Worsening Incivility in the Workplace, A Potential Driver of Workplace Violence

Workplace violence ranges from verbal threats to murder. Across the spectrum, it imposes human and economic costs on the employer. Well-constructed workplace prevention plans in conjunction with other measures reducethe risk of violence at the office and prepare organizations to manage any violence that does occur. In some states, workplace violence prevention is required. Whether required by law or not, investment in prevention mitigates risk and reinforces staff safety.

Worsening Incivility

In 2024, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Civility Index reported that political division inside (47%) and outside of work (49%) were contributing to workplace incivility. At the time it was a 20+% increase. In 2026, the numbers and impact have worsened with over 50% of workers (57%) reporting that they believe society is uncivil. The weight of incivility manifests in the workplace as increased absenteeism, reduced productivity, and negative effects on corporate culture.

The impact of worsening incivility is two-fold:

Employees: Increased risk of disgruntlement, workplace violence, intellectual property loss, sabotage, and workplace activism.
On the bottom-line: $2.6 billion dollars per day lost due to absenteeism and reduced productivity

How do we define Workplace Violence?

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) defines workplace violence as, “…any act of threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threating behavior that occurs at the work site.” The U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) views workplace violence as ranging from offensive or threatening speech to homicide. NIOSH divides workplace violence into four categories:

The scale of workplace violence nationally is difficult to estimate precisely given the variance across different workplace violence metrics. However, there is data that clearly establishes the prevalence of workplace violence is not evenly distributed across all industries. The risk is concentrated in high-exposure roles, particularly corrections officers, security personnel, and law enforcement. As a result, the public sector experiences rates roughly three times higher than the private sector. Within the private sector, healthcare and social assistance workers face the greatest risk, with injury rates approximately five times higher than the overall private sector baseline. This challenge has intensified since the COVID-19 pandemic, with some emergency departments reporting up to a twofold increase in violent incidents.

As most nonfatal workplace violence is not reported to police, the scale of the problem may be underreported in government data. This could explain the gap between the prevalence of violence detected by government sources versus non-governmental sources.

Why Workplace Violence Matters

Workplace violence increases rates of absenteeism, decreases employee productivity, and negatively impacts the mental health of employees. Further, workplace violence is costly to employers, exposing them to potential compensation claims and litigation costs. The monetary cost of workplace violence in 2016 was estimated to be as high as $55.86 billion per year.

*Figure 1 - Map of the United States highlighting in green the states that, as of April 2026, have enacted workplace violence prevention laws or have proposed related legislation.

In addition to human and economic costs, employers may have a legal obligation to implement workplace violence prevention measures depending on their state and circumstance. While there is no federal law specific to workplace violence prevention, OSHA’s General Duty Clause (Section 5(a)(1)) has been used in cases of workplace violence enforcement with mixed results.

2019: Violation upheld where employees were exposed to assault risks from individuals with known violent histories.
2024: Violation vacated involving exposure to violence while enforcing a no-firearms policy at a shopping mall.

Pending federal legislation could require certain employers to implement workplace violence prevention measures. The Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, reintroduced on April 1, 2025, and currently in committee after failing to pass the Senate in prior sessions, would—if enacted—direct the Department of Labor to mandate prevention plans, training, and incident tracking requirements for healthcare employers.

How Can Workplace Violence Be Prevented

Research demonstrates that implementing environmental design changes (i.e., physical security measures) in conjunction with employee training reduces the probability of workplace violence. Notably, the research also indicates that a comprehensive approach is better than adopting a singular method. This research dovetails with recommendations issued by OSHA and state-level requirements.

OSHA recommends that a violence prevention program include:

Management commitment and employee participation
Worksite analysis
Hazard prevention and control
Safety and health training and
Recordkeeping and program evaluation

These recommendations mirror the themes of several state-level requirements. For example, Connecticut requires healthcare institutions to have workplace violence prevention committees, half of whose members must be employees. These committees are required to carry out annual risk assessments and build plans based on those assessments. Sentinel would go further to recommend implementation of behavioral threat assessment teams to support committee activities and corporate security teams. Threat monitoring for narratives would also allow for more proactive measures to mitigate the impact of external variables on employees. Ultimately, prevention lies in preparation which combines an intelligence-led security function with cross functional teams to ensure the safety and security of the workplace.