California Law AB 1825 Mandatory Sexual Harassment Prevention Education

The UC Office of the General Counsel provided a definition of supervisor as any individual with the authority "to hire, transfer, suspend, layoff, recall promote, discharge, assign, reward or discipline other employees, or the responsibility to direct them, or to adjust grievances or effectively to recommend that action..." (Fair Employment and Housing Act, Government Code Section 12926 (R).)

ALL faculty are required by law to undergo this training, since they supervise students in honors thesis, MA thesis, or doctoral thesis preparation and/or supervise GSIs, GSR's, and/or Readers. All academic administrators, such as provosts, deans, department chairs, principal investigators, and researchers who supervise staff, student(s), or academic employees such as Graduate Student Instructors, researchers, course assistants, or tutors, would fall within the definition and be subject to the mandatory training requirement.

University officials (supervisors and faculty) are charged by state and federal laws and UC policy to provide a learning and/or work environment that is free of harassment, and to assist those who report harassing conduct to them. University officials are required under UCB policy to seek guidance from Assistant Vice Provost/Title IX Officer Nancy Chu (tixco@berkeley.edu) before responding to reports of harassment that come to his/her attention.

Effective January 2005, supervisors are required under California law AB 1825 to have two hours of sexual harassment prevention training every two years. Each new faculty member and/or supervisor, including new hires and promoted employees, must be trained within the first six months that they assume supervisory responsibilities.

Amnesty will be granted to those who were not able to complete the program in past training cycles. The 2009 training cycle will commence tracking of completion data.

If you are unsure if you are currently in compliance, or if the program you took at your previous place of employment will satisfy the AB 1825 requirements, you should e-mail Compliance Education Manager Maria Padilla at complianceeducation@berkeley.edu or call at (510 643-9707).

The UC Office of the President has developed a completely new online program that will offer a fresh format and improved content substance. Additionally the office has worked to address and improve the systems management problems experienced by many in the last training cycle.

The UC Office of the President, UC Learning Center Office, will issue individual e-mails with a personalized link to the education course.

Do not be concerned if you have not received your personalized link yet; UCOP has developed a "staggered" roll-out. The first group received links in July; the second group will receive links in September; a third group will receive links in October-November. If you have questions about or problems accessing the UCOP online program, about the Sexual Harassment Prevention On-Line Course, inquiries should be directed to uclearningcenter@ucop.edu. If you have questions that are not answered above, you may contact the following individuals:

• Campus Climate and Compliance Office: Maria Padilla, Compliance Education Manager, complianceeducation@berkeley.edu

• Office of Health and Human Services: Kathleen Valerio, Data Compliance Manager, kvalerio@berkeley.edu

Beyond requirements as set forth in California Law AB 1825, the Berkeley campus is committed to promoting and supporting a community in which everyone can work and learn together in an atmosphere free of all forms of harassment exploitation, or intimidation, including sexual harassment. California law holds each employee personally responsible for complying with the laws that prohibit sexual harassment. To the end, the Campus Climate and Compliance Office has developed strategies for ensuring that students and non-supervisory staff are also knowledgeable about their responsibility to prevent sexual harassment and to respond appropriately to allegations of such behavior.

The CCAC office offers the following educational resources for non-supervisory staff:

• Instructor-led presentations with Compliance Education Manager, Maria Padilla (email complianceeducation@berkeley.edu.)

• Online training program through New Media Learning, at http://ccac.berkeley.edu/online_program.shtml. Please note, the New Media Learning program is designed for non-supervisory staff and students. It does not currently satisfy the supervisory education requirement described above.

The overall system compliance rate as of the end of July 2009 is 86%, a reflection of focused attention and improved access at the UCOP level.