For agricultural employers, the latest decision from the Department of Industrial Relations’ Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board (OSHAB) is indeed noteworthy. We now know that potable water must be provided to outdoor employees in a location that is as close as practicable to promote frequent intake, especially during the hot summer days. In addition, […]
FELS Newsletter: March 2023
CA Dept. of Public Health Updates COVID-19 Guidance
On March 3, the California Department of Public Health published a new State Public Health Officer Order regarding COVID-19 disease control and prevention. The new order updates the Oct. 14, 2022, order by revising requirements on masking, vaccination, and isolation. The most pertinent update for non-health care employers is a change in the infectious period […]
CA Minimum Wage & Overtime for Small Employers Changed on Jan. 1; Are You Up to Speed?
The California Legislature passed legislation in 2016 to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour in 2023 for all employers in California. That legislation also included an inflation “escalator” increasing the minimum wage in tandem with increases in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). As a result of inflationary pressures in 2021 and 2022, […]
Workplace Violence Changes Coming?
Perhaps it’s no surprise that members of the Cal/OSHA Standards Board and employee advocates both called for quick action by work-safety authorities in the wake of the workplace shooting incident in Half Moon Bay in late January (https://videobookcase.org/oshsb/2023-02-16/.) Cal/OSHA and Standards Board staff have been working on a long-pending proposed workplace violence regulation based on […]
CDPH Issues New COVID Isolation, Quarantine Guidance
On March 3, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued updated COVID-19 guidance (https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/COVID-19/Order-of-the-State-Public-Health-Officer-Beyond-Blueprint.aspx) revising its COVID-19 public health order. People testing positive may leave isolation after five days if they are feeling well, their symptoms are improving, and they have no fever for 24 hours. Cal/OSHA is expected to soon issue updated guidance […]
Federal Appeals Court Upholds Mandatory Arbitration
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Feb. 15 held in Chamber of Commerce of the United States v. Bonta (https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca9/20-15291/20-15291-2023-02-15.htm) that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempts Assembly Bill 51, passed in 2019, which prohibited employers from requiring job applicants or employees to arbitrate employment-related disputes. Rather than directly prohibiting arbitration agreements—an approach federal courts […]
Two-Year COVID Regulations Now in Effect
Cal/OSHA’s non-emergency COVID-19 regulations took effect on Feb. 4. They will remain in effect for two years. The regulations are broadly similar to iterations of COVID-19 emergency temporary standards with which employers had to comply during the last three years, including requirements for employer-paid COVID testing, masking in certain situations, improved workplace ventilation, reporting of […]
