Violence in the Workplace Law Summaries

Violence in the Workplace Law Summaries

South Carolina, Violence in the Workplace Law Summaries

South Carolina has laws relating to stalking, harassment, carrying concealed weapons, and use of deadly force.

WHAT THE EMPLOYER MUST DO

Executive order-state employees.- On October 25, 2002, the governor by executive order encouraged all state agencies to establish policies to prevent and address workplace domestic violence and to provide information and assistance to their employees who are struggling to overcome the problem of domestic violence.

The governor also ordered and directed all departments within the executive branch of state government to adopt and enforce a “zero tolerance” policy for workplace violence, with the following standards:

Each agency has a responsibility to provide reasonable protection for their employees and visitors. Management must assess the current level of security and related human resource policy and procedures, including but not limited to, management training, counseling and referral services, leave and benefit policies, and employee education or training programs to create a safe workplace for victims of domestic violence.

All forms of workplace violence are prohibited, to include but not limited to: use of force in order to harm, threats of intent to inflict injury, harassment, and intentional damage to property owned by the state, employees, visitors or vendors.

Any employee who feels subjected to or has witnessed violent, threatening or harassing behavior in the workplace must immediately report the incident to their supervisor, manager or human resources office. Any employee who believes that there is a serious threat to their safety or the safety of others that requires immediate attention must notify proper law enforcement authorities and his or her manager or supervisor. Any manager or supervisor receiving such a report shall immediately contact their human resource office to evaluate, investigate and take appropriate action.

Visitors and employees must be advised that the state will strictly enforce the provisions of Sec. 16-23-240 and 16-23-460, which prohibit carrying or displaying firearms or carrying concealed weapons in public buildings and adjacent areas. There is no reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to these items in the workplace and any such weapon or firearm will be confiscated.

In addition to the above mandates, agencies shall refer to the S.C. Budget & Control Board, Office of Human Resources Model Policy as a guide for further actions or considerations. Each agency must prominently post the policy and all managers and supervisors must clearly communicate this policy to all employees (Executive Order No. 2002-30, October 25, 2002).

Stalking.- Stalking means a pattern of words, conduct, written, or electronic that is intended to cause and does cause a targeted person and would cause a reasonable person in the targeted person's position to fear (SC CodeAnn, Sec. 16-3-1700, as amended by Act 81 (H. 3891), L. 2001):

1. death of the person or a member of his or her family;

2. assault upon the person or a member of his or her family;

3. bodily injury to the person or a member of his or her family;

4. criminal sexual contact on the person or a member of his or her family;

5. kidnapping of the person or a member of his or her family; or

6. damage to the property of the person or a member of his or her family.

Stalking does not include words or conduct that is protected by the South Carolina Constitution or the U.S. Constitution and does not apply to law enforcement officers or process servers performing their official duties (SC CodeAnn, Sec. 16-3-1700, as amended by Act 81 (H. 3891), L. 2001).

Harassment.- means a pattern of intentional, substantial, and unreasonable intrusion into the private life of a targeted person that causes the person and would cause a reasonable person in his or her position to suffer mental distress. Harassment may include, but is not limited to (SC CodeAnn, Sec. 16-3-1700, as amended by Act 81 (H. 3891), L. 2001):

1. following the targeted person as he or she moves from location to location;

2. visual, physical, verbal, written, or electronic contact that is initiated, maintained, or repeated after a person has been provided notice that the contact is unwanted;

3. surveillance of or the maintenance of a presence near the targeted person's residence, place of work, school, or another place regularly occupied by the targeted person; and

4. vandalism and property damage.

Harassment does not include words or conduct that is protected by the South Carolina Constitution or the U.S. Constitution and does not apply to law enforcement officers or process servers performing their official duties (SC CodeAnn, Sec. 16-3-1700, as amended by Act 81 (H. 3891), L. 2001).

Carrying concealed weapons.- It is unlawful for anyone to carry a pistol on the person, whether concealed or not, except as follows (SC CodeAnn, Sec. 16-23-20):

1. regular, salaried law enforcement officers and reserve police officers or a municipality or county of the state, uncompensated governor's constables, law enforcement officers of the federal government or other states when they are carrying out official duties while in South Carolina, deputy enforcement officers of the Natural Resources Enforcement Division of the Department of Natural Resources, and retired commissioned law enforcement officers employed as private detectives or private investigators;

2. members of the Armed Forces of the United States or of the National Guard, organized reserves, or the State Militia when on duty;

3. members of organizations authorized by law to purchase or receive firearms from the United States or South Carolina, or regularly enrolled members of clubs organized for the purpose of target shooting or collecting modern and antique firearms while these members are at or going to or from their places of target practice or their shows and exhibits;

4. licensed hunters or fisherpersons while hunting or fishing or going to or from a place for hunting or fishing;

5. any person regularly engaged in the business of manufacturing, repairing, repossession, or dealing in firearms, or the agent or representative of this person while possessing, using, or carrying a pistol in the usual or ordinary course of the business;

6. guards engaged in protection of property of the U.S. or any agency thereof;

7. any authorized military or civil organizations while parading or the members thereof when going to and from the places of meeting of their respective organizations;

8. any person in the person's home, on the person's real property or fixed place of business;

9. any person in a vehicle where the pistol is secured in a closed glove compartment, closed console or closed trunk;

10. any person carrying a pistol unloaded and in a secure wrapper from the place of purchase to his or her home or a fixed place of business or while in the process of the changing or moving of one's residence or the changing or moving of his or her fixed place of business;

11. any prison guard while engaged in his or her official duties;

12. any person who is granted a permit under provision of law by the State Law Enforcement Division to carry a pistol under conditions set forth in the permit.

A permit does not authorize the permit holder to carry a concealable weapon into a (SC CodeAnn, Sec. 23-31-215, as amended by H. 3010, L. 2001, effective May 28, 2002):

1. police, sheriff or highway patrol station or any other law enforcement office or facility;

2. detention facility, prison or jail or any other correctional facility or office;

3. courthouse or courtroom;

4. polling place on election days;

5. office of or the business meeting of the governing body of a county, public school district, municipality or special purpose district;

6. school or college athletic event not related to firearms;

7. day care facility or preschool facility;

8. place where the carrying of firearms is prohibited by federal law;

9. church or other established religious sanctuary unless express permission is given by the appropriate church official or governing body;

10. hospital, medical clinic, doctor's office or any other facility where medical services or procedures are performed, unless expressly authorized by the employer.

Valid out-of-state permits to carry concealable weapons held by a resident of a reciprocal state must be honored by South Carolina (SC CodeAnn, Sec. 23-31-215, as amended by H. 3010, L. 2001, effective May 28, 2002).

The law allowing individuals to obtain and use permits to carry concealable weapons does not limit the right of a public or private employer to prohibit a person who is licensed from carrying a concealable weapon on the premises of its business or workplace or while using any machinery, vehicle or equipment owned or operated by the business; or the right of a private property owner or person in legal possession or control to allow or prohibit the carrying of a concealable weapon on the premises.

The posting by an employer, owner or person in legal possession or control of a sign stating “No Concealable Weapons Allowed” constitutes notice to a person holding a permit that the employer, owner or person in legal possession or control requests that concealable weapons not be brought on the premises or into the workplace. The requirement for the posting of signs prohibiting the carrying of a concealable weapon on any premises may be satisfied by a sign expressing the prohibition in written language interdict or universal sign language (SC CodeAnn, Sec. 23-31-220; and Sec. 23-31-235, as amended by H. 3010, L. 2001, effective May 28, 2002).

No person holding a permit to carry a concealable weapon may carry a concealable weapon into the residence or dwelling place of another person without the express permission of the owner or person in legal control or possession (SC CodeAnn, Sec. 23-31-225).

Any person may carry a concealable weapon from an automobile or other motorized conveyance to a room or other accommodation the person has rented and for which an accommodation tax has been paid (SC CodeAnn, Sec. 23-31-230).

Use of deadly force (Protection of Persons and Property Act).- A person who is not engaged in unlawful activity and who is attacked in a place where he or she has a right to be, including, but not limited to, his or her place of business, has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force, if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to prevent death or great bodily injury to himself or herself or another person or to prevent the commission of a violent crime (SC CodeAnn, Sec. 16-11-430, as added by Act 379 (H. 4301), L. 2005, enacted June 9, 2006).

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South Carolina, Violence in the Workplace Law Summaries

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