New California Labor Code section 6401.9 requires virtually all California employers to draft and implement a comprehensive Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (“WVPP”) on or before July 1, 2025. This month, the California Department of Industrial Relations Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) published a model workplace violence prevention plan that can serve as a good template for non-healthcare employers to use to draft their workplace violence prevention plans. To comply, each covered California employer must customize their WVPP to fit their workplace and work locations.

Cal/OSHA has also published its Workplace Violence Prevention in Non-Health Care Settings – Information for Employers Fact Sheet. The Fact Sheet provides additional guidelines and explanations for California employers. It explains some of the important statutory requirements and includes, among other things:

• An outline of what must be contained within a compliant WVPP;
• Information on what is required when logging workplace violence incidents:
• An explanation of the new workplace violence training requirements; and
• Other details about the WVPP and preventing workplace violence in the workplace.

Cal/OSHA has also published Guidelines for Security and Safety of Health Care Workers, Workplace Violence Prevention Fact Sheets for Agricultural Employers and Employees, and a Workplace Violence Prevention Fact Sheet for Workers/Employees in Non-Health Care Work Settings. These publications are all available on the Cal/OSHA website under the Workplace Violence Prevention Tab.

WVPPs are not simple, short documents. To fulfill the requirements of the statute, they must be comprehensive. A WVPP is not something that an employer can wait until the last minute and put together with little time and effort. California employers should begin this preparation process now if they have not already done so. If you are a covered California employer who needs assistance with their WVPP, please contact your business or employment attorney.

The information presented is not intended to be, and does not constitute, “legal advice.” Because each situation varies, and only brief summary information is provided here, you should not use this information as a basis for action unless you have independently verified with your own counsel that it applies to your particular situation.

Covered California businesses must implement an extensive workplace violence prevention plan (WVPP) and deliver specified training to employees no later than July 1, 2024.

The new law requires that plans be in writing and include, for example, the following:

• “Effective procedures to obtain the active involvement of employees and union representatives” in developing and implementing the plan, identifying and correcting “workplace violence hazards,” and designing and implementing employee training;
• The names and job titles of all persons responsible for implementing the plan;
• Procedures to identify and correct workplace violence hazards in a timely manner;
• “Effective procedures to respond to actual or potential workplace violence emergencies”;
• “Effective procedures to communicate with employees regarding workplace violence matters” and to alert employees of workplace violence emergencies, including of the “presence, location, and nature” of such emergencies;
• Procedures for post-incident response and investigation; and
• Periodic review of the plan and updates and corrections as needed.
• Covered employers also must maintain written logs of workplace violence incidents that set forth a great deal of specified information.

Employer plans must “be in effect at all times and in all work areas”. Employers must ensure their plans are “available and easily accessible” to employees, union representatives, and agents from the California Occupational Health and Safety Administration (Cal/OSHA).

The employee training required under the new law must cover particular subjects, allow for “interactive questions and answers,” and be in “vocabulary [appropriate] to the educational level, literacy, and language of [the] employees.” Covered employers must deliver the training to all employees no later than July 1, 2024, and annually thereafter.

Cal/OSHA is charged with enforcing the new requirements and will have authority to issue notices to correct and civil penalties.

Due to the extensive requirements of this new legislation, covered businesses should be planning now to draft and implement a WVPP.

Employers who are exempt from this new law are:

• Places of employment where no more than nine (9) employees are present at any one time and are not accessible to the public;
• Employees working remotely from a place of their choosing and that their employer does not control;
• Certain healthcare facilities; and
• Certain law enforcement and correction facilities.

If your business is not exempt, do not wait too much longer before you start writing up your plan and implementing it. However, before you implement it be sure to run it by your business attorney to ensure it complies with the new law and the still to be issued applicable Cal/OSHA regulations.

The information presented is not intended to be, and does not constitute, “legal advice.” Because each situation varies, and only brief summary information is provided here, you should not use this information as a basis for action unless you have independently verified with your own counsel that it applies to your particular situation.