Small to medium-sized churches operating in California know the challenge of remaining compliant with the glut of new laws passed each year. Since most churches cannot afford a human resources or legal department to provide clear guidance on everything required, they can easily fall behind on implementation deadlines or, worse, not recognize they are out of compliance. Setting political views aside and the often unmanageable administrative costs associated with new laws such as this, California lawmakers passed SB (Senate Bill) 553 to create safe work environments and protect others. When it comes to creating safe, violence-free workplaces, churches should lead the way. Use this simple guide to help your church become compliant before July 1, 2024.
What Is SB 553
According to the California Department of Industrial Relations Division of Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA), violence is the second leading cause of all workplace fatal occupational injuries in the United States. It affects almost 2 million workers every year. That’s unacceptable, and Senate Bill 553 is an attempt to reduce these tragedies by requiring employers to develop and implement a workplace violence prevention plan. This plan must include prohibition of employee retaliation, response to reports of violence, training, an emergency response plan, workplace violence assessments, and record keeping. While this post is not a comprehensive plan for your church or other workplaces, it helps identify and clarify its responsibility.
Prevention Plan
Let’s get this out of the way first. By SB 553’s definition, most churches are considered workplaces and will not qualify for the small employer exemption. Even if the church has fewer than ten employees working at one time, most churches allow public access, thus nullifying the exemption. SB 553 provides specific requirements to meet a plan’s criteria (you can read the entire list here), but overall, the plan must define the people responsible for the implementation and ongoing investigation and reporting. As with any plan designed to protect people, once developed, the plan must include all the basics like responding to reports of workplace violence, ensuring compliance, emergency response plans, initial and annual training, periodic evaluations, post-incident evaluations, yearly reviews, etc.
Incident Log
Churches that fall under the guidance of SB 553 must maintain a log of all instances of workplace violence. Cal/OSHA provides a list of the minimum information required for the log:
- Incident date, time, and location
- Violence type: 1, 2, 3, or 4 (See below)
- Description of the incident
- Classification of who (do not identify any person involved)
- Circumstances
- Characteristics (physical attack, weapon, threat, etc.)
- Consequences (was law enforcement involved?)
- Protective steps
- Name, job title, and date of the person completing the log.
Workplace violence types as defined by SB 553:
- Type 1 – an act of workplace violence committed by someone who should not be on the worksite. Example: a robbery.
- Type 2 – an act of workplace violence committed by a customer, client, guest, etc. Example: a student threatening a teacher.
- Type 3 – an act of workplace violence toward an employee by an employee (current or former), supervisor, manager, etc. Example: a former employee seeking retaliation on a manager.
- Type 4 – an act of workplace violence toward an employee by someone who does not work at the workplace but has a known relationship. Example: a jealous partner seeking revenge.
Training
The perceived success of laws like SB 553 hinges on effective training. While currently, third-party certifications are not required, the bill defines specific training criteria. First, all employees must receive initial training, then repeated training every year. As with any training, the materials must be clear, easy to understand, and match their learning ability. The training must cover defined topics:
- Reviewing the workplace violence prevention plan
- Report an incident
- Job-specific dangers and preventative measures
- Purpose of the log and how to get records
- Interactive discussions
Whenever changes to the plan occur, train the employees on the change.
Recordkeeping
Compliance with this bill requires careful recordkeeping. The church must develop its plan in writing and ensure it’s easily accessible to employees and Cal/OSHA. Keep all records of workplace violence and logs for five years and training records for at least one year.
At a time when small to medium-sized churches in California already feel overwhelmed by a nonstop list of administrative burdens, don’t let this due date pass without building a workplace prevention plan, keeping logs, training the employees, and keeping careful records.
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