In response to the increasing incidents of workplace violence across the state, the California Legislature is committed to promote workplace safety. This resulted in Senate Bill (SB) 553, which became effective on July 1, 2024, and requires California employers to be proactive about workplace violence prevention.
What SB 553 establishes
SB 553 requires California employers to:
- Establish, implement, and maintain a comprehensive Workplace Violence Prevention Plan.
- Perform a workplace investigation after any threat or incident of workplace violence.
This mandate parallels the requirements of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) requirements, which imposes an obligation on employers to conduct impartial investigations in response to complaints of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation.
SB 533, which is enforced by the California Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), requires that workplace violence incidents involving any employee be reported, investigated, and recorded.
Under Labor Code Section 6401.9, any incident involving workplace violence, or a threat of violence triggers the requirement for an investigation. The Department of Labor defines these as follows:
- Workplace violence: “any act of violence that occurs in a place of employment.” This includes threats, use of physical force, or use of a firearm or other dangerous weapon against an employee that result in, or have a high likelihood of resulting in, injury, psychological trauma, or stress, regardless of whether the employee is injured.
- Threat of violence: “any verbal or written statement, including but not limited to, texts, electronic messages, social media messages, or other online posts, or any behavioral or physical conduct, that conveys an intent, or is reasonably perceived to convey an intent, to cause physical harm or to place someone in fear of physical harm, and that serves no legitimate purpose.”
SB 533 and workplace investigations
When a threat or act of workplace violence occurs or is reported, the employer is required to follow specific post-incident procedures, the most important of which is an employee complaint investigation. The model Workplace Violence Prevention Plan suggests the following steps at a minimum:
- Interview involved parties, such as employees, witnesses, law enforcement, or security personnel.
- Review of security footage from existing security cameras, if applicable.
- Determine the cause of the incident.
- Obtain any reports completed by law enforcement.
- Making findings to determine what occurred.
Similar to the FEHA, SB 533 requires California employers to conduct a thorough and prompt investigation. These investigations’ impartiality, quality, and findings will likely play a central role in the outcome of workplace violence incidents and potential future lawsuits against employers.
In addition, California Employers must also include procedures for reporting the findings of investigations to those involved and identifying the corrective actions, such as disciplinary and safety measures, taken in response to the findings of an investigation.
Employers must be thorough in their record-keeping to demonstrate compliance with the Workplace Violence Prevention Plan; for instance, the investigator is required to keep comprehensive records of the investigation process, including all witness interviews, physical and documentary evidence, and any additional steps taken. These records, which must be maintained for five years, ensure that the employer conducts a timely, thorough, and unbiased investigation and serves as a basis for implementing corrective measures.
How to ensure that the organization is complying with SB 553.
For all California employers it is essential to ensure compliance with SB 533. Therefore, here is a checklist we recommend:
- Establish and implement a comprehensive Workplace Violence Prevention Plan.
- Provide annual workplace violence prevention training to all employees.
- Establish clear procedures for employees to report incidents of any threat of violence or incident of workplace violence.
- Regularly assess risks to identify and evaluate workplace violence hazards and develop controls to mitigate identified risks.
- Maintain detailed records of all workplace violence prevention training, incident reports, and employee complaint investigations.
Why choose California Labor Solutions?
California Labor Solutions (CLS) is one of the only HR firms licensed* to conduct workplace investigations in California. We serve private businesses and public-sector organizations throughout the state. We have conducted hundreds of neutral, impartial, objective, and unbiased workplace investigations related to identifying issues and risks within the organization and well as for employee complaints relating to allegations of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and various types of employee misconduct with the utmost quality, detail, and efficiency.
*California Private Investigator License Number 26311.
Disclaimer:
Please note that the updates, advisories, and regulations we receive from the promulgating agency often contain ambiguities and/or are often amended, modified, or updated. This material/article/email does not contain any legal advice. The information and opinions expressed herein are based on our reasonable interpretation of the issuing agency’s publication at the time the opinion is expressed and is, therefore, subject to change based on further developments. The effect of the opinions expressed may be different based on your particular circumstances, and it is recommended that you not rely upon these general opinions prior to obtaining a consultation with your legal and/or financial advisors.