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. (If you want to know how many employees you need in order to be subject to SB 553, for example, you can find that information here!)
But 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, and we get pretty nerdy and excited about any changes to compliance law. 🤓
All of which brings us back to today’s question:
My CA employees are remote or work out of a co-working space. Do I need to make a plan for SB 553?
The answer to this one is fairly straightforward, so let’s get to it!
My California-based employees work remotely — am I subject to SB 553?
Even though a California-based employee population of 10 or more — or even fewer for locations that are accessible to the public — makes the average business subject to SB 553, remote workforces can be an exception.
For the specifics, we’ll look at the text of the law itself, which uses the following language to describe a group that qualifies for one of the Workplace Violence Prevention Bill exemptions:
(E) Employees teleworking from a location of the employee’s choice, which is not under the control of the employer.
What does it mean for a working location to be under the control of the employer?
Even though the language is slightly reminiscent of some sort of fiefdom, a location being “under the control” of the employer doesn’t mean they own or operate it. What it does mean is that the employer chose it, and that there’s some requirement for the employee to operate out of it.
To illustrate the differences, let’s explore three situations that might show up at a coworking space — we’ll call it VeeVerk.
- Your remote, Los Angeles-based employee dislikes working from home, so they tend to telework out of their local VeeVerk — by their own choice. In this case, this employee would likely not subject their employer to SB 553.
- Your distributed company has a satellite office at an Oakland VeeVerk and requires its 15 Bay Area employees to come in at least three times a week. This employer likely would be subject to SB 553.
- Your company is VeeVerk, and you have more than 10 employees working on-site and/or qualify as a workplace that’s accessible to the public. In this circumstance, you almost certainly would be subject to SB 553.
My California employees work remotely at a location of their choice, not mine — do I need to worry about this?
Technically, no … at least not at this exact moment. That said, if you’re on the bubble in any way, like you’re thinking of setting up a dedicated California office location with an in-person requirement, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to get compliant with SB 553 before it’s strictly necessary.
Also, California lawmakers have reserved the right to require any company — even theoretically exempt ones — to comply with SB 553. Let’s look at the Bill one more time:
Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the division may, by issuance of an order to take special action, require an employer that is exempt pursuant to paragraph (1) to comply with this section or require an employer to include employees or places of employment that are exempt pursuant to paragraph (1) in their compliance with this section.
The TL;DR here is that even if you’re certain you and your Californian employees are exempt, that doesn’t mean failing to react nimbly to SB 553 couldn’t come back to bite you. Plus, these are considerations relating to the comfort and safety of your workforce, who we know you always want to go above and beyond for, so it’s always best to treat these important issues with the gravity they deserve.
Ethena is here to help you toward compliance with SB 553
With that in mind, let us know how we can help! We’ll be answering more of your frequently-asked SB 553 questions throughout the rest of the month so you’re not caught unawares by the July 1st, 2024 compliance deadline, and you can also take steps to work toward compliance before then.
Do that by reading through our Workplace Violence Prevention plan template for help drawing up your own company’s documentation, exploring our newly live Workplace Violence Prevention training course, speaking with our always-on-top-of-it Sales team, or taking a deeper dive on SB 553 if you want to join us in our compliance nerdery. 🤓 (We realize that last one is a tough sell, but we can dream!!!)
