As we said in our last blog post, Cal/OSHA has updated its masking guidance to align with federal policy. For California employers, this means that fully vaccinated employees may go maskless indoors, so as long as the employer knows which employees are fully vaccinated.
Yesterday (Thursday, June 17), Cal/OSHA updated its Emergency Temporary Standards (“ETS”) to align with federal policy—and the pandemic’s trajectory. For California employers, this is welcome news.
As employers throughout the State of California are aware, last November Cal/OSHA promulgated extensive COVID-19 regulations (known as the Emergency Temporary Standards, or “ETS”). Given that these regulations were enacted before the availability of COVID-19 vaccinations, these regulations did not consider vaccination status and mandated (among other things) strict masking policies to protect workers from COVID-19.
As the pandemic’s trajectory changes, so does federal guidance. On May 28, 2021, the EEOC issued its latest round of vaccination guidance, which employers in the United States would be well to keep in mind.
By now, employers have heard through the proverbial grapevine that that employees are entitled to COBRA continuation health coverage subsidies under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”). What many employers do not know, however, are the ARPA’s less glamorous—but equally critical—details.
On April 16, 2021, California passed Senate Bill 93 (“SB 93”). SB 93 requires employers in the travel and hospitality industries to offer employees who lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic their former position—or a similar position—as those positions become available. Employers must extend a re-hire offer within five business days of a position’s opening.
As the COVID-19 pandemic improves, the United States Equal Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has re-instated its EEO-1 reporting requirement. Employers must submit their EEO-1 reports for 2019 and 2020 by July 19, 2021.
On April 20, 2021, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued guidance to employers who are thinking about requiring their employees to take a COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment.
In light of the CDC’s recent guidance for gatherings among and between COVID-19-vaccinated persons (see here), employers may be curious to know if their employees have completed (or plan to complete) a COVID-19 vaccination program. How should employers go about this?
The California legislature has recently enacted a new 2021 COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave law, which took effect on Monday, March 29, 2021.
