Articles Discussing California Workplace Health And Safety Issues.

California is extending COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave (SPSL) through the end of 2022 under a bill signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 29, 2022. Assembly Bill (AB) 152 will also set up a program to provide grants of up to $50,000 to qualified small businesses to

Beginning January 1, 2023, employees throughout California will be able to use sick leave or take leave under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) to care for a “designated person.”  Under Assembly Bill (AB) 1041, a designated person is defined as any individual related by blood or whose association with

On September 29, 2022, California’s governor signed Assembly Bill (AB) 152, which immediately extends the obligation of employers with 26 or more employees to provide COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave (“CA 2022 SPSL”) through December 31, 2022, amends standards for when employees use CA 2022 SPSL because they test

California has extended COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave (SPSL) through December 31, 2022. On September 29, 2022, California’s Governor signed Assembly Bill (AB) 152 which amends the existing SPSL law and provides for state grants to certain employers.  

Changes to Supplemental Paid Sick Leave

The previous version of SPSL

California passed Assembly Bill (AB) 2089, which amends the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) to include mental health application information under the definition of medical information. Under the revisions to CMIA, mental health application information is defined as information related to a consumer’s inferred or diagnosed mental health or

Effective January 1, 2024, it will be unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a person in hiring, termination, or any term or condition of employment based upon: (1) a person’s use of cannabis off the job and away from the workplace, except for pre-employment drug screenings; and (2) an employer-required drug screening test that reveals non-psychoactive cannabis metabolites in samples of hair, blood, urine, or other bodily fluids.

On September 13, 2022, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) issued guidance regarding protection of workers from monkeypox (MPX) under the Aerosol Transmissible Disease (ATD) Standard, California Code of Regulations, Title 8 Section 5199.

There have been over 4,500 monkeypox (MPX) cases in California so far this year. Cal/OSHA recently provided guidance on MPX to ensure California employees are best protected from the disease. The guidance applies to all workplaces covered by the Aerosol Transmissible Diseases (ATD) standard (Title 8 Code of Regulations Section 5199) which includes health care facilities, public health services, police, medical transport, and more.

As Monkeypox (MPX) continues to be an issue throughout California, Cal/OSHA issued guidance to assist in protecting employees. However, this guidance applies only to workplaces covered by the Aerosol Transmissible Diseases (ATD) standard, which is notable because the guidance itself states that “MPX spreads primarily by close or direct contact

Governor Gavin Newsome signed into law September 19, 2022 several measures relating to marijuana, including one that prohibits employment discrimination based on off-duty use of marijuana.  The law takes effect on January 1, 2024.

The law will prohibit an employer from discriminating against a person in hiring, termination, or any

Cal/OSHA’s outdoor heat illness prevention standard is well known by employers with employees who commonly work outside. And while there is no official indoor heat illness standard, employers still need to consider heat hazards when evaluating workplace safety, especially in light of Fed/OSHA’s National Emphasis Program (“NEP”) for Outdoor and

The current Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) expires at the end of 2022. But Cal/OSHA is not done with COVID-19 regulations. There is a Non-Emergency Regulation in process. The Standards Board recently published its proposed non-emergency regulation and announced a public hearing for September 15, 2022.

Though the proposal

In this episode, Jen reminds listeners about their obligations under the Cal/OSHA ETS, what to do when COVID-19 hits their workplace, and how the CDPH’s revised definition of “close contact” may change your employer practices.

By: What, if Any, Steps Should California Employers be Taking to Address the Monkeypox Outbreak

Monkeypox is now a public health emergency. In July, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Monkeypox an international public health emergency. Last week, Governor Newsom declared a California statewide State of Emergency as a result of

On September 15, 2022, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board will continue the long and arduous journey to establish COVID-19 safety measures in the workplace. Since the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s (Cal/OSHA) initial ETS took effect in November 2020, the Standards Board has addressed the