California Implements New Anti-Harassment, Anti-Discrimination Policy Regulations Effective April 1

Effective April 1, 2016, new regulations under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) will require employers to develop or modify written antiharassment and discrimination policies.

The new regulations require employers to develop and distribute a written harassment, discrimination and retaliation prevention policy. (2 Cal. Code Regs. §11023.) Employers are already required to distribute either the DFEH-185 Brochure or a policy in compliance with Government Code section 12950.

The purpose of adding these new requirements is to elaborate on an employer’s obligation under Government Code section 12940(k) to take reasonable steps to prevent and promptly correct discriminatory and harassing conduct. The California Fair Employment and Housing Council (“FEHC”) claims the new regulation combines case law and “best practices” to create “a concise, user-friendly regulation that would eliminate ambiguity and the need to research a vast amount of fragmented information on one’s own.” (FEHC Proposed Amendments to the Fair Employment and Housing Act Regulations, Initial Statement of Reasons (2014), p. 3.)