10-06-2026
Employer Insight: On September 27, 2026, Governor Newsom signed an amendment to the state’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) that will require employers to add anti-hate speech content to their existing mandatory harassment prevention training. The law goes into effect on January 1, 2028.
California employers with five or more employees are already required to provide at least two hours of harassment prevention training to supervisory employees and at least one hour of training to nonsupervisory employees every two years. The training must cover sexual harassment, prevention of abusive conduct, and harassment based on gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation.
Employers can anticipate that supervisors and employees will need to receive practical guidance on recognizing, reporting on, and confronting workplace speech that “vilifies, humiliates, or incites hatred against people” based on protected characteristics, including a person’s race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, reproductive health decision-making, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or veteran or military status.
The amendment does not require California employers to increase existing training time or create a standalone course. Employers who already include information about unlawful harassment and the prevention of abusive conduct in their training may satisfy part of the new requirement.
California employers should review and update their training content, reporting procedures, and investigation practices to ensure they are prepared to address hate-speech complaints.