California SB 553 - Workplace Violence Prevention - Everything You Need to Know

As one of the most employee friendly states in the nation, California continues to introduce legislation that furthers worker protections in a variety of areas. The most recent is SB 553, Cal/OSHA’s bill centered around Workplace Violence Prevention.

The law, passed in September of 2023, is enforceable July 1, 2024. All California employers, with a few exceptions, are required to comply by that date. Exceptions include employers with less than 10 employees who are not public facing (although we at My HR Expert suggest even those employers comply), employers who are 100% remote, and some employers in healthcare or correctional facilities.

The law requires communication, training, preventative measures and reporting of actual incidents. It defines workplace violence as falling into one of four categories, none of which include lawful acts of self-defense or defense of others. 

Employers are required to comply with four (4) main components of the law:

1. Establish, implement and maintain an effective written Workplace Violence Prevention Plan. Cal/OSHA has provided a template which My HR Expert clients can find under forms.
2. Train all employees by Jul 1, 2024 and then annually thereafter. We like Easy Llama for this which has the ability to customize a piece of the training which is a component of the requirements. Employers must talk specifically about hazards that could be present in their environment and what they are doing to prevent violent acts.
3. Establish, implement and maintain a Workplace Violence Incident Log. This is similar to the OSHA 300 for Workers Compensation injuries. We have a template and instructions for this which My HR Expert clients can find under forms.
4. Maintain records for a minimum of five years and training records for one year.

According to Cal/Osha “In 2021, 57 working people died from acts of workplace violence in California. In the United States, an average of 1.3 million nonfatal violent crimes in the workplace occurred annually from 2015 to 2019.”

This law is an effort to mitigate risks from escalating workplace violence incidents and ensure California employers are taking preventative measures to ensure the safety of all employees.

My HR Expert clients can find all the information they need to effectively comply with this law under FAQ’s and Forms in their dashboard. If you still have questions, reach out to our HR experts at [email protected] or 877.829.6947.