As wildfire seasons grow longer and more severe, employers face growing obligations to protect employees from wildfire smoke exposure in the workplace. Employers with outdoor or poorly ventilated workforces should review their air quality monitoring, training, respiratory protection, and accommodations practices to be prepared to respond to these increasing risks.
To view the full alert, visit the Faegre Drinker website.
With the rapid changes currently coming out of Washington, it can be easy to overlook changes occurring at the state and local levels. And given the prerogatives of the Trump administration, especially around OSHA and its anticipated relaxed approach to the adoption of new workplace safety standards, employers should be mindful and expect to see continued activity amongst “state-plan” states in the coming months and years.
To view the full alert, visit the Faegre Drinker website.
On December 31, 2022, the Cal/OSHA Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS), as previously summarized, expire after being in place since November 2020. On December 15, 2022, the California Occupational Safety & Health Standards (Cal/OSHA) Board voted to adopt non-emergency COVID-19 regulations to replace the ETS.
The new regulations are set to take effect in January 2023 after the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) completes its review. Once finalized, the new regulations will remain in effect for two years (but the recordkeeping requirements will remain in effect for three years).
The non-emergency regulations contain some of the same requirements as the ETS, but they also include new provisions. According to Cal/OSHA’s updated Fact Sheet, the new provisions are intended to be easier for employers to follow and allow for greater flexibility if changes are made pursuant to California Department of Public Health (CDPH) guidance.
Continue reading “Summary of Cal/OSHA’s Non-Emergency COVID-19 Prevention Regulations”
On December 9, 2022, President Biden signed the “Speak Out Act” (the Act). The Act follows the enactment of the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, which made pre-dispute arbitration agreements for sexual assault and sexual harassment claims invalid and unenforceable. The Act is similar to laws passed in California, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York in response to the #MeToo Movement. The Act became effective upon the President’s signature.
On August 26, 2022, the Eleventh Circuit held that President Biden likely exceeded his authority by issuing the federal contractor vaccine mandate and affirmed the district court’s injunction prohibiting the federal government’s enforcement of the mandate against the plaintiffs. But the court also determined that the nationwide injunction — which applied to any contractor anywhere in the United States, plaintiff or not — was a “drastic form of relief.” Accordingly, the court vacated the district court’s injunction to the extent that it bars enforcement of the vaccine mandate against contractors who are not parties to the lawsuit.
On April 21, 2022, the California Occupational Safety & Health Standards (Cal/OSHA) Board voted to readopt its COVID-19 prevention emergency temporary standards (ETS) incorporating changes Cal/OSHA posted in preparation of its business meeting on April 21, 2022. If approved by the Office of Administrative Law (which is expected), the revised ETS will become effective upon filing by the Office of Administrative Law with the Secretary of State. This is the third readoption of the ETS, which was authorized by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Executive Order and will be in place until December 31, 2022.
Continue reading “Summary of Cal/OSHA’s Revised COVID-19 ETS Adopted on April 21, 2022”