California Employers May be Forced to Create and Implement Policies to Prevent ANY Violence in the Workplace From Stopping Shoplifters to Domestic Violence.

It is no surprise to most employers that the state of California has been making it increasingly difficult for employers to operate their businesses and manage their employees. However, a new bill, Senate Bill 553, would arguably make it easier for thieves to target certain California businesses while simultaneously increasing the burdens and more red tape for employers.

Currently, employers and employees must abide by safety regulations in the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, which is enforced by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (CAL/OSHA). In drafting SB553, the California Legislature pushes aside CAL/OSHA, the department responsible for regulating safety standards in the California workplace, and creates its own safety regulations regarding workplace violence, which purportedly includes active shooter and shoplifting incidents. Specifically, SB553 forces employers to “establish, implement, and maintain … a workplace violence prevention plan” and “record information in a violent incident log about every incident, postincident response, and workplace violence injury investigation.” Further, SB553 would prohibit employers from having “policies that require employees to confront active shooters or suspected shoplifters” – even if that employee was hired to prevent shoplifting losses. Practically speaking, most employers already have policies that tell employees to not place themselves in harm’s way. In fact, many large employers have entire loss prevention departments and dedicated security personnel.

In addition, a deeper dive into the actual bill uncovers far more mundane issues that could exponentially increase the burden to employers: workplace violence is defined broadly and includes violence by the employee’s own family members, spouses, or parents and includes actions such as hair pulling, slapping, pushing, pulling, scratching or spitting. Yes, employers must now create policies, log incidents, and investigate incidents that include what amounts to a domestic violence dispute that followed the employee to the workplace. This bill is so broad that it is does not simply prevent employers from requiring employees to prevent shoplifting. It requires employers to keep employees safe from ALL violence- even the violence that has nothing to do with the business dealings occurring at their workplace.

What does this mean for employers on a day-to-day basis? Well, the short answer would be that employers must create new policies and maintain more meticulous records. This is because the bill would require all employers to have in place a violence prevention plan, annual review of the plan’s effectiveness with employees and their representatives, and effective training for employees that addresses any risk of violence the employees may face. Employers must have records of their new violence prevention policy, records showing they have conducted the required training, records showing they have identified, evaluated, and corrected any risk of violence, a rolling log of any violent incidents that have occurred in the workplace, and records that show the employer investigated the violent incidents listed on the log.

If this bill passes, employers may be required to do all this by July 1, 2024- in less than a year! In addition, failure to comply with these requirements means that the employer may be hit with expensive citations and civil penalties. It appears that the California Legislature is now asking employers to do what the California legislature and the governor could not do: prevent violence in places of business.