Compliance with California’s 2024 Workplace Violence Prevention Law

California employers are required to comply with new workplace violence prevention requirements by July 1, 2024.  Labor Code section 6401.9 requires most employers – including most architects – to develop a workplace violence prevention plan (WVPP), provide annual training, and maintain records.  AIA California, in conjunction with Collins + Collins LLP, provides this advisory to answer Frequently Asked Questions about the law, along with guidance on a potential template for a WVPP.

Disclaimer: AIA California is providing this resource as general information and it is not to be construed as legal advice. Be sure to follow California Labor Code and Cal-OSHA requirements and obtain legal counsel for questions about your specific situation.

Workplace Violence Prevention Plan: Basics
Workplace violence is defined as “any act of violence, against persons or property, threats, intimidation, harassment, or other inappropriate, disruptive behavior that causes fear for personal safety at the worksite.”

A WVPP is like an extension of an Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP), and the State already requires every employer to have an IIPP.  Just as an IIPP helps employers think about ways to reduce workplace injuries and how to respond after an injury occurs, the WVPP is meant to help employers think about potential risks to employees from violence and how to correct, respond to, or prevent such violence.  While the risk of workplace violence to architects is relatively low, there are still some risks, and a WVPP will help an employer and employees be prepared. 

Covered Employers
The new workplace violence prevention requirements apply to all California employers except for the following:

• Workplaces where there are fewer than 10 employees present at any given time and which are not accessible to the public;
• Employees who telecommute from a location of their choosing that is outside the employer’s control;

General Workplace Violence Prevention Plan Requirements:
Employers are required to adopt and implement a workplace violence prevention plan, which includes:

• The names of the persons responsible for its implementation;
• Procedures for accepting and responding to reports of workplace violence, including a prohibition on retaliation against the reporting employee;
• Procedures for communicating about workplace violence matters;
• Procedures for investigating employee concerns;
• Procedures for responding to actual or potential workplace violence emergencies; and
• Procedures for post-incident response and investigation.

The plan must be in writing and “easily accessible” to employees. This means at a minimum, it must be available to the more curious employees upon request, but it does not necessarily need to be distributed to all employees.  However, distributing it to employees or making it available on an internal document system does make the plan “easily available” and also helps fulfill requirements on training employees about the plan.   

The plan must be “specific to the hazards and corrective measures for each work area and operation” – although for most architectural practices, one overall plan will be applicable for all work operations.

It can be a stand-alone plan or can be incorporated into an existing Injury and Illness Prevention Plan.

Types of Violence Under Labor Code Section 6401.9
The law requires an assessment of four major types of workplace violence:

• Type 1: Criminal Violence – committed by a person who has no legitimate business at the worksite, including by those who enter the workplace or approach employees with the intent to commit a crime.
• Type 2: Customer or Invitee violence – committed by individuals who were allowed in the workplace, like clients, students, contractors, or other allowed visitors. This would include violence on a jobsite by another party involved in construction. 
• Type 3: Employee violence – committed by a present or former employee, supervisor, or manager (potentially related to some kind of ‘revenge’ for what they perceive as unfair treatment in the workplace)
• Type 4: Personal violence – committed by a person who has a personal relationship with an employee, but is not an employee (so a violent intrusion of an employee’s personal life into the work environment)

Training Requirements?
Covered employers are required to provide training to employees when they establish the workplace violence prevention plan, and to continue to provide training thereafter on an annual basis. Trainings must cover the following and include interactive components for questions and answers:

• The employer’s workplace violence prevention plan and how employees can obtain a copy;
• How employees can report workplace violence incidents without fear of retaliation;
• Workplace violence hazards specific to the employees’ jobs and preventive measures;
• The violent incident log and how employees can obtain records; and
• Opportunities for interactive communications with a person knowledgeable about the employer’s workplace violence prevention plan.

After creating a plan, an employer can satisfy the initial training requirement by holding a meeting to discuss the key measures of the plan. 

Recordkeeping Requirements
Covered employers are required to maintain the following records:

• Training records for a minimum of one year;
• Violent incident logs for a minimum of five years, which include: date, time and location of the incident; type of workplace violence; detailed description of the incident; classification of circumstances at the time of the incident; type of incident; and consequences of the incident (e.g., whether security or law enforcement was involved, actions to protect employees from a continuing threat); and information about the person completing the log;
• Records of workplace violence hazard investigation, evaluation, and correction for a minimum of five years; and
• Records of workplace violence incident investigation for a minimum of five years.

Violent Incident Log
Employers must keep a log of incidents that is meant to include the what, how, when, and where – but not the “who” of a violent incident.  The log should not have any personal identifying information on it.  It is meant to document the details of the incident, the Cal-OSHA type (type 1-4, the source of the violence, and the consequences, including steps taken to protect employees from the hazard occurring again.  Employees may ask for a copy of a violent incident log, which is one reason why the log is meant to be personally anonymous. 

Inspection of Records
Cal-OSHA has the right to inspect these records and may issue citations if the employer does not maintain the records.  Additionally, employees are also entitled to review certain records upon request, like hazard identification and evaluation, training records, and violent incident logs.   

WVPP Review and Updates
Similar to an IIPP, employers are required to review the plan annually.  The law also requires employers to review the plan if they observe a deficiency in the plan and after a workplace violence incident.

Additional Resources
Cal/OSHA’s overview of the new workplace prevention requirements can be accessed on the California Department of Industrial Relations website, which also has a model written Workplace Violence Protection Plan as a general resource guide for employers.

As an alternative, this advisory also provides a model written Workplace Violence Protection Plan.  Architects who wish to use either template should carefully review them and ensure all information is completed and that the final plans comply with the new legal requirements.