Oct. 02, 2018
HARRISBURG—The House has passed legislation sponsored by Rep. Todd Stephens (R-Montgomery) to authorize employers to voluntarily create workplace violence prevention policies.
Stephens introduced this legislation in response to a disturbing bill passed by Philadelphia’s City Council to ban bulletproof partitions in certain restaurants.
“Many of these establishments are open late and employees have been targeted for crimes from armed robbery to sexual assault,” Stephens said. “To protect employees, many responsible business owners have installed plexiglass barriers with windows or apertures, through which customers are served.”
In December, Philadelphia City Councilwoman Cindy Bass proposed a measure to prevent larger restaurants from using plastic barriers between workers and customers, even if those barriers are used to protect workers from crime.
House Bill 2071 supersedes local law by authorizing employers to implement safeguards for their employees, including the installation of barriers, security systems and other measures, as long as those policies and safeguards are consistent with state and federal law.
“Employers want to protect employees from injury or death,” Stephens said. “It’s absurd that any municipality would want to prevent employers from taking steps to protect their employees. I never imagined that this type of bill would be necessary.”
The bill now moves to the Senate.
Representative Todd Stephens
151st District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: David Foster
267.207.0207
dfoster@pahousegop.com
RepToddStephens.com/ Facebook.com/RepToddStephens