New for 2026: What California's Expanding Training Requirements Mean for Employers

California has long required more workplace training than most states, and 2026 adds to the list rather than simplifying it. Here's what's changed, and what's still in effect from years past.

The Recurring Baseline: Harassment Prevention Training

This isn't new for 2026, but it's worth restating because it's still one of the most commonly missed obligations. Any California employer with five or more employees must provide two hours of sexual harassment prevention training to supervisors within six months of hire or promotion, and one hour to non-supervisory employees, both repeating every two years. If your last training cycle was more than two years ago, or if you've promoted anyone into a supervisory role since your last session, that clock has already reset for them.

New This Year: Legal Cover for Bias Mitigation Training

SB 303 amends the Fair Employment and Housing Act to protect employers who conduct good-faith bias mitigation training, the kind of program that helps employees recognize and reduce unconscious bias in decision-making. Previously, some employers hesitated to run this training out of concern that an employee's own admission of bias during a training exercise could later be used as evidence against the company. SB 303 closes that gap: a good-faith acknowledgment or self-assessment made during employer-provided bias training does not, by itself, constitute discrimination.

New This Year: Training Records Are Now Personnel Records

SB 513 expands what employees and former employees can request under California's personnel records law. Any education or training records an employer maintains, including the provider, the date, the duration, the skills covered, and any certification earned, are now subject to the same inspection and copying rights as the rest of an employee's personnel file. If your business tracks training completion in a spreadsheet or a learning platform rather than a formal personnel file, this is the year to make sure those records are complete and organized.

Also Worth a Reminder: Cal/OSHA's Baseline Training Requirements

Every California employer with an Injury and Illness Prevention Program, which is to say, every California employer, is required to provide periodic training on general safe work practices and job-specific hazards, and to document that training as part of the program. Employers with any outdoor workforce also have standing obligations to train supervisors and employees on heat illness prevention, including recognizing symptoms and knowing the company's response procedures. These aren't new, but they're commonly under-documented, and the documentation is exactly what gets requested if an incident is ever investigated.

Building a 2026 Training Checklist

Put together, this year's changes point toward a simple audit: confirm your harassment prevention training cycle is current for every supervisor and employee, decide whether bias mitigation training is worth adding now that SB 303 provides legal cover for it, and make sure whatever training records you keep are complete enough to hand over if an employee requests them.

This post is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your specific situation, please contact our office directly.