We recently published an update to our 50-state Shelter-In-Place / Reopening Tracker.
Please see HERE. This is updated weekly.
For your convenience, here is a summary of the major updates from around the country:
On June 21, Santa Clara County’s Health Department revoked its May 18 Order (more here) and issued a new Order making it easier for employers to comply.
Now, so long as the business has already completed two rounds of “ascertainment” of the employees’ vaccine status, the business does not have to check employee vaccination
Special thanks to our summer associate Janice Lin for her contributions to this post.
The Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) saga is over. As predicted (see our blog here), and after the dizzying flutter of proposals, board meetings, emotional public comment, and votes to reject, approve, and withdraw prior amendments (see here, here, here, and here), the Cal/OSHA Standards Board finally voted to align the ETS with CDC guidance at its June 17 board meeting. Governor Newsom signed Executive Order N-09-21 in conjunction with the vote, making the new ETS effective immediately.
As a result, California employers – finally – can harmonize their workplace mask and distancing rules with the rules applicable to non-workplace settings.Continue Reading The Saga is Over: California Scraps Masks and Social Distance for Employees, Effective Immediately
We recently published an update to our 50-state Shelter-In-Place / Reopening Tracker.
Please see HERE. This is updated weekly.
For your convenience, here is a summary of the major updates from around the country:
With Cal/OSHA, the only constant is change. In an unprecedented move, Cal/OSHA has published FAQs explaining and interpreting the proposed amendments to the Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) before the Standards Board has voted to approve the amendments, with the vote not scheduled to occur until June 17. Cal/OSHA’s publication of these FAQs in advance of the June 17 vote is unusual, and demonstrates the agency’s desire to quickly implement the amendments once the vote occurs. The advance publication of the FAQs is yet another indication of how that vote is expected to go.
And Governor Newsom has weighed in, stating that if the board votes to adopt the proposed amendments, he will sign an executive order on June 17 codifying that vaccinated workers do not have to wear masks-eliminating the normal 10-day administrative review period before the amendments would otherwise take effect. (Anyone who attended Cal/OSHA’s June 3 board meeting-with approximately 8 hours of public comment and a vote that didn’t occur well into the evening-might wonder whether Governor Newsom would be able to take executive action the same day. But the June 17 board meeting starts at 10:00 a.m. Pacific and the agenda limits public comment to 2 hours-leaving ample time for a vote and for Governor Newsom to act.)Continue Reading Who Can Keep Up? Cal/OSHA Publishes FAQs for Proposed Amendments to the ETS Before the Standards Board Vote
The Cal/OSHA Standards Board just released its latest round of proposed amendments to Cal/OSHA’s COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS). If adopted, the new amendments will allow all employees to forgo physical distancing at work regardless of vaccination status. And vaccinated employees will be able to take off their masks, even while indoors. The changes are expected to take effect June 28, but may be implemented sooner.
The proposed amendments represent another dramatic reversal of the workplace rules for California employees, and effectively will relax those rules beyond current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance, which still recommends that unvaccinated persons physically distance both indoors and outdoors.
The Standards Board released the new proposed amendments just two days after the board voted to withdraw other revisions to the ETS that were already pending administrative review. We blogged here and here about how the board reversed course at its June 9 meeting, voting to withdraw amendments to the ETS it had approved just days prior at its June 3 meeting.
Now, the Standards Board will consider and vote on the latest amendments on June 17 – so employers should not take any action just yet. As we have seen, the Standards Board can quickly change its positions on ETS amendments.Continue Reading Social Distancing? Gone! Masks? No Longer Required! Cal/OSHA Continues to Whipsaw California Employers with Proposed Rule Changes
Mark Twain never actually said “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” But had he sat in on yesterday’s (June 3, 2021) Cal/OSHA Standards Board meeting, he might have said something similar about the proposed amendments to Cal/OSHA’s COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (“ETS”).
And no one would blame him because, less than an hour after voting to reject the proposed amendments to the ETS, Cal/OSHA’s Standards Board completely changed course by voting unanimously to approve the amendments. The amended ETS, which will apply to most California employers and workplaces, is expected to take effect June 15.
In summary, the amendments will require employees who work indoors to continue wearing face coverings indefinitely, except in certain limited circumstances, but also will allow employers to relax physical distancing requirements after confirming which employees are fully vaccinated and providing unvaccinated employees with respirators for their voluntary use.Continue Reading Cal/OSHA Board Votes to Approve Amendments to COVID-19 ETS Almost Immediately After Voting To Reject Them
As vaccination rates increase, officials across the country are reconsidering their health and safety protocols and workplace reopening guidance. Here are a few of the most recent changes that employers need to know.
On May 20, 2021, San Francisco’s Department of Public Health updated the city’s Health Order to loosen COVID-19 restrictions. Under the new rules, businesses are no longer required to perform health screenings for all personnel and patrons, unless required by the state. Public health officials credited the ongoing vaccination effort in bringing COVID-19 cases to the lowest levels seen during the pandemic. As of May 19, 76% of eligible San Francisco residents have been vaccinated, one of the highest vaccination rates in the country.Continue Reading The Shifting Sands of COVID-19 Regulations: New Rules Regarding Health Screening, Vaccine Cards and Vaccine Passports
We recently published an update to our 50-state Shelter-In-Place / Reopening Tracker.
Please see HERE. This is updated weekly.
For your convenience, here is a summary of the major updates from around the country:
Companies are facing critical business challenges in regard to their most important asset – their people. While workforce transformation is not a new concept for global organizations, the pandemic has forced us to rapidly adapt our standard ways of working and how we engage with employees to ensure the long-term viability of the business. We
