What Is SB 553? A Complete Guide for California Employers

California Senate Bill 553 is a workplace violence prevention law that took effect on July 1, 2024. It requires virtually every California employer to maintain a written Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (WVPP), log all workplace violence incidents, and train employees annually.

If you have 10 or more employees in California — or your business is open to the public — this law applies to you. Penalties range from $18,000 to $163,000 per violation and can stack, meaning a single workplace incident can trigger multiple citations.

This guide explains what SB 553 requires, who must comply, and how to get your business compliant.

Why Does SB 553 Exist?

California already required healthcare employers to have workplace violence prevention plans. SB 553 extends that requirement to all industries. The law was passed in response to rising workplace violence incidents across retail, food service, education, and other sectors.

The law recognizes four types of workplace violence:

1. Type 1 — Criminal intent: The perpetrator has no legitimate relationship to the business (e.g., robbery, trespassing)
2. Type 2 — Customer/client: The perpetrator is a customer, patient, or someone receiving services
3. Type 3 — Worker-on-worker: The perpetrator is a current or former employee
4. Type 4 — Personal relationship: The perpetrator has a personal relationship with an employee (e.g., domestic violence that follows someone to work)

Your WVPP must address all four types as they relate to your specific workplace.

Who Must Comply with SB 553?

Almost every California employer. Specifically:

• Any employer with 10 or more employees in California
• Any employer with fewer than 10 employees if the workplace is accessible to the public (restaurants, retail, salons, auto repair shops, etc.)

Exemptions are narrow:

• Healthcare facilities already covered by Cal/OSHA's healthcare workplace violence standard
• Certain law enforcement agencies
• Employees teleworking from a location not controlled by the employer
• Workplaces covered by specific Cal/OSHA regulations that already address workplace violence

If you're unsure whether your business must comply, the safe answer is yes. The exemptions are very specific, and the penalty for non-compliance is far more expensive than the cost of compliance.

The Three Requirements of SB 553

SB 553 requires three things from every covered employer:

1. A Written Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (WVPP)

This is the core requirement. Your WVPP must be a written document that is available to all employees at all times. It must include 11 specific elements:

1. Names or job titles of people responsible for implementing the plan
2. How employees will participate in developing and implementing the plan
3. How you'll coordinate with other employers at shared worksites
4. How you'll ensure employees comply with the plan
5. How you'll communicate hazards and corrective actions to employees
6. Emergency response procedures (alerts, evacuation, law enforcement contact, post-incident)
7. Procedures to identify and evaluate workplace violence hazards
8. Procedures to correct identified hazards
9. Post-incident response and investigation procedures
10. How employees can report incidents without fear of retaliation
11. Annual plan review procedures

The plan must be tailored to your specific workplace. Cal/OSHA has been clear that generic, copy-paste templates are not sufficient. Your plan needs to identify your actual hazards, your actual emergency procedures, and your actual responsible persons.

For a detailed breakdown, see our SB 553 Compliance Requirements guide.

2. A Violent Incident Log

Every workplace violence incident must be recorded in a log — separate from your OSHA 300 Log. This includes threats, not just physical assaults. Even incidents that don't result in injury must be logged.

Each entry must include:

• Date, time, and location of the incident
• Type of violence (Type 1, 2, 3, or 4)
• Detailed description of what happened
• Who committed the violence (classification, not name)
• Circumstances at the time
• Consequences (injuries, medical treatment, law enforcement involvement)
• Actions taken by the employer

Important: The log must not include personal identifying information of anyone involved. Logs must be retained for 5 years and provided to employees or Cal/OSHA within 15 calendar days of a request.

3. Annual Employee Training

All employees must be trained on the WVPP at least once per year. Training must cover 9 specific topics, including the plan itself, how to report incidents, anti-retaliation protections, and workplace-specific hazards.

The training must include an interactive component — employees must have the opportunity to ask questions of someone knowledgeable about the plan. A self-paced video with no interaction does not meet this requirement.

New hires must be trained when the plan is first established or when they join. Additional training is required whenever new hazards are identified or the plan changes.

What Happens If You Don't Comply?

Cal/OSHA enforces SB 553 through workplace inspections, which can be triggered by:

• Employee complaints
• A workplace violence incident
• Routine inspection

Penalties:

Violation Type	Penalty Range
General violation	Up to $18,000 per violation
Serious violation	Up to $25,000 per violation
Willful or repeat	Up to $163,000 per violation

Citations can stack. If Cal/OSHA finds that you failed to create a plan, failed to train employees, and failed to log an incident, that's three separate violations from a single inspection. A single incident at a non-compliant workplace could result in $50,000+ in fines.

Beyond Cal/OSHA fines, employers also face potential civil liability if an employee is harmed and the employer didn't have a compliant WVPP in place.

Common Mistakes Employers Make

“I thought my harassment policy covered this”

A handbook policy prohibiting workplace violence is not the same as a WVPP. The law requires a standalone document with 11 specific elements. Many employers learned this the hard way during their first annual review cycle.

“I created a plan last year and haven't touched it”

SB 553 requires annual review of your plan, plus review after any incident or when new hazards are identified. Compliance is not one-and-done. Even if nothing changed, you need to document that you reviewed the plan.

“I used a free template from the internet”

Cal/OSHA has specifically called out generic templates as insufficient. Your plan must be tailored to your specific workplace hazards, your actual emergency procedures, and your actual locations. A template is a starting point, not a finished product.

What's Coming: The Permanent Standard (December 2026)

The current SB 553 requirements are an interim standard. Cal/OSHA is developing a permanent workplace violence prevention standard expected to take effect in late 2026. Based on the May 2025 draft, the permanent standard will likely:

• Expand coverage to more industries (security services, janitorial, domestic workers)
• Define “presumptive hazards” that employers must address (hostile work environments, unsecured entries, inadequate staffing)
• Require more specific engineering controls (physical security measures)
• Add self-defense protections for employees
• Potentially include stalking in the definition of workplace violence

Employers who are already compliant with SB 553 will have a much easier transition to the permanent standard. Those who haven't started will face an even bigger compliance burden.

How to Get Compliant

Getting compliant with SB 553 requires three things:

1. Create your WVPP — a written plan with all 11 required elements, tailored to your workplace
2. Set up your Violent Incident Log — a system to record incidents as they happen, with 5-year retention
3. Train your employees — annual training covering all 9 required topics, with interactive Q&A

Then, keep it all current: annual plan reviews, annual retraining, ongoing incident logging, and records available for inspection at all times.

CompliantCA automates all of this. Answer questions about your business, get a customized WVPP in minutes, and stay compliant year-round with incident tracking, training management, and automatic reminders — starting at $29/month.

Sources & References

• SB 553 Full Text — California Legislature
• Workplace Violence Prevention in General Industry — Cal/OSHA
• Section 3343, Title 8, California Code of Regulations — Cal/OSHA Standards Board
• Model Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (Template) — Cal/OSHA