In this episode of The Workplace podcast, CalChamber General Counsel Bianca Saad discusses with CalChamber Senior Employment Law Counsel Erika Barbara and CalChamber Vice President of Human Resources Hilda Watson the common questions, practical challenges and lessons that employers have been experiencing as they implement their workplace violence prevention programs.
The article below provides a brief summary of the topics discussed in today’s podcast episode. Readers are encouraged to listen to the podcast for a more detailed discussion.
California’s new workplace violence prevention requirements stem from 2023’s SB 553 and took effect on July 1, 2024. They require covered employers to comply with many components, including but not limited to creating, maintaining and implementing a Workplace Violence Prevention Plan; training on the plan; and maintaining various records.
“And it isn’t just a one-time exercise for employers,” Saad reminds listeners. “The workplace violence prevention plan must be updated, and employees must be trained on an annual basis, and this doesn’t include any additional training that may be required due to changes in the plan.”
Common Workplace Violence Prevention Questions
As a regular expert fielding calls on CalChamber’s Labor Law Helpline, Barbara notes that a common question all the employment law experts receive is, “Does this law apply to my business?” The short answer is that this law applies to all employers in the state of California — with only limited exceptions. And two of the exemptions — certain remote employees and places of employment with fewer than 10 employees that are not open to the public — also garner many questions.
Barbara clarifies these two exemptions for listeners, and notes that if employers are still unclear, it’s best to consult legal counsel.
Challenges in Implementing Workplace Violence Prevention Requirements
Watson has become very familiar with the requirements while implementing the plan and other components at CalChamber, and notes some overall challenges and lessons learned as she worked through the process.
First, Watson says that the model plan is a great resource but will only get you so far.
“It still requires a great deal of evaluation of where you are and identifying hazards, necessary improvements and more,” she says. “And it also is very important to remember that you need to have a different plan for each site, because each site will have its own features and challenges related to the potential for workplace violence.”
Watson shares her experience having to create two separate Workplace Violence Prevention Plans for CalChamber’s two very different locations, and then offers some advice.
“…The law requires you to have your staff involved and make it interactive and engaging, [and] this is something you really, really should do,” she says, emphasizing that whoever is deemed responsible for the plan should not be the only person creating it. “I think it’s really important that everyone gets involved. There are different perspectives, different views from employees … so one thing I would encourage is maybe form a team or a committee and have regular meetings to go over the identifying points of the plan, the assessments, the hazards and things of that nature.”
And this, Watson says, is why she thinks CalChamber’s Workplace Violence Prevention Toolkit is such a great resource. “It’s all laid out,” she says. “There’s a checklist and steps for the plan administrator to follow to ensure these things are not missed.”
