SECTION XI: VIOLENCE IN THE WORKPLACE - ANTI-VIOLENCE POLICY

The County is committed to providing a safe and secure working environment to its public officials and employees, and has established this anti-violence policy.

A. DEFINITIONS:

• Workplace violence : any incident in which any employee is abused, threatened, battered or assaulted at the workplace.
  
• Abuse : language that condemns or vilifies usually unjustly, intemperately, and angrily; or physical maltreatment.
  
• Battery : the unlawful touching of another without his/her consent.
  
• Assault : Any willful attempt or threat to inflict injury upon another person, when coupled with an apparent present ability so to do, and any intentional display of force such as would give the victim reason to fear or expect immediate bodily harm. An assault may be committed without actually touching, or striking, or doing bodily harm to the person of another (e.g., lifting a fist in a threatening manner);
  
• Threat : a communicated intent to inflict physical or other harm on any person or on property.
  
• Intimidation : to make timid or fearful; frighten; to compel or deter by or as if by threats. Such fear must arise from the willful conduct of the accused, rather than from some mere temperamental timidity of the victim; however, the fear of the victim need not be so great as to result in terror, panic or hysteria.

B. GENERAL POLICIES:

Any form of violence is not tolerated, whether obvious and overt, such as physical assault and verbal abuse; or subtle, such as intimidation and threatening body language that are more difficult to quantify. It is mandatory that employees report any instances or threats of workplace violence. Examples include, but are not limited to:

A. Hitting or shoving an individual, or threatening to do so.

B. Verbal abuse in person or by telephone, including voice mail.

C. Written abuse by U.S. mail, intra- or inter-office mail, or by e-mail.

D. Harassing surveillance or stalking.

E. Unauthorized possession or implied use of firearms or any type of weapon.

F. Destruction or threat of destruction of County property.

G. Making either direct or veiled verbal threats of harm (i.e., predicting that bad things are going to happen to a co-employee or supervisor).

H. Words or actions that are extremely unusual, disruptive and/or completely inconsistent with the workplace.

Any violent act or threat against a person’s life, health, family, or property, directly or indirectly, regardless of intent, made by or to any County employee is unacceptable. Such act, if caused by a County employee, will result in discipline, up to and including separation from County employment. This policy applies to all threats or acts of violence made on County property, owned or leased, or which arise out of County employment.

If a violent act results in an injury to a County employee, the County may report the incident to the appropriate law enforcement agency. Nothing in this policy shall be construed as prohibiting an employee from reporting an incident to a law enforcement agency.

C. PROCEDURE: In the event of an incident, the target employee shall, if possible:

1. IMMEDIATE DANGER: Dial 9-1-1 or 9-9-1-1 for emergency assistance. Employees are responsible for knowing how to summon emergency help from their particular offices.

2 . POTENTIALLY VIOLENT SITUATION:

(a) Stay calm;

(b) Speak in a calm voice, businesslike, and clearly;

(c) Be careful of your language - do not be verbally abusive;

(d) Be non-threatening;

(e) Keep a distance;

(f) Attempt to position yourself so that office furniture or other objects separate you and the perpetrator;

(g) Position yourself so that an exit route is accessible;

(h) Do not touch the perpetrator;

(i) Do not attempt to physically disarm a perpetrator holding a weapon;

(j) Obey the perpetrator’s orders when you are physically in danger.

3. POST INCIDENT:

(a) The target employee shall immediately notify their department head and Risk Management. If the employee’s department head is the perpetrator, the notification shall be made only to Risk Management.

(b) A “Workplace Violence Report” (attached as Exhibit 12) shall be completed by the target employee and forwarded to Risk Management within twenty-four hours of the incident.

(c) Upon notification from the target employee and receipt of the “Workplace Violence Report”, the Risk Manager shall conduct an investigation. The depth of the investigation shall be commensurate with the severity of the incident.

(d) The Risk Manager shall make a decision whether to convene the Threat Management Team for review and appropriate action. The Risk Manager may request assistance from one or more members of the Threat Management Team without convening the entire Team.

(e) The Risk Manager’s findings shall be put in writing. Copies of said findings shall be provided to affected employees.

(f) To the extent possible, confidentiality of the facts and circumstances surrounding an incident of workplace violence will be maintained. All employees involved in the incident and/or investigation, whether the target employee, perpetrator or witnesses, shall not discuss the incident with anyone other than the Risk Manager, County Counsel, or Threat Management Team. Any requests for information, whether verbal or written, shall be referred to Risk Management.

D. THREAT MANAGEMENT TEAM:

1. The Threat Management Team comprised of the Risk Manager, Personnel Director and representatives from the County Counsel’s Office, Sheriff’s Department and Mental Health shall provide input into management, legal, security and psychological issues and shall make recommendations regarding discipline, counseling, fitness for duty exams and special security measures.

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Copyright © 2001 County of Inyo
Last Updated: October 13, 2005