Publication Date

Spring 2018

Degree Type

Master's Project

Degree Name

Master of Public Administration (MPA)

Department

Urban and Regional Planning

First Advisor

Frances Edwards

Keywords

Sexual Harassment Training

Abstract

In 2004 the California legislature passed AB-1825, Sexual Harassment Training and Education, Government Code 12950, which mandates that employers train all supervisors in the identification of sexual harassment, and ways to ensure that it does not occur in the workplace (Legislative Counsel, 2004). The Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD) is a mission driven organization that is committed to providing excellent water services to the community. According to the Valley Water website (2018) “The mission of the District is to provide Silicon Valley with safe, clean water for a healthy life, environment, and economy” (Valley Water, 2018, web). As a California employer, the SCVWD is mandated to provide AB-1825 training to all of its supervisory personnel. However, there might be an opportunity to improve workplace relationships by training all employees on how to avoid, identify and report all types of harassment behaviors.

The impact of the SCVWD’s AB-1825 harassment prevention training program on workplace behavior is important for measuring training course outcomes and for determining whether it would it be worth the investment for SCVWD to extend the AB-1825 training requirements to all employees. This study uses a process intervention methodology to measure the value of including all SCVWD employees in the training program.

This study provides answers to the following questions:

  • Is the AB-1825 training program improving supervisors’ ability to recognize and respond to harassment behaviors in the SCVWD workplace?
  • Would it be worth the investment for the SCVWD to require non-supervisory employees to take the AB-1825 training program?

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