Employers' Annual Workplace Violence Prevention Responsibilities Are Around the Corner

by James W. Ward, J.D.; Employment Law Subject Matter Expert/Legal Writer and Editor, CalChamber

California employers know that employment law compliance obligations don’t slow down — every year, employers have new laws and regulations that they need to take into consideration as part of their business operations. One of the most significant recent developments was California’s general industry workplace violence prevention requirements, which began on July 1, 2024.

Up until then, many employers had workplace violence policies and procedures in place, but these were optional and varied in scope and depth. The new law made workplace violence prevention programs mandatory for most employers — regardless of size — and established significant compliance requirements, including:

• Establishing, implementing and maintaining a written workplace violence prevention plan;
• Identifying, evaluating and correcting/mitigating workplace violence hazards/risks;
• Training their workforce on their workplace violence prevention plan and related procedures;
• Investigating and responding to workplace violence incidents;
• Utilizing a violent incident log for each instance of workplace violence involving their employees; and
• Retaining various workplace violence records and making them available to employees and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) upon request.