STATE EXTENDS PANDEMIC-RELATED RULES FOR WORKPLACES TO APRIL
Main change is that vaccinated would be barred if exposed
In a move criticized by business groups and hailed by labor advocates, California’s workplace regulators on Thursday extended the state’s coronavirus pandemic regulations into next year with revisions that employers said could worsen the state’s severe labor shortage.
Vaccinated and unvaccinated employees in the most populous U.S. state will be treated the same under the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board’s revised rules.
Both will be prohibited from the workplace if they come in close contact with someone infected with the virus under the rules that take effect from Jan. 14 and are set to last for three months.
The new rules mark a reversal from the state’s current coronavirus workplace regulation. The current rules allow vaccinated employees to keep working at workplaces even if they’ve been exposed, unless they show symptoms — under the assumption that the vaccine generally will protect them.
The revised temporary rules require that exposed workers who are vaccinated but asymptomatic stay home for 14 days even if they test negative or return to work but wear masks and
stay 6 feet from others for two weeks.
The seven-member safety board is the policy-making arm of what is known as Cal/OSHA. It adopted the revised rules without discussion on a 6-1 vote.
Business groups argued the new rules will be particularly onerous for small businesses including restaurants and retailers.
“Treating vaccinated and unvaccinated people similarly really denies the scientific value of the vaccine and disincentivizes vaccination,” said Rob Moutrie, a policy advocate for the California Chamber of Commerce.
But groups representing California workers supported the changes. Mitch Steiger, a legislative advocate for the California Labor Federation, said regulators last summer were foolish to loosen COVID-19 workplace restrictions put in place earlier
during the pandemic.
“It’s good that we’re realizing that vaccines aren’t the silver bullet to get us out of this,” Steiger said. “There’s never a good time to start disarming against COVID-19.”
The safety board’s adoption of the revised rules came a day after California reinstituted requiring vaccinated and unvaccinated people to wear masks indoors in a bid to slow the spread of the virus, including the omicron variant, as families and friends gather for the holidays and new coronavirus cases increase.
Safety board members recognized “the science that vaccinated people can transmit the virus, and early reports show that to be especially true with omicron,” said Saskia Kim, speaking for the California Nurses Association.