With the California Workplace Violence Prevention Bill — aka CA SB 553 — set to go into effect on July 1st, 2024, we’re taking some time in the lead-up to answer some frequently-asked questions about the legislation. Interested in our previously-answered questions? You can find those below:

Now, before we get too far along, let’s make some introductions: We’re Ethena, a compliance training platform for modern teams. We have a variety of training courses, an employee hotline and case management system (which is highly relevant to today’s topic), and we get pretty nerdy and excited about any changes to compliance law. 🤓

All of which brings us back to today’s question:

Is an anonymous form “good enough” to meet the SB 553 requirements? 

The short answer is that it’s a good start, as it’s crucial to have something in place. But since “good enough” is the lowest of all low bars that we need to cross for an effective Workplace Violence Prevention program, the long answer is a bit more nuanced. So without further ado, let’s get into it.

What elements are required under SB 553?

We’ve already talked you through the Workplace Violence Prevention Plan and the employee training that are required under SB 553. But the Bill also specifies a third and fourth element that you must have in place: channels through which employees can report workplace violence, and a violent incident log to document those reports in detail..

These are the portions of your Workplace Violence Prevention compliance plan that you might be tempted to address with a simple anonymous form. But given the many demands that the violent incident log in particular is expected to meet — not to mention the long-term record creation and maintenance that are also required — we really wouldn’t recommend skimping in either area.

That’s because when you or someone else at your organization receives an anonymous report regarding potential workplace violence, or in the wake of an incident, it provides some information, but not a lot. Essentially it gives you one individual’s version of what happened, when what you actually need are in-depth versions of who, what, where, when, why, how…and what’s being done to prevent it for next time. 

With a tool like Ethena’s, you can follow-up with the reporter to get the information you need, while with an anonymous form, your only way forward is through an investigation — taking witness statements and soliciting information from those who experienced the incident. That’s a perfectly reasonable next step, we’re just flagging that the more tools you have in your arsenal, the more equipped you’ll be to handle a report of workplace violence.



What does the violent incident log need to do?

The requirements of a violent incident log are written right into the text of SB 553. 

According to the Bill, a violent incident log must document the details of any incident, with entries based on information gleaned from those employees who experienced the violence, any available witness statements, and on the findings turned up in the ensuing investigation. The log also shouldn’t include any personal identifying information for anyone involved.

Getting even more specific, each entry in the violent incident log must include the following:

  • The date, time, and location of the incident
  • The type(s) of workplace violence, which include:
    • Type 1 Violence: Workplace violence committed by someone with no legitimate business at the worksite, including violent acts by anyone who enters the workplace or approaches workers with the intent to commit a crime
    • Type 2 Violence: Workplace violence directed at employees by customers, clients, patients, students, inmates, or other visitors
    • Type 3 Violence: Workplace violence against an employee by a present or former employee, supervisor, or manager
    • Type 4 Violence: Workplace violence committed in the workplace by a person who doesn’t work there but has or is known in the past to have had a personal relationship with an employee
  • A detailed description of the incident
  • A classification of the incident’s perpetrator — was it a client, a customer, a client or customer’s family or friend, a stranger with criminal intent, a coworker, supervisor, manager, romantic partner, relative, or other perpetrator?
  • An analysis of the circumstances surrounding the event — like whether the employee was in a rush, working in a poorly-lit area, completing tasks outside their typical job duties, working in isolation, unable to get help, working somewhere new or unfamiliar, or in a community setting
  • An even more detailed location description — did this happen at work, on the way to work, outside of work, in the parking lot, etc.?
  • The type of incident, and specifically whether it included:
    • A physical attack without a weapon 
    • An attack with a weapon or weapon-like object
    • The threat of physical force or the use of a weapon
    • A sexual assault or the threat of such an assault
    • Animal attack
    • Other — and here you’d want to think about the circumstances relevant to your unique workplace
  • Consequences of the incident, including:
    • Was security or law enforcement summoned, and if so, what was their response?
    • What actions have been taken to ensure that employees will be protected from a continued threat or any other potential hazards revealed by the incident? 
  • And finally, information for the person filling out the log, including name, job title, and date

By our count, that’s nine separate bullet points that need to be covered, three of which have multiple subsets of their own. So the more tools in your tool belt — like our Employee Hotline and Case Management system, for example — the more easily you can check these off your list. 

What kind of records am I required to keep?

But your obligation doesn’t stop there. In addition to keeping reporting channels open, creating the violent incident log, and ensuring that it’s as robust as the law requires it to be, you’re also expected to maintain all records long term. (And to be able to provide them in a timely manner if and when a request comes in.) 

And not to point any fingers, but we’ve yet to encounter an organization that uses a basic anonymous form and has worked out a case-management system worth writing home about. More commonly, folks are relying on a morass of files and documents scattered throughout the cloud and on the desks of People leaders who would devastate the org if they took their institutional knowledge elsewhere.

Not only is that no way to work or live, but it could very well put you on the wrong side of the law. So just to be crystal clear, we’ll spell out the recordkeeping requirements that come along with an effective SB 553 violent incident log:

  • Records of workplace hazard identification, evaluation, and correction must be created and then maintained for a minimum of five years.
  • Violent incident logs must be maintained for a minimum of five years.
  • Records of workplace violence incident investigations must be maintained for a minimum of five years and must not contain any “medical information” — as defined in subdivision (j) of Section 56.05 of the Civil Code.
  • These records must be made available for examination and copying, upon request.
  • All workplace violence prevention records except those records of the investigations themselves must be made available to employees and/or their representatives upon their request, at no cost, and within 15 calendar days of the request.

Ethena is here to help you toward compliance with SB 553

All of which is to say that there’s a lot — and we mean a lot — that comes along with this law. And with employee safety, privacy, and long-term health and wellbeing on the line, falling out of compliance really isn’t an option. 

…which is where we step in. We’re staying on top of the existing guidance and looking out for what’s on the horizon so that you can focus on implementing the right tools and systems for your team. Maybe you already have a great system in place, but if you’re planning on working solely off of an anonymous form, we’re thrilled to report that your system has room for improvement.

You don’t have to use our Hotline + Case Management system, although we’re quite fond of it. But you do have to find a way to collect all the necessary information required by SB 553. (And our tool allows for reporter communications without sacrificing anonymity, just FYI.)

Beyond that, we have plenty of other tools to support your SB 553 compliance as well. Check out our Workplace Violence Prevention plan template for a walkthrough of how to draft your own plan, preview some content from our Workplace Violence Prevention course, or speak with a member of our Sales team about how you can get all your compliance boxes checked in one spot. ✅ Just call us a one-stop shop.