What if an employee complains of sexual assault and/or rape by someone at work?

If an employee has filed a complaint with a law enforcement agency and/or a sexual harassment complaint containing allegations of a crime such as sexual assault or rape, immediately suspend the alleged harasser pending the results of a criminal and/or workplace investigation. Follow your own policies as to whether the suspension is with or without pay. You have a duty to provide a safe workplace. Call security and notify them of the suspension and that the suspended employee is not to be allowed back on company property until further notice. Contact your employee assistance personnel or rape crisis personnel to assist the subject. Notify the appropriate law enforcement agency. If the employee needs time off, determine whether any leave laws may apply, such as time off for victims of sexual assault.

Additionally, California law contains general industry workplace violence safety requirements applicable to nearly all California employers. This law requires covered employers to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan (WVPP) either as a standalone document or as part of their required Injury and Illness Prevention Plan (IIPP), which must include procedures for investigating and responding to reports of workplace violence and recording the information in workplace violence incidence logs.

Violent incidents like the one addressed above should be addressed under employers’ WVPP. Read more about the Workplace Violence Prevention Plan in the HR Library and use CalChamber’s Workplace Violence Prevention Checklist to help create your WVPP.

Read more about Responding to Workplace Violence in the HR Library.