California SB 553
Workplace violence prevention plans for churches and nonprofit organizations in California
WATCH THE SB 553 WEBINAR WITH
ATTORNEY RYAN ABERNETHY OF WEINTRAUB TOBIN
CALIFORNIA’S WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION LAW APPLIES TO EMPLOYERS, INCLUDING CHURCHES AND NONPROFITS.
Senate Bill 553, signed into law Sept. 30, 2023, mandates businesses, churches and other nonprofits comply by July 1, 2024. While these organizations aren’t typically thought of as workplaces, they are places of employment subject to labor laws. Therefore, they need to pay careful attention to SB 553, which makes employers responsible for protecting employees from workplace violence. This mandate requires churches and nonprofits to take actions including:
Creating a plan to prevent and respond to workplace violence.
Identifying people responsible for implementing the plan (including training, education and assigning roles). It must be reviewed annually.
Maintaining a record of violent incidents along with incident investigation records.
Educating employees about who to contact during a workplace violence emergency.
Cal/OSHA Fact Sheet
This fact sheet from Cal/OSHA is an overview of the key requirements of SB 553. It is not the model Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (which is below), but sums up the law in a few pages.
Cal/Osha Model Plan
In February of 2024, Cal/OSHA released a model Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (WPPV) for SB 553. The plan itself offers this caveat: “Employers are not required to use this model WVPP. They may create their own, use another WVPP template, or incorporate workplace violence prevention into their existing Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) as a separate section.”
Need legal resources for SB 553?
Attorney and shareholder Ryan Abernethy, of Weintraub Tobin, is the guest in our webinar on SB 553. He is available for consultation.
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