UPE held a follow-up meet and confer with Sacramento County regarding its updated Workplace Violence Prevention Policy (WVPP). State legislation necessitated changes to how all employers handle workplace violence. At the meeting, UPE checked in to see how the new program was working in practice. The County stated that there are issues with not all departments updating the mandatory log that documents all incidents of workplace violence in the County. Currently, the County estimates that only 66 of 88 incidents of workplace violence have been added to the log. As a reminder, all employees can request copies of the log for the County or their department at any time. There have been some technological issues resulting in online reports of workplace violence being sent to the wrong department. In addition, some people who complete the training are not receiving certificates of completion. The County is working to address these issues. UPE asked how the County will ensure departments are entering reports into the log. The County stated they have hired new staff in the safety office, and part of their duties will be monitoring departmental compliance with the WVPP.
In order to continue monitoring working conditions for our members, UPE requested copies of all workplace violence incident logs for the County. In addition, under the law, each department is required to submit its own plans for implementing the new WVPP in their departments. These plans were all due at the end of October. UPE requested copies of all the plans. However, the County let UPE know that not all departments have submitted their plans as required. UPE will continue to monitor how the County handles workplace violence and encourages all members to reach out to UPE if they feel an incidence of workplace violence was not taken seriously by their department.