California Employers Must Have a Workplace Violence Prevention Plan

Fri, 09/13/24

Effective July 1, 2024, a new California law requires most employers to have a written Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (WVPP). This law applies to all employers with workplaces that are accessible to the public (with few exceptions).

Key components to a Workplace Violence Prevention Plan include:

• Assessment of workplace violence risks at the workplace;
• Directives on how to report incidents, threats or concerns and how they will be investigated;
• Initial training and annual trainings thereafter;
• Maintenance of violent incident log (5 year retention); and
• No retaliation for reporting violence.

Cal/OSHA published both an employer and employee fact sheet which provides guidance on new responsibilities under the law.

Employers that haven’t already done so should take steps now to create a WVPP tailored to their workplace, including adapting it to different facilities and work sites.  Once employers have a WVPP established, they should take steps to train employees as soon as possible.

If you need assistance with developing and implementing your WVPP, or if you have any questions about this or any other employment law matters, please contact Arif Virji, Justin Hein, Samantha Pungprakearti, Kristin Mattiske-Nicholls, or Sarah Hirschfeld-Sussman at Carle, Mackie, Power & Ross LLP for your labor and employment law needs.

Call us at (707) 526-4200 or email us at avirji@cmprlaw.com; jhein@cmprlaw.com; samanthap@cmprlaw.com; kmattiske@cmprlaw.com; or shsussman@cmprlaw.com. We look forward to hearing from you.