Cal-Peculiarities: How California Employment Law is Different 2022 Edition

352 | 2022 Cal-Peculiarities ©2022 Seyfarth Shaw LLP  www.seyfarth.com 14.17Protection From Covid-19 14.17.1 Cal/OSHA Emergency Temporary Covid-19 Standard The California Office of Administrative Law (OAL) has approved Cal/OSHA’s Covid-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) . 28 T he ETS, which applies to most California workplaces, requires employers to implement the following items in accordance with a written Covid-19 prevention program, which can be integrated into the IIPP or contained in a separate document:  Communicate to employees about the employer’s Covid-19 prevention procedures.  Identify, evaluate, and correct Covid-19 hazards.  Require and provide face coverings.  Provide respirators upon request for voluntary use to unvaccinated employees.  Advise employees they can wear face coverings at work regardless of their vaccination status, and that retaliation by the employer is illegal.  Use engineering controls, administrative controls and personal protective equipment under certain circumstances.  Follow procedures to investigate and respond to Covid-19 cases in the workplace.  Provide Covid-19 training to employees.  Make testing available at no cost to employees under various scenarios.  Exclude from the workplace Covid-19 cases and employees after close contact until they are no longer an infection risk.  Follow return to work criteria.  Maintain records of Covid-19 cases, and report serious illnesses to Cal/OSHA and to the local health department when required. Cal/OSHA has published a model Covid-19 prevention program and voluminous interpretive guidance on the ETS in the form of frequently asked questions . 29 The FAQs state that they will be updated on an ongoing basis. 14.17.2 Covid-19 Notifications and Reporting California employers must notify certain employees when there has been a Covid-19 case identified in the workplace, must provide information on Covid-19-related benefits and protections, and must provide information on the disinfection and safety measures to be taken at the worksite in response to the potential exposure. Employers must also notify local public health agencies when there are three or more Covid-19 cases in the workplace within a two-week perio d. 30 This 2022 law also enhanced Cal/OSHA’s enforcement of Covid-19 infection prevention requirements by authorizing Orders Prohibiting Use (shutdown orders) when Cal/OSHA deems a Covid-19 hazard an imminent hazard, and by enabling alleged serious violations to be issued more quickly.