Last month, California enacted legislation providing greater authority to Cal/OSHA in terms of COVID-19 mitigation efforts. Husch Blackwell’s Donna Pryor highlights AB 685 and explains what it will mean for employers.
On September 17, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law AB 685, effective January 1, 2021 through January 1, 2023. The law authorizes the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of California (Cal/OSHA) to determine that an exposure to COVID-19 at the workplace constitutes an imminent hazard to employees, to prohibit entry into and operations of the business in the immediate area in which the hazard exists and to require private and public employers informed of a potential COVID-19 exposure or infection among its workforce to comply with notice and reporting requirements. The law’s stated objective is to enable workers, agencies and the public to collectively minimize the risk of transmission of COVID-19 in the workplace. Cal/OHSA has published guidelines for employers to assist in compliance.
What is Considered Notice of a Potential Exposure?
Individuals at the workplace who present a risk of infection of COVID-19 that potentially exposes other workers are considered “qualifying individuals” if they have:
- Confirmation by a laboratory that they are positive for…
