from Sweeney Mason LLP
On January 14, 2022, the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal OSHA) issued updated FAQs about its COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS).
The updates incorporate new guidance from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) regarding quarantine and isolation protocols and reflect revisions to the ETS that went effect yesterday.
Cal OSHA also posted a fact sheet with key information for employers.
In December 2020, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-84-20, which stated that the recommended isolation and quarantine periods in the ETS will be overridden by any CDPH applicable isolation or quarantine recommendation (provided that the ETS periods are longer than those recommended by CDPH).
In addition to reviewing above revisions, we recommend that employers also check with the county guidelines applicable to their businesses, as many counties still have stricter quarantine and isolation guidelines than the state. As it has been throughout the pandemic, in general, the stricter regulations govern. Sweeney Mason will continue to monitor and provide updates on the revised ETS as we receive more information.
Sweeney Mason LLP continues to monitor the rapidly evolving situation pertaining to the COVID-19 virus and resulting legal issues. We are finding that the laws and orders released by the Federal, State, County and Local governments are, in some cases, ambiguous, vague and/or contradictory, resulting in some confusion among a broad cross-section of our clients. There is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to COVID-19-related legal matters. As a result, contracts, employment issues, ongoing lawsuits and other matters impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak should be analyzed on a case-by-case basis and with the assistance of Sweeney Mason LLP.
For more information about any of these updates, please contact our employment team at 408-356-3000 or via email: Roger Mason at rmason@smwb.com or Rachael Brown at reb@smwb.com.