Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, prohibits an employer from taking steps that constitute harassment against an employee, including sexual harassment, as defined. The act also prohibits an employer from failing to take corrective action to remedy harassment in the workplace if the employer knows or should have known of the harassment. The act also prohibits an employer from failing to take all reasonable steps necessary to prevent discrimination and harassment from occurring.

The act requires the Department of Fair Employment and Housing to provide employers with a poster and an information sheet regarding sexual harassment, including, among other components, the internal complaint process of the employer available to the employee and the legal remedies and complaint process available through the department, and requires employers to post the poster in an accessible area of the workplace and either provide each employee with a copy of the information sheet or provide a specified minimum curriculum of sexual harassment education. The act requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide at least 2 hours of prescribed training and education regarding sexual harassment to all supervisory employees within 6 months of their assumption of a supervisory position and once every 2 years, as specified. The act prohibits failure to maintain and preserve records relating to a verified complaint under the department complaint process until the complaint proceedings, including appeals, are terminated.

This bill would require an employer with 50 or more employees to maintain internal complaint records of employee complaints alleging sexual harassment for a minimum of 5 years after the last day of employment of the complainant or any alleged harasser named in the complaint, whichever is later. The bill would authorize the department to seek an order requiring an employer that violates this recordkeeping requirement to comply.