Harassment Training Mandated For SF City Workers

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Supervisors in San Francisco voted unanimously on Tuesday to require that all city employees who work 20 hours or more a week complete annual harassment prevention training.

Supervisor Malia Cohen called sex-based harassment a "serious issue in the workplace," adding, "We need, I believe, greater transparency and a deeper understanding of what constitutes workplace harassment to establish a safer environment for everyone."

Supervisors also voted unanimously to approve an ordinance to strengthen protections for renters. The ordinance would prohibit landlords of single-family homes and condominiums covered by eviction controls from circumventing those controls by egregious rent increases in order to intimidate or force tenants out.

According to Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who introduced it, the ordinance moved forward after voters last month stopped short of repealing the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, a state law enacted in 1995 that limits municipal rent controls.

"Most San Francisco renters are covered by rent control, but the state Costa Hawkins law exempts single-family homes and condominiums, as well as new construction," Ronen said.

"Costa Hawkins, however, does not take away our right to regulate evictions and our just cause protections apply to single-family homes and condos. This means that for Ellis Act and owner move-in evictions, we have local control to set waiting periods... and we require landlords to make
relocation payments for displaced tenants.

"Where the loophole comes into play is when a landlord decides to circumvent these rules and use a rent increase in bad faith as an eviction tool," she said.

"This legislation makes it clear that using a rent increase to circumvent San Francisco's eviction protection is unlawful and a form of tenant harassment," Ronen said.

Additionally, the supervisors all voted in favor of legislation that allows empty stores to be used for affordable family child care facilities.

The legislation, introduced by Supervisor Norman Yee, would allow ground floor spaces at new and mixed-use developments to be used as licensed state facilities, run by child care providers who would normally run facilities out their own homes.

The providers would be selected and verified by the city's Office of Early Care & Education and the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development.

According to Yee, the legislation took years to develop, with input from various city departments and child care advocates.

"We heard heartbreaking stories from family child care providers who were losing their homes, and in turn, losing their livelihoods and leaving the families they served in a scramble. I hope that property owners will take advantage of this unique program to fill a vacant storefront, provide an affordable housing unit, and bring quality child care to their neighborhood," Yee said.

Lastly, supervisors all voted to forbid private colleges in the city from inquiring about potential students' past criminal history.

The legislation aims to deter private colleges from using a person's criminal past to decide whether to admit a person to the school.

The legislation would also see that the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement investigates any possible violations and penalize institutions that do not comply.

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— Bay City News; Image via Shutterstock