On December 14, 2023, California’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board approved an emergency temporary standard (ETS) intended to enhance protection of workers from the hazards of respirable crystalline silica...more
1/5/2024
/ Cal-OSHA ,
California ,
Construction Industry ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Emergency Rule ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hazardous Substances ,
Health and Safety ,
Occupational Exposure ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Silica ,
Toxic Exposure ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Safety
On February 3, 2023, California’s Office of Administrative Law approved Cal/OSHA’s COVID-19 Non-Emergency Regulation (NER). The NER is now the operative COVID-19 regulation for most California employers. Cal/OSHA also...more
2/7/2023
/ Cal-OSHA ,
California ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Regulations ,
Occupational Exposure ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Workplace Safety
The non-emergency COVID regulation adopted by the Cal/OSHA Standards Board at its meeting on December 15, 2022, will not become effective until approved by the Office of Administrative Law (OAL), which is expected to occur in...more
On October 13, 2022, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued an order effective October 14, 2022, updating the definition of close contact under the Third Revised COVID Emergency Temporary Standard and...more
Dear Littler: After we finally got our minds (and workplace policies and practices) wrapped around COVID-19, our employees have now expressed concern about monkeypox and what we’re doing about it. Although we haven’t had any...more
At its meeting on September 15, 2022, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board held a public hearing on a proposed non-emergency COVID-19 standard. The hearing and subsequent Board discussion during the meeting demonstrated that there...more
9/19/2022
/ Cal-OSHA ,
California ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Public Hearing ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Standards ,
State OSHA Laws ,
Workplace Safety
On September 15, 2022, California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA or “the Division”) published Guidance on Protecting Workers from Monkeypox (MPX). The guidance applies to workplaces covered by the...more
On June 8, 2022, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued an Order (June 8th Order) defining “Close Contact” and “Infectious Period” for purposes of the CDPH’s Isolation and Quarantine Guidance issued on April...more
6/17/2022
/ Cal-OSHA ,
California ,
CDPH ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Guidance ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Workplace Safety
On January 26, 2022, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) withdrew its COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), which required large employers to ensure that their...more
1/26/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Lack of Authority ,
National Federation of Independent Business v Department of Labor and OSHA ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
On September 17, 2021, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) released for discussion initial draft text for proposed permanent COVID-19 regulations, which if adopted would be subject to renewal...more
9/22/2021
/ Cal-OSHA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On June 11, 2021, California’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Standards Board) released its latest set of proposed revisions to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s (Cal/OSHA) COVID-19 Emergency...more
6/14/2021
/ Cal-OSHA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Guidance ,
Occupational Exposure ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On June 3, 2021, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board adopted an updated version of the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) that phased out certain face covering and physical distancing requirements found in the November 30, 2020...more
6/11/2021
/ Cal-OSHA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Guidance ,
Occupational Exposure ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
The Standards Board of California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) recently published proposed revisions to the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). The Standards Board held a meeting on May...more
On May 11, 2021, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee signed into law SB 5115, the Health Emergency Labor Standards Act (HELSA), which expands the workers’ compensation framework for infectious and contagious diseases and...more
On May 13, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that Americans who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no longer need to wear a face covering or practice physically distancing in any...more
On May 5, 2021, Cal/OSHA issued much-awaited FAQs which provide clarity on whether employers must continue to exclude fully vaccinated employees from the workplace if they were exposed to a confirmed positive COVID-19 case...more
On January 8, 2021, Cal/OSHA issued a much-awaited second set of FAQs to its COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS). The following are ten key takeaways...more
On December 18, 2020, California’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Standards Board)1 conducted a Stakeholders Meeting to address employer concerns about the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) issued...more
On December 14, 2020, the California Department of Health (CDPH) issued guidance shortening the quarantine period from 14 days to 10 days for asymptomatic “close contacts” of an infected individual (those who were within six...more
On November 19, 2020, over the vigorous objections of several employers, trade associations, employer agencies, and defense counsel, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board voted unanimously to pass the...more
On September 29, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 2537 (AB 2537), the latest in a series of legislative enactments designed to protect employees from COVID-19 exposures in the workplace. ...more
10/2/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Governor Newsom ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospitals ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Legislation ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Public Health ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Workplace Safety
On July 24, 2020, the California Department of Public Health issued its most recent guidance for employers. According to the Department, the COVID-19 Employer Playbook for a Safe Reopening provides businesses with “the tools...more
8/3/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Occupational Exposure ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Return-to-Work Agreements ,
Sick Employees ,
Sick Leave ,
Workplace Safety
On May 19, 2020, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an Updated Interim Enforcement Response Plan for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) (the Updated Plan), providing new guidance to all OSHA...more
On May 1, as part of Littler’s Virtual Executive Employer, attorney Alka Ramchandani-Raj was fortunate to interview Dr. John Howard, the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), to...more
Over a roughly two-month period, COVID-19 has completely upended work as we know it. Businesses across the globe have struggled to function with limited staff and resources, restructured their workforces, and implemented new...more