California harassment policy requirements: what yours must include

California employers must have a written policy on harassment, discrimination and retaliation that meets 2 CCR § 11023: it must list the protected categories, cover coworkers and third parties, set up a complaint process that does not force employees to go through their own supervisor, promise a fair investigation and confidentiality only to the extent possible, and prohibit retaliation. The policy must be distributed in a way that shows employees received it¹.

The policy is the document investigators and agencies read first after a complaint. This checklist follows the regulation item by item.

The required content, item by item

Under 2 CCR § 11023(b), the policy must¹:

1. Be in writing.
2. List all current protected categories under FEHA.
3. State that the law prohibits coworkers and third parties, as well as supervisors and managers, from engaging in prohibited conduct.
4. Create a complaint process that ensures: confidentiality designation to the extent possible; a timely response; impartial and timely investigations by qualified personnel; documentation and tracking for reasonable progress; appropriate remedial options; and timely closures.
5. Provide a complaint mechanism that does not require complaining to the immediate supervisor, for example a designated company representative, a hotline or an ombudsperson, and identify the Civil Rights Department and the EEOC as additional avenues.
6. Instruct supervisors to report any complaints of misconduct to a designated company representative.
7. State that the employer will conduct a fair, timely and thorough investigation that provides all parties appropriate due process and reaches reasonable conclusions based on the evidence.
8. State that confidentiality will be kept to the extent possible, without saying the investigation will be completely confidential.
9. State that appropriate remedial measures will be taken if misconduct is found.
10. Make clear that employees will not be retaliated against for complaining or participating in an investigation.
11. Include a link to, or the address of, the CRD's online sexual harassment training courses.

Employers must also distribute the CRD's sexual harassment publication or an alternative that complies with Gov. Code § 12950.

How to distribute it

The employer must use one or more of these methods (2 CCR § 11023(c))¹:

• give a printed copy to every employee with an acknowledgment form to sign and return;
• email it with an acknowledgment form;
• post it on the intranet with a tracking system confirming each employee has read and acknowledged it;
• discuss it at hire or in new-hire orientation;
• any other method that ensures employees receive and understand it.

Translation: the 10% rule

If 10% or more of the workforce at any facility speaks a language other than English, the policy must be translated into every language spoken by at least 10% of that workforce (2 CCR § 11023(e))¹.

Common gaps

• "Report to your supervisor" as the only route: item 5 requires an alternative.
• "All complaints are strictly confidential": item 8 forbids promising complete confidentiality.
• A list of protected categories that stops at sex and race: item 2 requires all current FEHA categories.
• No mention of third parties: customers and vendors are covered by item 3.
• A policy nobody acknowledged: without a signed or tracked acknowledgment, distribution is hard to prove.

The policy only works if supervisors apply it

Items 6 and 8 land on supervisors: they must report what they hear, and they must not promise secrecy. That is where policies most often fail in practice. We cover the conversation in what a supervisor must do when an employee reports harassment. The training duty that goes with the policy is in California harassment training requirements.

Receiving a harassment report in California trains supervisors to apply the policy in that first conversation, with an AI-simulated employee and a coach that flags each line. It is an awareness complement, not the § 12950.1 training; the completion record shows completion only.

See the course

FAQ

Is a written harassment policy required in California?

Yes. 2 CCR § 11023 requires employers to develop and distribute a written harassment, discrimination and retaliation prevention policy with specific content.

Can the policy say complaints are confidential?

Only to the extent possible. The policy must not say the investigation will be completely confidential.

Must employees be able to complain to someone other than their supervisor?

Yes. The policy must provide a complaint mechanism that does not require complaining to the immediate supervisor.

When must the policy be translated?

When 10% or more of the workforce at a facility speaks a language other than English, into each such language.