By July 1, 2024, employers must establish, implement, and maintain an “effective” workplace violence prevention plan (“WVPP”). The WVPP must be in writing, and include certain information, such as effective procedures for identifying and evaluating workplace violence hazards, responding to and investigating reports of workplace violence, and responding to workplace violence emergencies (including alerts and evacuation protocols). The WVPP also must specifically address the hazards and corrective measures for each work area and operation.
In addition to the WVPP, employers must record a “violent incident log” for every workplace violence incident, and keep records of those logs for five years. The law imposes certain requirements and definitions for what must be included in violent incident logs, so employers will need templates available for use.
Employers must train employees when the WVPP is first established and annually thereafter, as well as when a new or previously unrecognized workplace violence hazard is identified. Those training sessions may be limited to addressing the new hazard or the resulting changes to the WVPP. Again, the law imposes requirements regarding what information must be included in the training programs. Employers must keep records of these trainings for one year.
Employers must also create and maintain records of workplace violence hazard identification, evaluation, correction, and workplace violence incident investigations, for five years.
These requirements will be enforced under current Cal/OSHA’s standard inspection, citation, and penalty framework, which can result in up to a $25,000 penalty for “serious” violations, and up to $153,744 penalty for “willful” violations.
To help employers comply with the new law, Shaw Law Group is offering a flat-fee compliance package that includes:
- The creation of a customized WVPP
- A one-hour consultation with our expert attorneys to discuss implementation of the WVPP
- One workplace violence prevention training session customized to your workplace and conducted via webinar (which you may record for future use, subject to certain conditions)
- Templates and other compliance-related documents
The entire cost for this package is only $5,000. We can include other features, such as additional and/or live training sessions, for an additional fee. To receive more information, please contact Roni Stover, Director of Firm Administration, at rstover@shawlawgroup.com, or 916-640-2240.
