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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1856 FILED ON: 1/15/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2142
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Jay D. Livingstone
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act requiring human service employers to develop and implement programs that prevent
workplace violence.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Jay D. Livingstone8th Suffolk1/15/2025Michael D. BradySecond Plymouth and Norfolk2/28/2025 1 of 4
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1856 FILED ON: 1/15/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2142
By Representative Livingstone of Boston, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2142) of
Jay D. Livingstone and Michael D. Brady relative to requiring human service employers to
develop and implement programs that prevent workplace violence. Labor and Workforce
Development.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
_______________
An Act requiring human service employers to develop and implement programs that prevent
workplace violence.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Chapter 149 of the general laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition,
2is hereby amended by inserting after section 129D, the following new section:-
3 Section 129E. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following
4meanings:-
5 “Employee”, an individual employed by a human service employer as defined in this
6section.
7 “Human service employer”, any individual, partnership, association, corporation or, trust
8or any person or group of persons operating a human service agency as defined in this section
9and employing five or more employees. 2 of 4
10 “Human service agency”, an individual, partnership, association, corporation or trust or
11any person or group of persons that employs human service providers, including any public
12facility subject to licensing by, or operated by any division or department of the executive office
13of health and human services; any private, county or municipal facility, department or unit or
14vendor which is licensed or subject to licensing by any division or department of the executive
15office of health and human services.
16 (b) Each human service employer shall annually perform a risk assessment, in
17cooperation with the employees of the human service employer and any labor organization or
18organizations representing the employees, all factors, which may put any of the employees at risk
19of workplace assaults and homicide. The factors shall include, but not be limited to: working in
20public settings; guarding or maintaining property or possessions; working in high-crime areas;
21working late night or early morning hours; working alone or in small numbers; uncontrolled
22public access to the workplace; working in public areas where people are in crisis; working in
23areas where a patient or resident may exhibit violent behavior; working in areas with known
24security problems and working with a staffing pattern insufficient to address foreseeable risk
25factors.
26 (c) Based on the findings of the risk assessment, the human service employer shall
27develop and implement a program to minimize the danger of workplace violence to employees,
28which shall include appropriate employee training and a system for the ongoing reporting and
29monitoring of incidents and situations involving violence or the risk of violence. Employee
30training shall include, in addition to all employer training program policies, methods of reporting
31to appropriate public safety officials, bodies or agencies and processes necessary for the filing of
32criminal charges., Each human service employer shall develop a written violence prevention plan 3 of 4
33setting forth the employer’s workplace violence prevention plan. The human service employer
34shall make the plan available to each employee and provide the plan to any of its employees
35upon their request. The human service employer shall provide the plan to any labor organization
36or organizations representing any of its employees. The plan shall include, but not limited to: (i)
37a list of those factors and circumstances that may pose a danger to employees; (ii) a description
38of the methods that the human service employer will use to alleviate hazards associated with
39each factor; including, but not limited to, employee training and any appropriate changes in job
40design, staffing, security, equipment or facilities; and (iii) a description of the reporting and
41monitoring system.
42 (d) Each human service employer shall designate a senior manager responsible for the
43development and support of an in-house crisis response team for employee-victims of workplace
44violence. Said team shall implement an assaulted staff action program that includes, but is not
45limited to, group crisis interventions, individual crisis counseling, staff victims’ support groups,
46employee victims’ family crisis intervention, peer-help and professional referrals.
47 (e) The commissioner of labor shall adopt rules and regulations necessary to implement
48the purposes of this act. The rules and regulations shall include such guidelines as the
49commissioner deems appropriate regarding workplace violence prevention programs required
50pursuant to this act, and related reporting and monitoring systems and employee training.
51 (f) Any human service employer who violates any rule, regulation or requirement made
52by the department under authority hereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than two
53thousand dollars for each offense. The department or its representative or any person aggrieved,
54any interested party or any officer of any labor union or association, whether incorporated or 4 of 4
55otherwise, may file a written complaint with the district court in the jurisdiction of which the
56violation occurs and shall promptly notify the attorney general in writing of such complaint. The
57attorney general, upon determination that there is a violation of any workplace standard relative
58to the protection of the occupational health and safety of employees or of any standard of
59requirement of licensure, may order any work site to be closed by way of the issuance of a cease
60and desist order enforceable in the appropriate courts of the commonwealth.
61 (g) No employee shall be penalized by a human service employer in any way as a result
62of such employee’s filing of a complaint or otherwise providing notice to the department in
63regard to the occupational health and safety of such employee or their fellow employees exposed
64to workplace violence risk factors.