12 Things Your Harassment Policy Needs to Comply with California's New Regulations

As we've discussed before, new regulations from California's Fair Employment & Housing Council take effect April 1, 2016. To be compliant, your company's policy prohibiting harassment, discrimination, and retaliation needs to do the following:

List all the categories currently protected under the Fair Employment and Housing Act, i.e., race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, and military or veteran status. State that the policy prohibits harassment by co-workers, supervisors, managers, and third parties with whom the employee comes into contact. (That's basically everyone, isn't it?) Provide confidentiality, to the extent possible, for complaints. Promise timeliness. This is a point of emphasis. The regulations require "a timely response," "timely investigations," and "timely closures." State that investigations will be impartial and conducted by qualified personnel. State that investigations will be documented and tracked for reasonable progress. Provide "appropriate options...