Section 2
Guidelines for Employers

After reading these guidelines employers should have a better understanding of the most important steps they can take to minimize the impact of workplace violence and threats. This section concludes with a description of all employers' legal obligations and potential liabilities regarding workplace violence issues.

I. Pre-Incident Violence Prevention and Preparation

Pre-Employment Screening

Employers who conduct effective background checks can often improve productivity and reduce the number of personnel prone to exhibiting violent behaviors.

• Use a job application form that includes an appropriate waiver and release (permitting the employer to verify the information reported on the application). Prior to hiring any applicant, check references and inquire about any prior incidents of violence. In addition, conduct thorough background checks and use drug screening to the extent practicable.
• Also, evaluate the need for screening contract personnel who work at your facility. Vendors and service organizations whose personnel make frequent visits or spend long periods of time working at your facility should certify that those individuals meet or exceed your Firm' safety and security requirements. Conversely, contractors who assign personnel to work at other organizations' facilities should also consider the host firm's safety and security policies and practices.
• Recommend to legislative bodies that access to conviction records in all states be made available to businesses when conducting their background investigation process.

Take Advantage of Community Resources

There are many programs and resources in the community that can help you develop your workplace violence plans. Some examples follow.

• Invite local police into your firm to promote good relations and to help them become more familiar with your facility. The police can explain what actions they typically take during incidents involving threats and violence. Such visits can help your firm work better with police when incidents do occur.
• Use law enforcement and security experts to educate employees on how to prevent violence in the workplace. Such experts can provide crime prevention information, conduct building security inspections, and teach employees how to avoid being a victim.
• Consider utilizing local associations and community organizations, such as the Chamber of Commerce, security organizations, and law enforcement groups, as a resource in order to stay abreast of crime trends and prevention techniques. Communicate to your employees those issues and trends which pose a significant threat.

Institute and Review Security Procedures

Periodic review of security policies and procedures will help minimize your organization's vulnerability to violence and other forms of crime.

• Conduct security surveys at scheduled intervals to help determine whether modifications should be made. Four examples of improvements that might be considered during a security survey are:

  a) Improved lighting in and around the place of work (including parking lots);

  b) Arranging escorts for employees who are concerned about walking to and from the parking lot;

  c) Having reception areas that can be locked to prevent outsiders from going into the offices when no receptionist is on duty; and

  d) When appropriate, having more than one employee on the premises.

• Use, maintain, and regularly review appropriate physical security measures, such as electronic access control systems, silent alarms, metal detectors, and video cameras in a manner consistent with applicable state and federal laws.
• Limit former employees' access to the workplace as appropriate.
• Develop policies regarding visitor access within facilities. For example, if warranted, require visitors to sign in and out at reception, wear an identification badge while on the business premises, and/or be escorted.

Improve Internal/External Communications

Employees should have a means to alert others in the workplace to a dangerous situation (see Case Study 2) and to provide information requested by emergency responders.

• If appropriate, establish an internal emergency code word or phone number similar to 911.

• Place lists of contact persons, crisis management plans, evacuation plans, and building plans where they can be made available to emergency responders. Keep important telephone numbers in several places (including offsite locations), available to all appropriate managers and employees.

Establish Ground Rules for Behavior

Organizations that do not tolerate drug abuse or aggressive interaction lower the risk of workplace violence.

• Organizations should inform employees about policies concerning drugs, violent acts, and possession of weapons so that employees know exactly what is expected of them.
• Implement procedures for your organization to become a drug-free workplace. This includes prohibiting unauthorized use or possession, or being under the influence of alcohol at work.
• Disseminate to all employees a policy of zero tolerance to threats or actual violence at the workplace. For example, discipline or terminate every threat-maker if the complaint is substantiated.
• Establish a policy applicable to everyone employed by the company or on company property, including the company parking lot, prohibiting the possession of weapons which have not been authorized by your organization.

Employers may use the Model Policy to develop their own company policy on violence and threatening behavior in the workplace.

Employee and Manager Training

In order for policies and procedures concerning workplace violence to be effective, they must be Implemented in conjunction with appropriate employee training.

• Train managers and other selected individuals on appropriate ways to handle employee termination's, layoffs, and discipline. Examples include appropriate use of Employee Assistance Program (EAP) counselors and outplacement services; providing managers with sensitivity and aggression management training; and, when possible, assessing violence potential of individuals prior to termination and taking appropriate measures such as hiring additional security.
• Suggest local police encourage victims of threats and violence outside the workplace to notify their employers about the incident when warranted so their employers can take appropriate measures to help protect them and their coworkers from possible future incidents of violence at the work site. It is recommended that employers reinforce this message to their employees. Upon notification, employers should provide receptionists and other front-line personnel having a need to know a description or picture of the alleged offender and inform them what actions they should take in the event that individual seeks entry or contact.
• Have available for your employees information about the potential for violence in the workplace, how to recognize the early warning signs of a troubled or potentially violent person, how to respond to those individuals, and how to report such incidents. See the following: Warning Signs of Potentially Violent Individuals, and Personal Conduct to Minimize Violence for details on identifying and conducting yourself around potentially violent individuals.

Prevention Programs

Companies need to have programs in place to assist troubled employees and to address managerial concerns before violence or threats arise.

• Provide confidential employee assistance programs (EAP) to deal with emotional, substance abuse, marital, and financial problems. Or, provide employees with a list of relevant community resources. Employees, supervisors, and managers should be actively encouraged to use these services.
• Conduct exit interviews when employees retire, quit, or are transferred or terminated to identify potential violence-related security or management problems.

Reporting Procedures

All employees should know how and where to report violent acts or threats of violence.

• Encourage employees to report and establish avenues of communication so they can do so without fear of reprisal or criticism:
  1. Incidents of threats, harassment, and other aggressive behavior (see Recognizing Inappropriate Behavior for more details);
  2. Conditions where employees are subjected to excessive or unnecessary risk of violence; and
  3. Suggestions for reducing risk of violence or improving negative working conditions, such as establishing a telephone hot-line, identifying specific points of contact in the organization for addressing those issues, having a suggestion box or computer bulletin board, or providing an ombudsman.
• Establish a policy to assure that reports which are submitted from outside the company, concerning potentially violent people who are likely to be present at your worksite are routed to the appropriate manager and then investigated. The types of information collected during an investigation are discussed in: Threat Incident Report.

Prepare a Threat Management Plan

It is important to prepare a threat management plan so that when a threat occurs everyone will know that there is a policy and will understand what to do. The plan might include:

• Designating a threat management team;
• Providing guidance concerning liaison with outside assistance;
• Providing guidance developed in concert with local authorities for collecting and preserving evidence, including interviews of involved parties;
• Managing of communications regarding the incident, for example, media relations, internal communications, and possible use of a rumor control desk;
• Managing the release of sensitive information where appropriate;
• Assigning responsibilities for contacting the families of victims;
• Managing clean-up and repairs;
• Making decisions about returning to work;
• Notifying customers and suppliers about changes in orders;
• Providing employees and their families with information about their benefits; and
• Managing operations and trauma care after the crisis.

The threat management team is a critical component of every successful threat management plan. For more information about the composition and role of the threat management team, see Threat Management Team.

II. Addressing Violent or Threatening Incidents

Use All Available Resources

When an incident occurs, bring together all the necessary resources, which may include help from outside the company.

• When a serious threat is made, consult the sources available to you to help evaluate the level of risk posed by the threat-maker.
• When appropriate, obtain fitness-for-duty evaluations of employees exhibiting seriously dysfunctional behaviors at the workplace.
• Maintain an internal tracking system of all threats and incidents of violence.
• When a threat has been made or an incident has occurred, evaluate the situation and, if warranted, notify the potential victims and/or police (see Case Study 3, Small Business Threatened by Former Employee).

Evaluate Security After a Threat

The threat management team should review risks and determine what additional security measures, if any, should be put in place after an incident.

• If warranted, provide increased work-site protection when serious threats of violence have been made. Such protection might include requesting additional police patrols, hiring security guards, and/or alerting organizations or people who might be affected.
• Consider the costs and benefits of providing increased protection to threatened employees. This could include changing their phone numbers, relocating them, loaning them a cellular phone, or providing them with a quick response distress button or information about where this device can be obtained.
• Seek guidance and training on what procedures should be taken to screen mail and packages after a threat has been made or after a large-scale layoff. Contact the U.S. Postal Service or local police for guidance.
• After a violent incident evaluate the potential for further violence at your workplace and reassess your threat management plan.
• Counsel potential victims about the various civil and criminal options available to them, such as obtaining a restraining order.

Also see Considerations Regarding Restraining Orders and Other Interventions.

III. Managing the Aftermath of an Incident

Trauma Plan

Helping employees with the psychological consequences of workplace violence is the humane thing to do. It also greatly helps to reduce financial losses caused by absence, loss of productivity among employees, and workers' compensation claims.

After a violent incident, provide information and offer counseling services to employees and their families which may include:

• Providing a debriefing 24 to 72 hours after a serious incident of violence to include all affected employees so that the cause of the violence and expectations can be discussed, a plan of action can be addressed, and those needing further counseling can be identified;
• Providing a group debriefing after a serious incident of violence for immediate coworkers in how to communicate with the victim/coworker who is re-entering the job after absence; and
• Providing ongoing follow-up treatment, as needed.

Case Study 4, Preparation Pays Off, describes how a company successfully coped with a terrible incident because it had made plans in advance.

Support Prosecution of Offenders

To prevent further incidents from occurring and to show their support of the victims, employers should support prosecution of offenders.

• Accommodate employees after a violent incident so they can make court appearances and work with the prosecution.
• Cooperate with law enforcement authorities to help identify and prosecute offenders through the use of any means at your disposal, such as crime stoppers, rewards.

IV. Legal Obligations and Duties of Employers

The duty of an employer to provide a reasonably safe workplace may arise from a variety of federal or state statutes, regulations, or judicial decisions. Employers seeking to avoid liability for acts of workplace violence should become familiar with the legal requirements. The following highlights provide a foundation for the legal audit of your current business policies and practices for reducing workplace violence.

Workplace Safety

• Compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and similar state laws, may contribute positively to reduction of the risk of workplace violence.
• Many state courts have ruled that an employer is liable for the dangerous acts of employees if such harm was foreseeable. The employer must use reasonable care in hiring, training, supervising and retaining employees.
• Case law in some jurisdictions suggests that the employer may be liable for the negligent acts of independent contractors, where such contractors are incompetent, negligently selected, or engaged in abnormally dangerous activities.
• Under both federal and state statutes, the employer may be liable for failure to intervene in situations of harassment of employees by supervisors or management, and in situations involving coworkers where the employer was aware of the harassment.
• The employer may be liable for the acts of an employee who is intoxicated or otherwise a risk to others, if the employer exercises control over the employee and is negligent in exercising that control.
• Employers are expected to use reasonable security precautions and other measures to minimize the risk of foreseeable criminal intrusion (based upon the prior experience of the employer, its location in a dangerous area, or industry victimization base rates).
• Employers should be cautious about reducing the level of security because of financial pressures. To avoid or reduce liability the employer should first assess whether the level of security risk justifies reducing security measures.

Training Issues

• Various federal and state laws or case law may require the employer to establish written policy and procedures dealing with harassment, as well as the training of employees as to company policies prohibiting sexual or racial harassment, fighting, and the use of drugs or alcohol in the workplace.
• The employer may avoid or reduce liability for acts of violence in the workplace where it is shown that the employer conducted training for employees on the recognition of warning signs of potentially violent behavior, and on precautions which may enhance the personal safety of the employee at work.

Duty to Warn

• In some jurisdictions, an employer, employment counselor, or therapist may have a duty to warn an identified employee, spouse, or third party of a threat made by another to do bodily harm to that person.

Nondiscrimination

• Under state and federal law, the employer must refrain from retaliation against employees who express their concerns regarding unsafe working conditions, such as threats of violence.
• The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and related state statutes prohibit employers from discriminating against qualified individuals with physical or mental disabilities. An employee could claim that his violent or threatening behavior was the result of a disability and request reasonable accommodation from the employer. While federal law and judicial decisions provide that an employer may disqualify an employee who is a danger to self or others, the employer may be obliged to investigate a claim of disability to determine whether dismissal is necessary for the protection of the employee or others in the workplace.

Respecting Employee Rights

• In the event that an employer warns employees of an individual's threat of violence, the employer could be liable for defamation if the employer is subsequently proved to be mistaken. The employer can minimize this liability by conducting a prompt investigation of all allegations and by notifying only those individuals who have a need to know of the risk.
• An employee terminated for having violent tendencies could file a wrongful discharge suit against the employer if the employee disputes his employer's characterization. A thorough investigation of complaints against an employee should be conducted prior to termination. Employers should consider suspension of the employee with pay while the charges are being investigated. The employer might also consider offering the employee a chance to resign as an alternative to termination.
• The employer must respect the privacy rights and confidentiality rights of employees during any investigation.

The above list of legal obligations is not meant to be comprehensive. To find out more about the requirements in your state, refer to your state statutes or ask your legal counsel.