Preventing Workplace Violence in California

California’s SB553 Workplace Violence Prevention legislation mandates that most employers in the state establish and maintain a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan including:

• A written, easily accessible Workplace Violence Prevention plan

• Annual workplace violence prevention training

• Creation of a violent incident logs

• Creation and retention of other various records

The law defines Workplace Violence very broadly: “Workplace violence” means any act of violence or threat of violence that occurs at the workplace. The term workplace violence shall not include lawful acts of self-defense or defense of others. Workplace violence includes any of the following:

• The threat or use of physical force against an employee that results in, or has a high likelihood of resulting in, injury, psychological trauma, or stress, regardless of whether the employee sustains an injury.

• An incident involving the use of a firearm or other dangerous weapon, regardless of whether the employee sustains an injury.

A very brief answer is: Almost every employer in the state of California.

There are relatively few exceptions, including:

• Healthcare Employers (already covered by CAL/OSHA Violence Prevention in Healthcare standard)

• Remote workers

• Locations not open to the public where fewer than 10 employees work at a given time

• Some gray area around what open to the public can be construed to include: what if you accept outside deliveries, clients coming in to pay their bills, etc.

• Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and law enforcement agencies

Under California’s SB 553 legislation, workplace violence prevention plans must include:

• Identification of individuals responsible for implementing the plan

• Having the plan be easily accessible to employees

• Definition of workplace violence and the 4 specific types of workplace violence
o Criminal Intent
o Client-Customer
o Worker on Worker
o Personal Relationship (intimate partner violence and stalking)

• Involve employees in its development and in coordination with other employers (staffing agencies, other employers at same location)

• Procedures for ensuring employees comply with the plan

• Procedures for communicating how to report violent incidents, threats or concerns to the employer or law enforcement and how concerns will be investigated and results communicated

• Procedures for responding to actual and potential workplace violence emergencies and statement that prohibit the employer from any retaliation against an employee who reports

• Procedures for identifying and evaluating workplace violence hazards
o Assessment procedures to identify and evaluate environmental risk factors, including community-based risk factors, for each facility, department, or operation. These procedures shall include a review of all workplace violence incidents that occurred in the facility, department, or operation within the previous year, regardless of whether an injury occurred. This shall also include procedures to identify and evaluate environmental risk factors for workplace violence in each facility, department, or operation of the establishment, including surrounding areas, such as employee parking areas and other outdoor areas. Assessment tools, environmental checklists, or other effective means shall be used to identify locations and situations where violent incidents are more likely to occur. These procedures shall specify the frequency with which such environmental assessments will take place. Environmental risk factors shall include, but are not limited to, the following:
Employees working in locations isolated from other employees because their assignment requires them to work alone, in remote locations, during night or early morning hours, or where an assailant could prevent entry into the work area by responders or other employees.

Under California’s SB 553 law, the recording and reporting requirements include:

Violent Incident Log:
o Date, time, and location of the incident
o Detailed description of the incident
o Classification of who committed the violence (client, customer, friend stranger, co-worker,etc.
o The violence type including whether it was a physical attack or threat, whether weapons or other objects were involved, or whether it was a sexual assault Also includes: verbal harassment and animal attack)
o Classification of circumstances at time of the incident (working isolated or alone, in a high crime area, poorly lit area, etc)
o Classification of where the incident occurred ( hallway, office, restroom, parking lot, etc.)
o Consequences of the incident including whether security or law enforcement was contacted and whether actions were taken to protect employees from a continuing threat
o Employers must retain the log for 5 years and omit personal identifying information. Employees are entitled to view and copy the log within 15 calendar days of a request.

• Other Recordkeeping Requirements include 05 year retention requirement for
o Workplace violence hazard identification, evaluation and correction records
o Record of violent incident investigations

Under California’s SB 553 law, the training requirements include:

• Initial training must be completed by July 1, 2024

• Annual training thereafter or when new or previously unrecognized workplace violence hazards are identified or when there are changes to the plan

• Training must include:
o The employer’s Plan and how employees can obtain a free copy of the Plan
o How to report workplace violence hazards and workplace violence incidents
o Corrective measures the employer has implemented
o How to seek assistance to prevent or respond to violence
o Strategies to avoid physical harm
o Information about the violent incident log and how employees can obtain a copy

SHIFT offers a legally sound and highly engaging online Workplace Violence Prevention course that meets SB 553 requirements. We partner with you to customize training that reflects your unique Workplace Violence Prevention Plan—ensuring your employees receive relevant, compliant education tailored to your policies, job roles, and workplace risks.

Online training simplifies compliance by making recordkeeping easy, scaling cost-effectively across your workforce, and offering tailored content aligned with your Workplace Violence Prevention Plan. SHIFT’s program goes beyond the legal basics—empowering employees with real-world prevention strategies, response protocols, and engaging content that’s accessible, trackable, and built for today’s workplace realities.

SHIFT’s Product and Implementation team will partner with you to customize your training to reflect your unique Workplace Violence Prevention Plan and meet all training mandates.

Our onboarding process makes it easy, providing you with a template and walking you through the steps to collect all of the necessary policy information for inclusion in the online course.

Cal OSHA provided guidance for training not performed in person in their Violence Prevention in Healthcare regulations:

“Training not given in person shall fulfill all the subject matter requirements of subsection (f) (1) and shall provide for interactive questions to be answered within one business day by a person knowledgeable about the employer’s workplace violence prevention plan.”

To meet Cal/OSHA’s guidance for interactive questions, SHIFT includes clear contact details within the course so employees can reach a knowledgeable internal contact.

If there are different hazards at different locations, then a company’s workplace violence prevention plan needs to be customized. If the company has consistent and similar hazards and risks across all its worksites, then the plan can be more uniform across a larger footprint.

The workplace violence prevention plan may be incorporated into the written injury prevention program as a separate chapter or may be maintained as a separate document.

• Employers were required to be compliant with the law by July 1, 2024

• Annual training is required thereafter