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DETESTING HATE SPEECH
California’s Anti-Harassment Training
Adds Anti-Hate in 2028
Beginning January 1, 2028, AB 1803 adds anti-hate speech instruction to the state’s mandatory harassment-prevention training. The mandate is clear enough. The terminology is not.
The basic requirements remain: employers with five or more employees must provide effective interactive anti-harassment training to California employees every two years — at least two hours for supervisors and one hour for nonsupervisors. Initial training generally comes within six months of hire or assumption of a supervisory position.
The training must provide practical guidance to prevent and correct harassment based on any of California’s protected workplace classifications, including gender and sexual orientation. By 2028, that training must include recognizing, preventing and correcting workplace speech that vilifies, humiliates, or stirs hatred against people because of these characteristics. The focus does not include a general ban on disagreeable conversation.
Missing are definitions of “hate” or “hate speech.” Later legislation or Civil Rights Department guidance could seek to draw these lines.
Take-Aways: While continuing to comply with the two-year cycle and other existing requirements, plan to add the hate-speech component to such training no later than 2028. Watch for clarifications on the key definitions in the interim.
For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.
See also:
Tim Bowles
November 6, 2026
If you are an employer facing possible litigation, or have an employee issue on which you need immediate guidance, call us to set up a consultation, or submit your message.
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