Michigan is the latest state to codify protections for healthcare workers assaulted on the job, which one senior living association said will positively impact the state’s workforce shortage problem.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) recently signed into law two bills that create enhanced criminal fines for assaults, aggravated assaults and assaults with a deadly weapon against health professionals or volunteers while on the job.
HB 4520, sponsored by state Rep. Mike Mueller (R-Linden), increases fines against people who assault — without a weapon — health professionals or volunteers while on the job. HB 4521, sponsored by state Rep. Kelly Breen (D-Novi), increases fines against anyone who assaults health professionals or volunteers with a weapon.
In signing the bills, Whitmer said healthcare workers face “rising rates of bullying, viciousness and violence.” The Michigan Center for Assisted Living said assault on healthcare professionals is becoming a more frequent problem.
“They afford protection across the healthcare spectrum — hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and assisted living communities — and are an important part of an overall effort to address the workforce shortage in healthcare,” MCAL President and CEO Melissa Samuel told McKnight’s Senior Living. The association, she said, “will continue to advocate for and support legislation that makes it easier to attract and retain caregivers.”
LeadingAge Michigan President and CEO David E. Herbel told McKnight’s Senior Living that the bills extend specific consequences to licensed healthcare facilities, but all healthcare workers deserve protections.
“Workplace violence in healthcare has been an increasing problem since the pandemic and has consequences for the full range of senior care providers and professionals,” Herbel said. “While we believe that these protections should be included to all congregate senior facilities and other healthcare arenas, focusing on licensed settings is a good start.”
Mueller said HB 4520 is a step toward providing a secure workplace, discouraging acts of violence, and holding those who target healthcare workers with violence responsible for their actions.
Under HB 4520, anyone who assaults a healthcare worker would face a misdemeanor charge and a fine of up to $1,000, or both. If that assault is upgraded to an aggravated assault for inflicting serious injury, the penalty would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison and/or a fine of up to $2,000.
Under HB 4521, an assault with a deadly weapon on a healthcare worker or volunteer would be a felony with up to four years in prison and/or a fine of up to $4,000.
Both bills take effect in February.
National effort to address workplace violence
At least 38 states have enhanced penalties for assaulting nurses, and several states apply enhanced penalties to assaults on specific healthcare workers or in specific settings. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is considering a rule to address workplace violence in assisted living and other long-term care and healthcare settings.
Following a December 2016 request for information from OSHA on the effects of violence in residential facilities, long-term care facilities and other settings, as well as prevention strategies, a broad coalition of labor unions and National Nurses United petitioned the agency for a standard for preventing workplace violence.
OSHA granted the petitions in 2017, and the Biden administration included a workplace violence prevention in healthcare rule on its fall 2022 agenda of regulatory actions.
According to OSHA, workplace violence is more widespread in the healthcare and social assistance sectors — which includes residential care and community care — than in any other industry. In 2019, the rate of nonfatal workplace violence incidents that required a worker to take time off was almost five times greater in privately operated healthcare and social assistance establishments than in private industry overall, according to the agency.
