action.9State of Texas. Texas Labor Code LAB 21.142 – Unlawful Employment Practice Training is one concrete way to show prevention was taken seriously, which is why many private employers invest in it despite the absence of a mandate.
Private employers face no state-mandated documentation requirements either. Keeping records of training completion is still a straightforward way to build a defense. An employer who can show every employee completed training on a regular schedule, and that the company acted promptly when problems surfaced, sits in a far stronger position than one scrambling to explain missing records.
What a Compliant Program Should Cover
For state agencies, Texas Labor Code § 21.010 requires the program to address the agency’s policies and procedures on employment discrimination, with specific attention to sexual harassment.1State of Texas. Texas Labor Code LAB 21.010 – Employment Discrimination Training for State Employees A compliant program explains what sexual harassment looks like, how to file an internal complaint, and what legal protections and remedies the employee has.
Higher education training focuses heavily on the reporting obligations in Education Code § 51.252: when a report is required, who receives it, what information must be included, and what happens if an employee fails to report. Because the consequences include criminal charges and mandatory termination, institutions treat this content as non-negotiable.
The EEOC recommends going beyond statutory minimums. Its published guidance identifies regular, interactive training tailored to the specific audience and organization as one of five core principles for preventing harassment, and it recommends separate training tracks for supervisors and managers on how to recognize and respond to conduct before it becomes a legal violation.10U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Promising Practices for Preventing Harassment These recommendations are not legally binding, but an employer who followed them will have an easier time showing good faith in litigation than one who did the minimum.