Cal/OSHA has quietly made several updates to the FAQs for its COVID-19 Prevention Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS). The additions shed additional light on, and in some regards revise previous guidance, relating to Isolation and Quarantine, Vaccines, and Exclusion Pay.
Continue Reading California’s ETS Updates Since Biden’s Vaccine Mandate Announcement
Earlier, President Joe Biden announced vaccination requirements for the federal government workers but allowed them to “opt out” if they agreed to more stringent mitigation measures. He also implored private sector employers to encourage vaccination, and many employers began implementing mandatory vaccination plans or incentivizing employees to get vaccinated.
Continue Reading Biden’s Path Out of the Pandemic: New COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates for Large Employers, Federal Contractors and Health Care Workers
The CDC’s guidelines state that individuals should quarantine for 14 days after contact with someone with COVID-19, which can be reduced to 10 days if no symptoms developed after exposure. Now that vaccines are becoming more widely available, employers are asking whether the quarantine period can be shortened or eliminated for their workers who have received the vaccine.
The CDC has stated that the quarantine period can be eliminated entirely for a fully vaccinated individual who meets all criteria – but the guidance is conditioned on the individual meeting all three criteria:
The criteria for allowing a vaccinated individual to skip quarantine – and continue working – after exposure to a COVID-19 case, are:
Continue Reading Updated CDC Guidance: Fully Vaccinated Individuals Need Not Quarantine After COVID-19 Exposure
As we wrote on December 3, 2020, an emergency COVID-19 rule was adopted and approved by the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board. The regulation contains significant new requirements including a mandatory written “COVID-19 Prevention Program,” paid time off in certain circumstances when a “COVID-19 case” is excluded from the workplace, notice and training requirements, and requires that employers offer testing in some situations.
The emergency standards will remain in effect for 180 days unless renewed, withdrawn or replaced. It applies to all California employers covered by Cal/OSHA (generally, employers with ten or more employees at any time during the year).
Continue Reading A Deeper Dive into the New Cal/OSHA Temporary Emergency Standards for COVID-19 Prevention
With 31% (or more) of American workers working from home as of April 2020, according to a survey cited by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and probably even more since then, most employers face important questions: what is the obligation to keep track of employees’ active work time and pay them for it? On August
