Articles Discussing California Workplace Health And Safety Issues.

Employers may understand the workplace safety concerns surrounding wildfires, but there are other employment issues that employers should consider in the event of a wildfire near the worksite.

The California Labor Commissioner’s Office has FAQs pertaining to important employment issues that employers should consider when their employees or worksite are

The California Legislature will soon send Senate Bill (SB) No. 606 to Governor Gavin Newsom, who is likely to sign the bill into law. The bill would make substantial changes to the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s (Cal/OSHA) citation structure by creating two new categories of violations: “enterprise-wide”

As wildfire season is well underway, California employers need to be cognizant of the requirements to protect employees who are exposed to the hazards of wildfire smoke. In particular, Cal/OSHA’s wildfire smoke protection regulation (found here) applies whenever: (1) the current Air Quality Index (“AQI”) for PM2.5 is 151 or greater, and (2) the employer should reasonably anticipate that employees may be exposed to wildfire smoke. PM2.5 is defined as “Solid particles and liquid droplets suspended in air, known as particulate matter, with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 micrometers or smaller.”

In this episode of The Workplace podcast, CalChamber Executive Vice President and General Counsel Erika Frank and employment law expert Jennifer Shaw discuss COVID-19 workplace mask mandates. You can listen to the podcast here.

Historically, California has experienced the most destructive wildfires in the months of September and October.  As we head into those months, employers should make sure they are familiar with California’s wildfire smoke standard.  Harmful air quality from wildfire smoke can occur anywhere in the state on short notice, so it

A week after issuing the first in the nation order mandating all healthcare workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, on August 11, 2021, the state of California issued an order mandating either vaccination or regular testing for all workers of schools throughout the state.

The order issued by the California

Effective August 2, 2021, employees of the State of California must either show proof of full vaccination status or be tested for COVID-19 at least once a week and wear appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), such as face coverings.

On August 5, the California Department of Public Health issued an order requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for all healthcare workers, allowing only narrow exemptions for medical reasons and religious beliefs. The order requires that covered workers be fully vaccinated (one dose of a one-dose vaccine or two doses of a two-dose vaccine) by September 30, 2021.

On September 29, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill (AB) 2537, one of the latest in a series of legislative enactments designed to protect employees from COVID-19 exposure in the workplace.

In June, Cal-OSHA updated its COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), requiring unvaccinated employees to be masked in the workplace, except in certain situations, and permitting fully vaccinated employees to be maskless in the workplace in most situations. However, the ETS expressly provided that employers must comply with more stringent local regulations and health orders, when applicable. At the time the ETS was published, there were no significant local regulations in California addressing mask wearing in the workplace.

The simple answer is Cal/OSHA has not clarified if the 30-year retention rule is triggered by requirements of the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS).

Pursuant to Cal/OSHA’s amended ETS employers are required to document the vaccination status of their employees if the employer intends to allow vaccinated employees to work

While the past week brought many changes around California for COVID-19 requirements, both the state statute and several local supplemental paid sick leave ordinances persist.

The statewide COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave (“SPSL”) law remains in effect until September 30, 2021.

As a reminder, under the state SPSL, employees are

By: Cal/OSHA Voted To Approve Revised ETS Standards Bringing More Comfort to The Workplace

Yesterday, the Cal/OSHA standards board approved the revised Emergency Temporary Standards, posted on Friday, June 11.  While the ETS were approved without revision and will take effect Monday, June 21, Governor Newsom has indicated that he will

On June 17, 2021, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Standards Board), voted and passed its latest set of proposed revisions, with a 5 to 1 vote, to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s (Cal/OSHA) COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards Regulation (Revised ETS).  This is the first