On November 30, 2020, California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal-OSHA) adopted a set of COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (“ETS”), which became effective immediately. The ETS require employers to take various actions to protect their workplaces from COVID-19. You can read our previous blog post about the ETS here. On December 1, 2020, Cal-OSHA… Read More
Posts Tagged With: coronavirus
Can employers mandate the vaccine? Yes. Should they? That is a different question.
Employers have had to navigate the ever-changing regulations and laws regarding employment during the COVID-19 pandemic. From ensuring safe workplaces, to complying with reporting regulations, to dealing with leaves of absence, employers have had to stay on top of COVID-19 regulations while continuing to run their businesses. Now, employers are facing yet another challenge –… Read More
California Approves Emergency COVID-19 Regulations
On December 1, 2020, the six-member board overseeing California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (“Cal-OSHA”) approved emergency COVID-19 safety regulations governing most employers and places of employment in California, with three exceptions: (1) places of employment with one employee who does not have contact with other persons; (2) employees working from home; and (3)… Read More
California’s New Bankruptcy Law (AB 1885) Impacts Employers and Employees
PAGA + COVID = More Business Closures and Bankruptcies As readers of this blog know, California’s unique and complex employment laws can, if violated, trigger an avalanche of back-due wages, penalties, liquidated damages, attorneys’ fees, and interest. As a result, well-counseled California employers – and particularly California small business employers – who get hit with… Read More
COVID-19 Provides A Chance to Hit the Reset Button on Everything, Including HR
The ongoing global pandemic has invaded nearly every aspect of our lives. Perhaps most notable is the way in which COVID-19 has reshaped the working world. No matter what your industry, chances are it looks starkly different now as compared to the pre-COVID era. Forbes contributor Susan Galer of SAP frames the transformation of the… Read More
Under AB 685, Employers Have New COVID-19 Reporting Requirements
We recently blogged about SB 1159 here, which expanded protections for employees potentially exposed to COVID-19 in the workplace. On September 17, 2020, Governor Newsom also signed into law AB 685, which provides additional requirements for employers to report cases of COVID-19. AB 685 will not take effect until January 1, 2021; therefore, employers have… Read More
Governor Newsom Signs SB 1159 Extending Workers’ Compensation Benefits for Employees Who Contract COVID-19
In response to COVID-19, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-62-20 on May 6, 2020. That order created a “rebuttable presumption” that certain employees who suffer a COVID-19 related illness or injury would be presumed to have contracted the virus in the course and scope of employment for purposes of applying for and receiving workers’ compensation… Read More
Governor Newsom Expands COVID-19 Leave Entitlements for Many California Workers
On September 9, 2020, Governor Newsom signed AB 1867 into law, which, in part, supplements the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) enacted earlier this year. (For background on the FFCRA, see our previous blog posts here, here, and here). Specifically, AB 1867 creates Supplemental Paid Sick Leave (“SPSL”) rights for millions of California… Read More
Reopening Safely: The California “COVID-19 Playbook” for Employers
On July 28, the State of California published a helpful resource for employers – the “COVID-19 Employer Playbook: Supporting a Safer Environment for Workers and Customers.” Many of our clients have confessed to feeling some measure of “COVID Weariness” – the feeling of being overwhelmed and exhausted by the nonstop onslaught of information that is… Read More
The “How” and the “What” of Crisis Communication
Let’s face it: the global health crisis brought about by COVID-19 isn’t going away anytime soon. Here in California, we are almost 6 months into “shelter-in-place,” with no signs of any major changes coming. For most companies, the earlier steps taken in response to the crisis were, understandably, tied mainly to operations and logistics (e.g.,… Read More