Washington Harassment Training Requirements and Prevention

• The Washington law applies to all hotels, motels, retail entities, security guard entities, and property services contractors.
• A property services contractor is a person or entity that employs individuals that provide janitorial services, with some exceptions.

• Washington’s law does not contain a re-training requirement for covered private employers.
• State government employees must re-train once every five years.

• Hotels and motels with 60 or more rooms must have completed the training by January 1, 2020.
• All other covered employers must complete training by January 1, 2021.

• Under the Washington law, all employees must receive training;
• “Employee” is defined under the law as “an individual employed as a janitor, security guard, hotel or motel housekeeper or room service attendant who spends the majority of his or her time working without another coworker present.”
• Security guards are covered by the law regardless of whether they are working for a security agency or single employer.
• All managers and supervisors must also receive training

• The law is silent as to what (if any) records must be retained.
• Washington employers are encouraged to keep the name of training provider, list of attendees, and type of training (as well as a copy of all materials provided) in case of audit or legal action.

Washington law requires covered employers to provide training to employees, including the following key elements: 

• How to prevent sexual assault and harassment in the workplace 
• Prevention of discrimination in the workplace; and 
• Protections for employees who report violations of a state or federal law, rule or regulation. 

• Covered employers must also provide employees with the following in writing or via email: 

• Contact information for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; 
• Contact information for the Washington State Human Rights Commission; 
• Contact information for local advocacy groups on the prevention of sexual harassment and assault. 

• Covered employers are also required to develop and distribute a policy against sexual harassment to all employees. 
• Covered employers must also distribute a panic button to all employees. A panic button is an emergency contact device that the employee carriers, which can summon immediate assistance from another worker, guard, or employer representative.