FAQ
Everything you need to know about SB 553.
The full regulatory breakdown: requirements, enforcement, penalties, exemptions, and how Cynserus helps.
SB 553 Basics
SB 553 is a California law (Labor Code Section 6401.9) that requires nearly every employer to establish, implement, and maintain a written Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (WVPP). The law took effect July 1, 2024.
If you have any employees who interact with the public or work on-site, yes. The exemption only applies to businesses with fewer than 10 employees that are not accessible to the public. A 2-person restaurant must comply.
A Workplace Violence Prevention Plan is a written document that covers how your business identifies, evaluates, and addresses workplace violence hazards. Under SB 553, it must contain 12 specific sections covering everything from responsible persons to emergency response procedures.
The 12 required sections are: (1) Names of responsible persons, (2) Employee involvement procedures, (3) Methods to coordinate with other employers at shared worksites, (4) Procedures to accept and respond to reports, (5) Procedures to ensure compliance, (6) Communication procedures, (7) Training procedures, (8) Identification of workplace violence hazards, (9) Evaluation of workplace violence hazards, (10) Correction of workplace violence hazards, (11) Emergency response procedures, (12) Post-incident procedures.
Very few employers. Exemptions apply to: businesses with fewer than 10 employees that are not accessible to the public; workplaces already covered by specific Cal/OSHA violence prevention standards (healthcare facilities under Section 3342, certain law enforcement); remote employees working from locations not controlled by the employer; and Department of Corrections facilities.
Cal/OSHA has been enforcing SB 553 since July 1, 2024. Inspectors can arrive unannounced at any worksite.
Types of Workplace Violence
Cal/OSHA classifies workplace violence into four types. Your WVPP must address the types relevant to your industry.
Cal/OSHA classifies workplace violence into four types. Type 1 (Criminal Intent): The perpetrator has no legitimate relationship with the workplace, such as a robbery. Type 2 (Customer/Client): Violence from someone receiving services, like an aggressive patient or customer. Type 3 (Worker-on-Worker): Violence between current or former employees, including threats, harassment, and physical assault. Type 4 (Personal Relationship): Violence from someone with a personal relationship with an employee, such as domestic violence that follows an employee to work.
Restaurants face elevated Type 1 (robbery, especially cash handling and closing) and Type 2 (intoxicated or aggressive customers) risk. Both must be specifically addressed in your WVPP.
Retail faces primarily Type 1 risk (shoplifting confrontations, robbery) and Type 2 risk (customer disputes). A written no-confrontation policy must be documented in your WVPP.
Salons face elevated Type 2 (client aggression during one-on-one services) and Type 4 (domestic violence spillover at a known, predictable location) risk.
Enforcement and Penalties
Serious violations carry penalties up to $25,000 per violation. Willful violations can reach $162,851 per violation. Each missing element (no written plan, no training records, no incident log) can be cited as a separate violation. Penalties as of 2026; subject to annual adjustment per the DIR penalty schedule.
A Cal/OSHA inspector can arrive unannounced. They will ask to see: (1) your written WVPP, (2) training records showing employee completion, (3) your violent incident log with all 8 required fields, (4) a functioning employee reporting mechanism, (5) evidence of a workplace hazard assessment, and (6) proof that identified hazards were corrected. Missing even one item can result in a citation.
Yes. Cal/OSHA investigates complaints filed by employees or their representatives. An employee who reports a workplace violence incident and then discovers your business has no plan may file a complaint.
Common triggers include: employee complaints, workplace violence incidents reported to law enforcement, referrals from other agencies, and programmed inspections targeting industries with elevated risk profiles.
Compliance Requirements
Cal/OSHA has stated that copy-paste plans generally fail inspection. Their template is a starting point, not a complete plan. It must be customized to your specific worksite, industry hazards, and personnel.
Yes. SB 553 requires initial training for all employees plus annual refresher training. You must maintain records showing who was trained, when, and what topics were covered. Records must be retained for at least one year.
The violent incident log must contain 8 specific fields: (1) date, time, and location of incident, (2) type of workplace violence, (3) detailed description of the incident, (4) classification of who committed the violence, (5) the circumstances of the incident, (6) whether the incident involved a firearm or other weapon, (7) consequences of the incident, and (8) actions taken in response. Logs must be retained for 5 years.
SB 553 requires employers to review and update their WVPP at least annually. The review must also occur after any workplace violence incident, when new hazards are identified, and when a new hazard assessment is conducted.
Each worksite with different hazard profiles should have a site-specific plan. If your locations are substantially similar, a single plan with location-specific appendices may suffice. Each location must still have its own hazard assessment.
About Cynserus
No. Cynserus generates compliance documents based on your intake information and applicable law. We strongly recommend having an attorney review your final plan before adoption.
You complete a 10-minute intake form about your business, locations, and existing safety measures. Our AI analyzes your responses against SB 553 requirements and your industry hazard profile, then generates a site-specific WVPP following the Cal/OSHA 12-section model plan structure.
About 10 minutes to complete the intake form. Your custom documents are generated and delivered within 2 hours.
Yes, at your selected tier’s annual rate. You can cancel anytime from your portal before the renewal date.
Yes. Contact us and we'll apply the price difference as a credit toward your upgrade.
Pro clients receive automatic document updates when the 2026 permanent standard takes effect. Starter and Complete clients can purchase an update at a discounted rate.
Your plan should have been on file since July 2024.
10-minute intake. Documents delivered within hours. Starting at $399.
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