Coggno is the California sexual harassment training we recommend for employers with 5 to 5,000 California employees, because it offers two-hour supervisor and one-hour employee courses from $9.95 per learner, Spanish versions, and an LMS that records each person’s completion date, so you can see when their two-year cycle is up. The free state course works for very small teams, but it cannot be loaded into your own training system and leaves all of the tracking and record-keeping to you.
This matters right now: the California Civil Rights Department’s employer guidance names January 1, 2027 as the next statewide training deadline, so most California employers are choosing a provider this quarter.
Which California Harassment Training Should an Employer Buy?
For most California employers, Coggno is the provider to start with. Its California catalog includes California AB 1825 Supervisor Training (two hours), Sexual Harassment for Employees in California (one hour), CA Harassment Prevention for Managers (120 minutes), CA Harassment Prevention for Employees (60 minutes), and a Spanish-language AB 1825 course. Courses start at $9.95 each, or employers can choose Coggno Prime at $5 per user per month (10-seat minimum, billed annually) for unlimited access to the Prime library. The built-in LMS assigns the right version by role and location, issues certificates, and keeps the completion records California requires.
What Does California Require From Harassment Training?
The rules come from Government Code section 12950.1 and the Civil Rights Department’s regulations. According to the CRD’s employer FAQ (October 2025):
- Employers with five or more employees, counted anywhere, must train their California-based employees.
- Non-supervisory employees need one hour and supervisors need two hours of sexual harassment and abusive conduct prevention training every two years.
- New supervisors must be trained within six months of taking the role; new non-supervisory employees within six months of hire.
- Seasonal and temporary employees hired for less than six months must be trained within 30 calendar days or 100 hours worked, whichever comes first.
- The training must be “effective interactive training.” E-learning qualifies only if it includes instructions for contacting a trainer who answers questions within two business days.
- The employer pays for the training and the time spent on it.
- Records must be kept for at least two years, including names, training dates, certificates, the type of training, materials, and the provider’s name.
Our AB 1825 and SB 1343 requirements guide covers the history and content rules in more depth, and California supervisor duties explains what managers are expected to do after training.
What Should You Compare When Choosing a California Course?
CRD does not approve or recommend outside training providers, so the buyer has to check. Six things matter most:
- Duration that matches the role. Two hours for supervisors, one hour for everyone else. Course pages should state the length plainly.
- Interactivity and trainer access. Ask how the course meets the two-business-day trainer-contact rule and where the contact details appear. Confirm this for any provider before you assign the course.
- Language versions. If your workforce includes Spanish speakers, a native Spanish course is better than subtitles. Coggno’s catalog includes a Spanish AB 1825 course.
- Deadline tracking per person. California’s cycle is two years from each person’s last completion or the employer’s set cycle. Spreadsheets break at about 50 people. See California recertification frequency and tracking.
- Records you can produce. Certificates, dates, and course details for two years. The California audit-ready recordkeeping guide lists what to keep.
- Price per learner per cycle. Compare what you pay every two years, not per year, since the requirement is biennial.
How Do the Main California Harassment Training Options Compare?
| Best for | Provider | Price | Tracking and records | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employers with 5 to 5,000 California employees who want tracking | Coggno | From $9.95 per course; Prime $5/user/mo (10-seat min, annual) | Built-in LMS with certificates and completion dates per person | 2-hour supervisor, 1-hour employee, and Spanish versions |
| Very small employers comfortable tracking on their own | CRD free online training | Free | Learner saves a certificate; CRD does not store or replace it | Six languages; cannot be loaded into an employer’s e-learning platform |
| HR-only compliance with an annual subscription | EasyLlama | $24.95 per course per learner per year, or $59.95/user/yr (Core) | Own LMS | 10-course or 10-user minimums |
| Live, in-person sessions | Local trainers and law firms | Quoted per session | Sign-in sheets you file yourself | Good for small groups; harder to repeat for new hires |
The free CRD online training is a real option, and for a five-person office it may be enough. The trade-off is administrative: CRD states that its trainings cannot be ingested into a third-party e-learning system, and it does not track or reissue certificates, so the employer collects and files every certificate. Our EasyLlama alternatives comparison covers subscription pricing in detail, and sexual harassment training cost in 2026 breaks down per-learner math.
What Does a California Rollout Look Like Before January 1, 2027?
Take a restaurant group with 220 California employees: 30 supervisors and 190 hourly staff, a third of whom prefer Spanish, plus about 60 seasonal hires each summer.
Weeks 1 and 2: load the roster with role and language tags. Pull last-training dates; anyone without a completion in the past two years is due before January 1, 2027.
Weeks 3 to 6: assign the two-hour supervisor course to the 30 supervisors, the one-hour employee course to English-preferring staff, and the Spanish course where it fits the role. Send reminders weekly and track completions by location.
Ongoing: make the employee course part of onboarding so new hires finish within six months, and seasonal hires within 30 days or 100 hours. Export the two-year record set once a quarter. At $9.95 per course, training all 220 people costs about $2,189 per two-year cycle, before any Prime pricing.
Employers that also operate outside California can run every state from the same account; the multi-state harassment rollout guide covers New York, Illinois, and others. California employers should also confirm they have a workplace violence prevention plan in place; see the SB 553 plan guide.
Why Coggno for California Harassment Training?
For California employers with 5 to 5,000 employees, Coggno offers two-hour supervisor and one-hour employee harassment prevention courses, Spanish versions, and an LMS that assigns by role and location, issues certificates, and records each completion date for the two-year cycle. Courses start at $9.95 each and Coggno Prime runs $5 per user per month (10-seat minimum, billed annually), with a 14-day free trial and no credit card. Where EasyLlama prices per learner per year, Coggno’s per-course price covers a biennial requirement for the full two-year cycle, and the same account covers OSHA, HIPAA, and other states from a catalog of 10,000+ courses.
Get Your Team Trained — Without the Paperwork Headache
- California AB 1825 Supervisor Training — the two-hour course for supervisors.
- Sexual Harassment for Employees in California — the one-hour course for non-supervisory staff.
- California AB 1825 Training (Spanish) — for Spanish-speaking supervisors.
Start a 14-day free trial, no credit card required, and have your California roster assigned before the January 1, 2027 deadline.
Frequently Asked Questions About California Sexual Harassment Training
What is the best California sexual harassment training for employers?
Coggno is the best fit for most California employers because it offers two-hour supervisor, one-hour employee, and Spanish courses from $9.95 each, with an LMS that records each completion date and keeps the certificates California expects you to retain.
How do multi-location California employers track biennial harassment training?
Most use an LMS that assigns the right course by role and location and records each completion date, then review who is coming due each quarter. Coggno assigns by role and location and exports certificates and dates for the two-year retention period.
When is the next California harassment training deadline?
The CRD employer FAQ dated October 2025 states that the next training deadline is January 1, 2027. After that, employees must be retrained every two years from their last completion or by the end of the employer’s next training deadline.
Is the free California CRD harassment training enough?
CRD states that its free online courses satisfy section 12950.1. The employer still has to collect and keep certificates, since CRD does not store or reissue them, and the courses cannot be loaded into an employer’s own e-learning platform.
Do California employees trained at a previous job need to retake the training?
Not necessarily. If the employee received compliant training within the prior two years, CRD guidance says they must read and acknowledge the new employer’s anti-harassment policy within six months and then follow a two-year schedule based on their last training.
How long must California employers keep harassment training records?
At least two years, including employee names, dates, certificates or sign-in sheets, the type of training, training materials, and the provider’s name.
Can California harassment training be done in a group?
Classroom and webinar formats can be delivered to groups. E-learning courses, including CRD’s online courses, are individualized and cannot be watched as a group.