Is Training Legally Required? 12-10-2008
- By Rita Risser, attorney at law

HR people, lawyers and managers sometimes wonder if training is legally required. The answer is, "It depends." Generally, there is no federal legal requirement for employers to train managers or employees on employment law issues. However employers may have specific training duties under Sarbanes-Oxley, the U. S. Sentencing Commission Guidelines, OSHA and the Federal Acquisition Regulations. Also at least three states, Connecticut, California and Maine, have statutes that require managers to be trained in harassment prevention.

Although Title VII, the federal anti-discrimination law, does not require training, the U.S. Supreme Court has said that if a company provides training, it shows the company's good faith and even though the company may be liable for harassment or discrimination, punitive damages cannot be assessed against it. A variety of state courts have made similar rulings about liability under state fair employment laws.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regularly requires employers that lose lawsuits to conduct training programs. For example, in a case against Wal-Mart to settle a class action disability discrimination case, the company was required to "provide nationwide [ADA] training to all managers, supervisors and people involved in hiring committees." And, see this month's Big Money item, where an employer is being required to train both managers and non managers about religious discrimination. Similarly, the U.S. Department of Labor requires companies to institute training when they lose lawsuits.

In addition, the EEOC highly recommends training in many of its enforcement guidance documents.

Who should be trained? The EEOC recommends all supervisors, managers and employees be trained.

When should training take place? The EEOC says all employees and managers should be trained periodically, and if there is an internal complaint or an individual is found to have engaged in harassment, additional training is recommended.

What content should be covered? Everything! (See the list in the full version of this article.)

What training methods should be used? The EEOC typically requires companies to do interactive training. What's important is that the method work. Employers are flocking to cheap methods of training, often with disastrous results. A manager recently told me that three years ago when she took the California harassment compliance training, she just clicked through the slides without reading them, then took the quiz at the end. The quiz was so simple she got 100%. Two years later, when the employer switched to a timed program, she had the training running in one window while she answered email and wrote a report. Each time the audio stopped she switched back to the window to answer the questions, then switched back to her work. Since the purpose of the training is to prevent violations of the law, the question is which method best prevents violations? Hint: Fair Measures live training has a proven track record of reducing the number of employee complaints filed.

Who Should Conduct the Training? Organizations often want to save money by doing training in house and/or having their in house counsel to do it. This may present a potential conflict of interest. If there is litigation, how can in house counsel argue that the training was effective if he/she was the one providing it? If outside counsel is doing the training, they will probably not be allowed to represent the company in a case where the training is an issue.

Also legal training for managers is unique. It is a combination of soft skills and hard law. Thus, this training is best done by legal experts who also know how to connect with adult learners and help them understand how to apply what they learn to a variety of situations.

Our attorney-trainers have worked together for twenty years to develop courses that are fun, engaging and effective. A full-day program includes eight small group activities to get people involved so they remember the content. The course is structured around basic principles and best practices that are easy to recall. We integrate the employer's policies, procedures and values into the training and most importantly -- we answer questions and work directly with participants to apply what they learn in the course with real life issues happening in their workplace.

What you should do: Good companies know that economic down times are the best times to do the training they don't have time to do in good times. Employees enjoy good training and appreciate it as a way to improve their careers. Call us to find out how we can help you now.

Information here is correct at the time it is posted. Case decisions cited here may be reversed. Please do not rely on this information without consulting an attorney first.