California AB 1803 Adds Anti-Hate Speech Training in 2028
California AB 1803 adds an anti-hate speech component to required harassment prevention training starting January 1, 2028. Hour minimums unchanged.
Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1803 (Chapter 547) on September 27, 2026, adding an anti-hate speech component to California’s required sexual harassment prevention training. Beginning January 1, 2028, harassment prevention training provided under California Government Code section 12950.1 must include the new component.
Who has to comply?
AB 1803 applies to employers already covered by California’s training law, Government Code section 12950.1, which the bill amends. For that section, an employer is anyone regularly employing five or more persons or regularly receiving the services of five or more persons providing services under a contract. The five-person threshold is broader than California headcount. The California Civil Rights Department (CRD) says employees inside and outside California count toward coverage, as do independent contractors, volunteers and unpaid interns. Employees outside California, and contractors, volunteers and unpaid interns, do not themselves have to be trained. The training requirement applies to the employer’s supervisory and nonsupervisory employees in California.
Those employers must give at least two hours of training to supervisors and one hour to nonsupervisory employees in California, and retrain every two years. New nonsupervisory employees generally must be trained within six months of hire, and new supervisors within six months of taking the role. Seasonal and temporary employees hired for less than six months generally must be trained within 30 calendar days after hire or 100 hours worked, whichever comes first. For a temporary employee of a temporary services employer, as defined in Labor Code section 201.3, who performs services for clients, the temporary services employer provides the training, not the client.
What changes on January 1, 2028?
Existing components relevant to this change
Sexual harassment, prevention of abusive conduct, and harassment based on gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation.
Beginning January 1, 2028
All of the above, plus an anti-hate speech component. The bill does not change the two-hour and one-hour minimums.
The component must give supervisors and employees practical guidance on recognizing, reporting, and confronting workplace speech that “vilifies, humiliates, or incites hatred” based on the protected characteristics in Government Code section 12940(a) of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).
That list is broad: race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical and mental disability, reproductive health decisionmaking, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, and veteran or military status.
Does your current training already count?
It may. AB 1803 expressly says training that already includes information about the prohibition against unlawful harassment and prevention of abusive conduct based on the protected characteristics in Government Code section 12940(a) satisfies the new requirement.
Jackson Lewis recommends reviewing the actual course materials, particularly if your training focuses mainly on sex-based harassment or covers abusive conduct only in general terms.
What the law leaves open
AB 1803 does not define “hate speech.” According to Ogletree Deakins, the Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment’s analysis noted that staff was unaware of any existing definition under California law, and observed that hate speech itself is not illegal but can violate employment law when it rises to actionable harassment or discrimination. Ogletree suggests watching for agency guidance.
AB 1803 also leaves FEHA’s harassment standards unchanged. Jackson Lewis advises that training separate conduct that is inappropriate or against company policy from conduct that may also be unlawful harassment.
What should you do before 2028?
Before January 1, 2028
Keep the completion records. Our guide to SB 513 training records explains how California’s personnel file rules reach them, and our WVPP annual review checklist covers the separate workplace violence prevention training records Cal/OSHA may ask for.
Training from a prior or joint employer in the past two years can count if the employee reads and acknowledges your antiharassment policy within six months, and the current employer bears the burden of establishing that the earlier training was legally compliant. The California Civil Rights Department (CRD) offers online supervisory and nonsupervisory courses and anticipates updating them from time to time for legal and policy developments. Confirm the version your team takes includes the new component before relying on it in 2028.
Primary sources: AB 1803 (Chapter 547), California Legislative Information; Government Code section 12950.1; Government Code section 12940; California Civil Rights Department training page; California Civil Rights Department employer FAQ on harassment prevention training (October 2025). Context: Ogletree Deakins and Jackson Lewis; Governor’s legislative update, September 27, 2026. Last reviewed October 2, 2026.
Questions employers ask
Do we need a separate hate speech training course?
Does our current harassment training already satisfy AB 1803?
Does California law define hate speech?
Get your 2028 training plan in order
We help California employers keep harassment prevention training, records and policies lined up. Talk to us about what your course needs by January 1, 2028.
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