Sacramento, CA — The California Legislature has permitted a bill that will require employers to have a workplace violence prevention plan.
Sponsored by Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose), S.B. 533 initially included a provision that banned employer insurance policies that direct non-security staff to confront shoplifters. However, that was eliminated after lawmakers acquired suggestions from enterprise house owners.
The state Assembly handed the bill with a 55-17 vote on Sept. 11. The state Senate superior the bill on a concurrence vote the following day. It now heads to the desk of Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).
The bill would speed up the event of a normal on workplace violence from the state’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health by requiring an efficient date of July 1, 2024. Cal/OSHA has been working for six years on a Workplace Violence General Industry Draft, which might require employers to have a workplace violence prevention plan. Covered employers can be chargeable for reviewing their plan yearly.
The bill additionally would:
- Require employers to keep a “violent incident log” of all incidents towards workers – together with particulars on post-incident investigations and response.
- Require employee coaching on how to search assist from regulation enforcement or colleagues assigned to reply to workplace violence emergencies.
- Allow an worker consultant to be a petitioner for a short lived workplace violence restraining order.
- Ensure employers establish people chargeable for implementing the plans, in addition to spell out roles, trainings, and protocols for assessing and reacting to threats of workplace violence.
“I’m grateful to my colleagues in the Legislature for standing up for workers and businesses at this time of rising workplace violence,” Cortese stated in a press launch. “This groundbreaking bill represents a lengthy negotiation and collaboration between business and labor organizations.”
