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Areas of Interest
December 2nd, 2020
Cal/OSHA Requires Employers to Have a Written COVID-19 Prevention Plan
As part of its emergency response to protect workers from exposure to hazards related to COVID-19, the Cal/OSHA Safety and Health Standards Board (the “Board”) has unanimously adopted emergency temporary regulations that require almost all California employers[HM1] to have a written COVID-19 Prevention Plan (“CPP”) which can be integrated into the employer’s already mandated Injury Illness and Prevention Plan. In summary, the CPP must include:
- Implementing systems for communicating information to employees about COVID-19 prevention procedures, testing, symptoms and illness, including a system for employees to report exposures without fear of retaliation.
- Screening employees for symptoms and identifying workplace conditions and practices that could result in potential exposure.
- Creating an immediate response plan to determine who may have been exposed to a case in the workplace--including a potential exposure--by providing employees notice within one business day about potential exposures and offering free testing to workers who may have been exposed.
- Identifying and correcting COVID-19 hazards such as unsafe conditions and work practices as well as providing effective training and instruction.
- Implementing procedures to ensure workers stay at least six feet apart from other people if possible.
- Providing face coverings and ensuring they are worn.
- Adopting site-specific strategies such as changes to the workplace and work schedules and providing personal protective equipment to reduce exposure to the virus.
- Strict adherence to all COVID-19 case and illness recording requirements, specifically notifying public health departments of workplace outbreaks (three or more cases in a workplace in a 14-day period) and major outbreaks (20 or more cases within a 30-day period).
- Making the COVID-19 Prevention Plan accessible to employees and employee representatives.
- Immediate removal of COVID-19-exposed workers and COVID-19 positive workers from the workplace with measures to protect pay, benefits, and job positions.
- Creating clear criteria for employees to return to work after recovering from COVID-19.
- Developing specific requirements for infection prevention in employer-provided housing and transportation to and from work.
The Board, which is the standards-setting agency within Cal/OSHA, filed the rulemaking package on November 20, 2020 and they became effective as of November 30, 2020. As discussed in our Frankfurt Kurnit “More Than Just Hand Sanitizer: Employment Law and the Return to Work” series, the County of Los Angeles provides a comprehensive template entitled “Responding to COVID-19 in the Workplace” which can be the start of a business’ CPP and can be found at ph.lacounty.gov.
If you have questions about how to draft and implement a COVID-19 Prevention Plan, or about any other employment law matters, please contact Tricia Legittino at (310) 579-9632 or tlegittino@fkks.com, or any other member of the Frankfurt Kurnit Employment Compliance, Training & Litigation Group.
The Group would like to thank Julianne Ortega for her research and writing contribution to this alert.
Other Employment Law Alerts
FTC Bans Certain Non-Compete Agreements
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved a new Rule which bans for-profit employers from entering into post-employment, non-compete agreements with employees. By a vote of 3 to 2 the FTC determined that these non-compete agreements constitute “unfair competition” under the FTC Act. The Rule is effective 120 days after it is published in the Federal Register. Here’s what employers and executives need to know. Read more.
April 26 2024
New Ruling from the National Labor Relations Board May Require Significant Handbook Revisions
On August 2, the National Labor Relations Board issued a decision, Stericycle Inc. and Teamsters Local 628, that creates a new legal standard for how the NLRB will evaluate workplace rules and policies to determine if such rules interfere with employees’ protected rights to engage in concerted workplace activity under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. Read more.
August 8 2023
New York Releases New Changes to its Model Sexual Harassment Policy and Training Video
On April 11, 2023, the New York State Department of Labor released updated versions of its sexual harassment model policy and training materials. Read more.
April 17 2023
