Workplace Harassment Training for Employees and Managers

Every organization shares a responsibility to prevent harassment and respond to it when it happens. For HR leaders, managers, and compliance teams, that work starts with knowing what training is required where your people work. It continues with training that changes how people treat one another day to day.

Compliance training is the minimum. A check-the-box course may satisfy a state mandate, but it rarely helps an employee speak up, a coworker step in, or a manager respond well to a concern. At Catharsis Productions, we create engaging, research-supported workplace harassment training that builds those skills and supports a respectful workplace culture.

What Is Workplace Harassment Training?

Workplace harassment training is education that helps everyone in an organization recognize harassment, prevent it, and respond when it happens.

Under federal law, harassment is unwelcome conduct based on a protected characteristic, such as race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age (40 and older), disability, or genetic information. Retaliating against someone for reporting harassment or taking part in an investigation is also prohibited.

Strong harassment training for employees usually covers:

• Clear definitions and examples of harassment, including the focus of sexual harassment prevention training: unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other conduct of a sexual nature
• How to report concerns through internal channels and outside agencies
• Protection from retaliation for people who report or support a coworker
• Bystander intervention skills that give coworkers safe, practical ways to step in
• Manager responsibilities for responding to what they see or hear

Today, training also needs to address conduct that happens outside a shared office. Chat apps, email, video calls, and social media are all part of how people work, and harassment can happen in those spaces too.

What the Law Says About Harassment Training

Federal law prohibits workplace harassment, but does not require private employers to train employees on it. Several states and cities do.

The Federal Picture

Harassment is a form of employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Title VII and the ADA apply to employers with 15 or more employees, and the ADEA applies to employers with 20 or more.

The EEOC encourages employers to prevent harassment by setting up an effective complaint process, training managers and employees, and acting promptly when someone raises a concern.

One recent change: on January 22, 2026, the EEOC voted 2–1 to rescind its 2024 Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace. The agency stated that federal laws against discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, along with the Supreme Court decisions interpreting them, remain in place.

State and Local Training Requirements

The jurisdictions below set their own training rules. Each was confirmed on an official state or city website.

Requirements vary by state, city, and industry, and they can change. This page is general information, not legal advice. Employers should consult their legal counsel or HR advisors about their specific obligations.

Who Needs Workplace Harassment Training?

Everyone in the organization benefits from training, but each group needs something different from it.

• Employees. All employees, in every role and location, need a shared understanding of what harassment looks like, how to report it, and how to support a coworker. This includes remote and hybrid staff. Chicago, for example, applies its requirement to employees who work in the city even when they work remotely.
• Managers and supervisors. Harassment training for managers goes deeper. Supervisors need to know how to respond when they see a problem or receive a report, even when the conduct has not reached a legal threshold. Several jurisdictions, including California, Delaware, Maine, and Chicago, require additional training for supervisors.
• HR teams and leadership. HR professionals often receive reports first, and leaders set the tone for what is acceptable. The EEOC’s Select Task Force on harassment found that workplace culture has the greatest impact on whether harassment grows or is prevented, and that prevention must involve the highest levels of management.

How Often Should Employees Be Trained?

The right schedule depends first on where your employees work. New York State, New York City, Illinois, and Chicago require training every year. California and Delaware require it every two years. Connecticut and Maine set deadlines for training new employees after they are hired.

Organizations with employees in several states often follow the strictest schedule that applies anywhere they operate. That keeps one consistent calendar instead of several.

Beyond legal minimums, timing matters for impact. The EEOC’s Select Task Force recommended that training be offered regularly and repeated over time, rather than delivered once and forgotten.

Good moments for training include:

• Onboarding, so new hires learn expectations and reporting options from day one
• Promotion to a supervisory role, when someone takes on new responsibilities for responding to concerns
• Annual refreshers, to keep skills current and reinforce the message
• After policy changes or workplace concerns, such as a new reporting process or survey results that point to problems

What Makes Harassment Training Effective

Training built only to avoid liability tends to fall short. After 18 months of study, the co-chairs of the EEOC’s Select Task Force concluded that much of the training of the previous 30 years had not worked as a prevention tool because it focused too narrowly on legal risk. They also found that effective training can reduce workplace harassment when it is part of a broader culture of respect.

Reporting is a major gap. The same report found that roughly three out of four people who experienced harassment never talked to a supervisor, manager, or union representative about it, often out of fear of disbelief, blame, or retaliation.

The following elements help training move from compliance to real change:

• Engagement over lecture. Interactive training, realistic scenarios, and facilitated discussion keep people involved, and states including New York and Delaware now require interactive formats.
• Tailored content. The Task Force found that training is most effective when tailored to the specific workforce, workplace, and groups of employees.
• Bystander intervention training for the workplace. The Task Force recommended that employers consider bystander and civility training as part of a holistic prevention program. Bystander skills give coworkers safe ways to interrupt harmful behavior and support the person affected.
• Manager response skills. The Task Force called middle managers and first-line supervisors an employer’s most valuable resource for preventing and stopping harassment, when they are trained well.
• Leadership and accountability. Training carries more weight when leaders model the expectations, policies are clear, and concerns are handled promptly and consistently.

Our Workplace Harassment Training Programs

Catharsis Productions builds training that meets people where they are. Our programs use humor, realistic scenarios, and facilitated dialogue to lower defensiveness and make hard conversations possible, while treating harassment with the seriousness it deserves.

We draw on current research and regularly evaluate our programs.

• Culture Matters. A 60-minute, online and self-paced sexual harassment prevention training for employees. It was designed with the most stringent state requirements in mind, including those of California, Illinois, New York, Maine, Delaware, and Connecticut. Parts of the training can include your organization’s own policies and resources, and it works on desktop, laptop, or mobile, with a SCORM option for your LMS and completion tracking.
• Compliance in a Click. Live remote training that supports organizations in meeting anti-harassment requirements while building a more respectful culture, and a complement to Culture Matters for supervisors.
• Please Advise. Live training, in person or remote, focused on positively changing office culture to reduce harassment.
• NSFW: Not Suitable for Work. An interactive microaggressions training that helps teams better understand one another.
• Force of Awesome Institute – Workplace. A train-the-trainer program that coaches HR professionals, leaders, and managers to deliver prevention education.
• Consulting. Support with policy review and recommendations, content creation, and surveys and evaluations.

Programs are available live in person, live remote, and online, so you can reach employees across offices, time zones, and work arrangements.

FAQs About Workplace Harassment Training

Is workplace harassment training required by law?

It depends on where your employees work. Federal law prohibits harassment but does not require private employers to provide training. States and cities including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, New York, New York City, and Chicago have their own requirements, summarized in the table above. Your legal counsel or HR advisor can confirm what applies to your organization.

How long does harassment training need to be?

Some jurisdictions set minimum lengths. California requires at least 1 hour for nonsupervisory employees and 2 hours for supervisors every two years. Connecticut requires 2 hours. Chicago requires 1 hour for employees and 2 hours for supervisors and managers each year, plus 1 hour of bystander training for everyone.

Does online harassment training meet state requirements?

Online training can meet many state requirements when it covers the required topics and format. Some states, including New York and Delaware, require the training to be interactive, so a video employees simply watch may not be enough. Culture Matters is an interactive online option built around state requirements.

What happens if employees don’t complete required training?

Inside the organization, many employers start with reminders and manager follow-up, then apply their policies consistently if training stays incomplete. In states with training laws, the employer is responsible for meeting the requirement. In Maine, for example, the Bureau of Labor Standards enforces the training rules and employers must keep training records for at least three years.

Is training enough to prevent harassment on its own?

No. Training works best as one part of a broader effort that includes clear policies, multiple ways to report, protection from retaliation, and leaders who model respect. New York’s minimum standards note that providing training is not a conclusive defense to a harassment claim.

Ready to Take Action with Workplace Harassment Training?

Catharsis Productions is here to support your organization’s prevention efforts with engaging training for employees, managers, and leaders. Contact us today to learn more about our courses and programs.