Workplace Violence Prevention

Workplace violence prevention is something that everyone in the country is paying attention to these days. Mass shootings in the U.S. and abroad have had global reverberations. They have also left employers grappling with questions as to what measures they should take, or are legally obligated to take, to keep employees safe from harm in the workplace. Under the federal Occupational Health and Safety Act (OSHA), all employers have a general duty to provide a safe workplace for employees.

Littler's team of workplace violence prevention lawyers assist employers with:

• Putting policies in place to increase awareness of workplace violence and ensure that employees understand how to report threats in the workplace
   
• Evaluating potential risk factors in the workplace
    
• Identifying "triggering events" and "early warning signs"
    
• Developing screening procedures during the hiring process
    
• Counseling employers concerning how to discipline and terminate in ways that will limit risk of violence
    
• Spotting the warning signs of workplace violence
    
• Dealing with mental health issues affecting employees, including threatened suicide
    
• Dealing with domestic violence issues that affect employees in the workplace
    
• Developing preventative workplace violence programs
    
• Creating workplace violence prevention training programs
    
• Assisting in the creation of threat assessment programs/protocols for employers
    
• Interfacing with threat assessment professionals to ensure a comprehensive approach to possible workplace violence situations