Confused by California's Workplace Violence Prevention Requirements?

Are you confused by California’s workplace violence prevention requirements that went into effect on July 1, 2024? 

If so, you’re not alone. In fact, a whole lot of employers don’t even know that there are requirements. 

I guess you could say that California shot itself in the foot, with its roll out, or more to the point, the lack thereof, especially when it came to educating business owners and the public about its requirements.

And that’s a real problem. 

Getting workplace violence prevention wrong not only jeopardizes the safety of employees, and business owners, but it also puts your business’s bottom line at risk too.

Regardless of how California handled the roll out and education process around its requirements, your business cannot afford workplace violence. Even just one incident can cause:

• Higher turnover and absenteeism rates that lead to higher employment costs and lower productivity. 
• Increased medical costs and legal fees.
• Higher insurance premiums
• Reduced sales and revenue for up to 6 months.

Can your business afford that? 

That’s why I’m running my Protect Your Employees and Your Bottom Line with an Effective Workplace Violence Prevention workshop on November 4th because I want you to get your workplace violence prevention right. 

Maybe you’re thinking why worry about it? It’s unlikely that your business will be impacted by workplace violence. So why spend time and money on something that’s unlikely to occur?

Well for starters, a survey of small and midsized businesses by Zogby Analytics found that 1/3 of the respondents’ workplace had a serious act of violence or threat of act of violence in their workplace. And further, 34% of employees surveyed reported feeling threatened by customers, co-workers, visitors, or the public.

Let me put this another way. A baseball player who bats .333 is exceptional. (Getting a hit 1 out of every 3 at bats). And a great player bats .300 (getting 3 hits per every 10 at bats).

So a 1 in 3 chance of having a significant workplace violence incident is something you just can’t ignore.

Now. You could buy a boiler plate computer program about workplace violence and show it to your employees. Just like a lot of employers do with sexual harassment training.

But, that won’t fly under California’s requirements. Your entire workplace violence prevention program must be based upon determining the specific hazards that your employees face and developing a way to address those specific safety hazards, and then to train your employees in those approaches. 

It’s the word specific that matters here. Any workplace violence program must be built around the specific situations your employees face.

By the way, the minimum workplace violence fine is around $15,000 and that’s just for not having the right paperwork.

A fine for not properly investigating workplace violence incidents, or implementing the required trainings, can run more than double that figure, for just one incident. Repeated incidents can lead to fines of up to $155,000.

And it’s just one part of what you’ll learn in my upcoming live Protect Your Employees and Bottom Line with an Effective Workplace Violence Prevention Program Workshop. 

This November 4th, live, step-by-step online workshop, is for business owners who want to protect their employees and their bottom line from the harm of workplace violence without having to resort to trial and error. We’ll cover:

• How to assess the workplace violence safety hazards your employees face.
• How to determine approaches to remedy identified safety threats.
• The most effective strategies to avoid physical harm from violence.
• The critical elements of a violent incident response, including complaint and investigation processes that instill confidence, developing a violence incident response team, and ensuring accountability.
• And other California requirements including a workplace violence prevention policy, a violent incident log, and records retention requirements.
• California’s training and implementation requirements.

Click on this link to learn more and register.

And, if you’re a business owner or professional concerned about your own safety, my Business Owners and Professionals Personal Safety Workshop is a step-by-step workshop for business owners and professionals who want to keep themselves safe from violence beginning right now without relying on others for their safety. Click here to learn more and register.