California Extends Workplace Violence Prevention Requirements to Most Employers
Employers in California must ensure they implement detailed Workplace Violence Prevention Plans following the passing of Senate Bill 553 by the California legislature, and the signing of the bill by Governor Gavin Newsom.
The bill aims to improve protection for employees against workplace violence, which is a leading cause of death in the workplace. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has yet to impose national standards for workplace violence, although OSHA has taken action against several hospitals and health systems that have failed to provide a safe working environment with controls to protect employees from violence in the workplace under existing standards in the OSH Act.
States are permitted to introduce their own workplace violence standards. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) has required hospitals to implement safety rules to protect employees from workplace violence since April 2017, and those requirements have now been extended to virtually all employers in the state. The new law includes exceptions, such as employers with fewer than 10 workers who are not accessible to the public, businesses that employ teleworkers who work from a location of the employee’s choosing that is outside the control of the employer, and health care facilities, service categories, and operations covered by Section 3342 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations.
The new requirements call for a Workplace Violence Prevention Plan to be established, implemented, and maintained, which must be made available and easily accessible to employees and authorized employee representatives. The plan must be in effect at all times and be specific to the hazards and corrective measures for each work area and operation.
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The plan must include:
- Names or job titles of the persons responsible for implementing the plan.
- Effective procedures to obtain the active involvement of employees and authorized employee representatives in developing and implementing the plan.
- Methods the employer will use to coordinate the implementation of the plan with other employers, when applicable, to ensure that those employers and employees understand their respective roles.
- Effective procedures for the employer to accept and respond to reports of workplace violence, and to prohibit retaliation against an employee who makes such a report.
- Effective procedures to ensure that supervisory and nonsupervisory employees comply with the plan.
- Effective procedures to communicate with employees regarding workplace violence matters on how to report incidents and how those incidents will be investigated.
- Effective procedures to respond to actual or potential workplace violence emergencies.
- Procedures to identify and evaluate workplace violence hazards.
- Procedures to correct workplace violence hazards.
- Procedures for post-incident response and investigation.
- Procedures to review the effectiveness of the plan and revise the plan as needed.
- Procedures for training employees on the plan.
All incidents of workplace violence must be logged, with detailed information recorded on each incident, including whether the incident was reported to law enforcement, the actions taken in response to the incident, and the steps taken to prevent similar incidents in the future. All employees must be provided with appropriate training, such as how to obtain help from individuals responsible for responding to workplace violence emergencies and how to make complaints.
The bill takes effect on January 1, 2025, with compliance with the new requirements required by no later than July 1, 2024.
