On November 19, 2020 the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Cal-OSHA) voted to approve a temporary emergency standard related to COVD-19 regulations that will impose heavier requirements on employers. These regulations took effect December 1, 2020, and will last for 180 days while an advisory committee determines permanent rules.
The new rules require all California employers to:
- Write and implement a COVID-19 Prevention Program;
- Notify exposed employees of potential COVID-19 exposure within one business day;
- Track all COVID-19 cases in the workplace;
- Maintain medical records related to COVID-19 and provide those records to the local health department, California Department of Public Health (CDPH), Cal-OSHA and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) upon request;
- Ensure that COVID-19 cases are excluded from the workplace until the return to work requirements are met;
- Exclude employees with COVID-19 exposure from the workplace for 14 days;
- For employees excluded from work and otherwise able and available to work, employers shall continue and maintain an employee’s earnings, seniority, and all other employee rights and benefits, including the employee’s right to their former job status, as if the employee had not been removed from their job.