Pandemic workplace safety rules will remain in California through the end of 2022 to continue special protections for workers despite the relaxation of masks, quarantine, and other pandemic mitigation measures.
Mandatory pay for workers affected by the coronavirus will continue under the decision made by state workplace regulators Thursday after state lawmakers restored similar benefits through September nearly two months ago. The workplace safety rules established by the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board would have expired in May.
California workplace regulators will keep what is known as “exclusion pay” for workers who are sent home due to the pandemic. Small businesses have struggled with this regulation as the state sick leave law applies only to companies with 26 or more employees.
As a response to the pandemic, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) issued Emergency Temporary Standards requiring employers to exclude employees exposed to COVID-19 until they can safely return. Employers are required to provide paid, job-protected leave for the period the employees are excluded.
“It is important that employees who are COVID-19 cases do not come to work,” Cal/OSHA said.
The state’s sick leave law provides employees infected with COVID-19 or caring for a sick family member with up to one week of paid time off. They qualify for a second week off only if they or their family members test positive.
This discussion comes as the Omicron Variant BA.2 becomes the dominant COVID-19 strain in the United States. The White House’s chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has estimated that BA.2 is 50 percent more transmissible than the original omicron lineage.
San Diego County reported a spike in COVID-19 hospitalizations, with 405 cases on the 19th, doubling last month’s numbers. The region’s cumulative death total is 5,231, as two additional deaths were added.
As of Wednesday, there are 100 county residents hospitalized with COVID- 19, an increase of five from Tuesday. The total number of patients in intensive care beds is 16, a decrease of one from the day prior.
