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Robert Foster is an associate in the Labor and Employment Practice Group in the firm's San Diego (Del Mar) office.

On the heels of California’s new indoor heat illness prevention standard becoming effective, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) announced a proposed national heat and injury illness prevention standard (“Proposed Rule”). The Proposed Rule covers indoor and outdoor workplaces where the heat index reaches 80°F or higher. Employers who wish to submit comments on the Proposed Rule have until December 30, 2024 to do so. Continue Reading Comment Period Now Open for OSHA’s Proposed National Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Standard

California’s new “Heat Illness Prevention in Indoor Places of Employment” standard is now in effect as of July 23, 2024. The new regulation applies to most California workplaces where the indoor temperature reaches 82°F or higher (e.g., warehouses, distribution centers, manufacturing plants, and restaurants). The standard requires those employers to implement a written indoor heat illness prevention plan that includes procedures for accessing water and cool-down areas, acclimatization, training employees, and emergency response measures. Covered employers who have not already drafted and implemented their plan should do so immediately. Continue Reading California’s New Heat Illness Prevention Standard for Indoor Workplaces Is Now Effective

On April 1, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) published its Final Rule clarifying the rights of employees to designate a non-employee representative to be present during workplace inspections. Notably, the designated non-employee representative may “accompany” the OSHA investigator during the physical walkaround portion of the inspection but may not “participate” in the inspection. The Final Rule will become effective May 31, 2024.Continue Reading OSHA Issues Final Rule Clarifying an Employee’s Ability to Have a Non-Employee Representative Present During Inspection

Starting July 1, 2024, California employers across all industries must have a written Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (“WVPP”) in place. As previously reported, the recently enacted SB 553 established this new requirement, along with mandatory employee training, initial and periodic workplace violence hazard inspections, and maintenance of a violent incident log and other related records. On March 18, 2024, California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (“Cal/OSHA”), the agency responsible for enforcing the new law’s requirements, announced the creation of its Cal/OSHA Workplace Violence Prevention Guidance and Resources webpage. The webpage contains guidance and educational materials on the new law and workplace violence prevention, a model WVPP, fact sheets, and other resources for employers and employees. Continue Reading Cal/OSHA Publishes Long-Awaited Guidance and Model Workplace Violence Prevention Plan

Employers who meet certain size and industry requirements have until March 2, 2024 to electronically submit occupational injury and illness data from their Form 300A Annual Summary for 2023 to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”). In addition, a Final Rule issued last July requires employers with establishments with 100 or more employees in certain “high-hazard industries” to also submit information from their Form 300 Log and Form 301 Injury and Illness Incident Report by March 2. Additional information outlining the submission process and qualifying employers is detailed below.Continue Reading Last Call for Employers to Submit OSHA Form 300A Data

On September 30, 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 553 into law, establishing a new written Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (“WVPP”) requirement for nearly all California employers. The WVPP requirement, which becomes effective on July 1, 2024, is the first of its kind in the nation to apply to employers across industries. In connection with maintaining and implementing the WVPP, employers also must train employees on workplace violence hazards, maintain a violent incident log and other workplace violence-related records, and conduct periodic reviews of the WVPP. The law’s extensive requirements, which are detailed comprehensively below, will be enforced by California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (“Cal/OSHA”).Continue Reading California Passes New Law Mandating Workplace Violence Prevention Plan for Employers

As the end of the year draws near, it is important for employers in California to remember there are multiple COVID-19 regulations and laws that will still apply to the workplace in 2023. The Division of Occupational Safety and Health of California’s (“Cal/OSHA”) constantly evolving COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) that has been in effect for the last two years is finally expiring. However, the ETS will be replaced by Cal/OSHA’s new COVID-19 Prevention Non-Emergency Regulations (“Permanent Standard”), which will remain in effect through 2024. This article provides a comprehensive update on the Permanent Standard, AB 2693 (the new law modifying an employer’s notification and reporting requirements under Labor Code section 6409.6), and the current state of COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave.Continue Reading Ring in the New Year With a Refresher on California’s COVID-19 Regulations and Laws

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel that originally decided Chamber of Commerce v. Bonta last fall recently issued an order withdrawing its prior opinion and granting a panel rehearing. The divided panel’s original decision upheld portions of Assembly Bill 51 (“AB 51”), a California law that prohibits employers from requiring that employees sign an arbitration agreement as a condition of employment. The panel’s decision to rehear the appeal is notable because it suggests that the panel may rule that the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) preempts AB 51 in its entirety following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana. The Supreme Court in Viking River Cruises held that California law precluding the division of PAGA actions into individual and non-individual claims through an agreement to arbitrate was preempted by the FAA.Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Grants Rehearing on California Law Banning Mandatory Employment Arbitration Agreements

On September 15, 2022, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (“Board”) will hold a public hearing to address its draft proposed COVID-19 Permanent Standard (“Permanent Standard”).[1] At the hearing, the Board will hear comments from the public in favor of adopting, amending, or repealing the Permanent Standard. The good news for employers who are tired of revising their COVID-19 policies is that the Permanent Standard largely tracks with the protocols already required under the current COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (“ETS”). Additionally, the Permanent Standard eliminates or reduces some of the costly requirements under the current ETS. The bad news, however, is that it appears COVID-19 protocols are here to stay for the near future and California employers will need to continue to remain in compliance with the state’s COVID-19 regulations and enforce them in the workplace.Continue Reading Cal/OSHA Announces Public Hearing on Proposed COVID-19 Permanent Standard

On April 21, 2022, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (“Cal/OSHA”) Standards Board adopted the fourth iteration of its COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (“ETS”). Sheppard Mullin previously wrote about the proposed revisions to the current ETS here, which were adopted without substantive changes. The revised ETS will become effective once approved by the Office of Administrative Law, which should occur by May 5, 2022, and the revised ETS will remain in effect until December 31, 2022.
Continue Reading Cal/OSHA Adopts Fourth Iteration of COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards

At its upcoming April 21, 2022 meeting, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (“Cal/OSHA”) Standards Board will decide whether to readopt the fourth iteration of its COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (“ETS”), which first went into effect on November 30, 2020.  The ETS apply to all employees not covered by Cal/OSHA’s Aerosol Transmissible Disease Standard or employees working alone or at home, and require employers to establish, implement, and maintain a COVID-19 Prevention Program (“CPP”), among other things.  Sheppard Mullin previously wrote about the implementation of the original ETS here, and previous revisions to its requirements here and here.
Continue Reading Further Updates to Cal/OSHA’s COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards Likely Coming Soon