Employers’ Workplace Violence Prevention Obligations Annual Reminder

It’s the second anniversary of California’s general industry workplace violence prevention standards, which requires most employers to have a workplace violence prevention plan and train their employees on that plan, among other requirements. Over the last two years, businesses may have spent significant time, money and effort complying with the initial workplace violence prevention standards, but employers still have annual requirements under the law that they can’t ignore.

Every year, employers are required to review their workplace violence prevention plan’s effectiveness — and update it as needed — and then, train their employees on that plan. And the law requires meaningful employee involvement in both the plan’s development and implementation. Specifically, employers must establish procedures for obtaining employee input on:

• Identifying, evaluating and correcting workplace violence hazards;
• Designing and implementing training; and
• Reporting and investigating incidents of workplace violence.

Plus, the employee participation process must be clearly documented in the employer’s workplace violence prevention plan.

Once the plan has been reviewed and potentially updated, employers must retrain their employees on that specific plan — generic or pre-recorded training programs that are not customized to an employer’s operations are not compliant. Workplace violence prevention training must be specific to the:

• Employer’s written workplace violence prevention plan;
• Particular hazards present at each worksite; and
• Job duties of employees.

Need more resources to help fulfill annual employer workplace violence prevention obligations? The Workplace Podcast’s Employers, Don’t Overlook Your Annual Workplace Violence Prevention Obligations discusses what employers’ annual workplace violence prevention requirements.

CalChamber’s Workplace Violence Prevention Toolkit has digital resources, including a Model Workplace Violence Prevention Plan for General Industry and Workplace Violence Incident Reporting Form. Our Workplace Violence Prevention Support service allows employers to work one-on-one with an employment law expert as they walk through the toolkit and its various components as well as get answers to specific plan questions and best practices to fit business needs.

Katie Culliton, Senior Editor, CalChamber

CalChamber members can read more about California Workplace Violence Prevention Standards in the HR Library. Not a member? Learn how to power your business with a CalChamber membership.