Do people working with mentally ill patients have rights if they are continually getting beaten up?

The employer should be providing a reasonably safe place to work. However, when working with this population that can be difficult. Without knowing more, a more complete answer cannot be given.

Pyschiatric Tecnicians at Patton and Metropolitan and all over California file Workers Compensation claims every day. Your friend can claim Workers Compensation benefits for each injury.Most don't the physician State Compensation Insurance Fund approves just send everyone back to full duty with Tylenol and they get docked pay for sitting in a waiting room to see a physician's assistant for 4 hours just to get a tylenol and returned to full duty. There are Cal=OSHA reg for workers handling the mentally impaired; if your friend sees that the regulations are not being followed resulting in her sustaining injury, she can file a workers compensation claim with a petition for serious & willful misconduct of the employer and file a CalOSHA complaint. Then she runs the risk that a physician might write she has too many physical limitations to return to the heavy work of restraining the mentally ill, and she will be forced to retire and be out of a job.Most psych techs had to work soooo long to pass the test then pass the physical evaluation and then pass probation, they can't imagine jeopardizing their job for a comp claim or an OSHA complaint.

Yes. Find a new job.

Two issues come immediately to mind. The first has to do with the treatment of injuries; the second has to do with the work environment. 1. The employer has the responsibility to pay for medical treatment for any injuries suffered on the workplace. This would in most circumstances occur through Worker's Compensation. 2. The employer also has an obligation to provide the employee with a safe workplace. These regulations are generally enforced by OSHA (a federal agency) and Cal/OSHA (a California agency). Employees who believe that the workplace is unsafe or unhealthful have a right to file a complaint with Cal/OSHA, and may not be discriminated against for having filed such a complaint. It may be that your friend's employer has published an employee handbook. Your friend should review that handbook for internal procedures on reporting work accidents or possible unsafe working conditions, and report those matters to the proper authorities. More information on Cal/OSHA can be found here. http://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/calOSHAemployeerights.html

Yes, people who work with mentally ill patients have rights. I have represented many people who work in state mental institutions who have been assaulted by various types of patients or inmates. If this occurs in California, you have rights under California workers compensation laws. Assaults of this nature result in both physical and psychological injuries. In addition to workers compensation remedies, unsafe work conditions should be reported to California OSHA so that the evaluation can be made to see if this is a safe work environment. If the mental institution is found to have continual violations or have an unsafe work environment there are remedies under the labor code for serious and willful misconduct of the employer. It is recommended that your friend contact an experienced workers compensation attorney as there are various time limits which may restrict the claim.

Yes, you have rights. The employer can be forced to take steps to make the workplace reasonably safe. However, it is impossible to protect employees from every possible harm.

That is a difficult question to answer without more facts (and probably even with more facts). No one should be subjected to physical abuse at their employment. However, there are certain jobs where that is a distinct possibility. Has your friend been adequately trained in how to deal with an abusive patient? Is she repeatedly being put in dangerous situations, given her size versus those of the patients? If so, she should be able discuss the situation with her employer and get some relief. If she is already trained and is inefficient at stopping or diffusing such situations, she may be in the wrong line of work (but that would not necessarily rule out her getting relief from her employer).

Your friend has the right to expect that an employer will provide her with a safe place to work and it sounds like this is not happening. She should ask that the mentally ill patients she is working with be placed in restraints so they can't beat her up. If the employer refuses to do this she should quit her job and file for unemployment until she gets a new job because the employer has refused to provide her with a safe working place. I assume she works in some kind of an institutional setting and she should make her complaints known to the human resources people in writing and keep a copy in case the employer challenges her right to collect unemployment compensation because of the unsafe work conditions. She might also consider reporting this to the licensing agency that regulates the business where she works.

The employer has a duty to keep the employee safe in the working place. Reporting the activity to the State might help but first I would try approaching the employer to make changes.