For many years California law has mandated sexual harassment prevention training for supervisors with 50 or more employees. In September of 2018 the law was expanded to mandate training for both supervisors and non-supervisory employees for businesses with five or more employees. This meant that the majority of churches in the California-Pacific Conference became subject to this law. Throughout this period the California-Pacific Conference has provided online training resources to meet this legal requirement. This letter serves to notify you of the updates in the process and procedures for each clergy person and each local church.
Please be aware that California law AB1825 for supervisors and California law SB1343 for all employees require a one-hour training for employees and a two-hour training for supervisors. A review of the laws in Hawaii shows that although there are laws prohibiting sexual harassment and discrimination based on sex related to employment, there are no specific sexual harassment training requirements for the state. However, to be consistent and to live and work at the highest ethical level, following the call of John Wesley to “Do no harm,” the standards set by the California-Pacific Conference will be enforced for all clergy and local churches belonging to the California-Pacific Conference no matter the size or location.
Our insurance provider, Philadelphia Insurance, provides no-cost online Sexual Harassment Training modules through in2Vate for Supervisors and Employees. Beginning immediately, this will be the required program for all our clergy and churches. Hub International, our insurance broker, administers this program on behalf of Philadelphia and in2vate to make it as easy as possible for our churches to participate. Please see separate article for instructions about how to register your church for the training: https://www.calpacumc.org/resource/accessing-sexual-harassment-and-discrimination-training/
The program through in2vate is currently available in English and Spanish. Those who require training in a language other than English or Spanish may utilize the Department of Fair Employment and Housing website for a free training and provide the certificate of completion through their SPRC Chair or Pastor, who must in turn submit all copies to their District Superintendent to be kept on file in the District Office.
This legally-mandated training must be completed every two years. A pastor who has a certificate of Sexual Harassment Training completed within the past year may provide this to their District Superintendent. A follow-up training is not required until they reach the two-year limit.
Going forward, each year on August 1st all clergy and SPRC Chairs will receive a reminder notification that Sexual Harassment Training is required every two years, accompanied by instructions and the link to take the training. District Superintendents and District Administrative Assistants will review Clergy and local church files to confirm all clergy and employees are current with their bi-annual training.
Thank you for your care of our most precious resource for ministry: each other!
Bishop Grant J. Hagiya
Los Angeles Area Resident Bishop
Lori Meaders
Conference Chancellor
Jan Hanson
Director of Human Resources
