COVID/Employment

The California Legislature is considering whether employees who are currently working from home have a right to continue to do so until the employer provides advance written notice of the need to return to the workplace. Senate Bill (SB) 731, introduced by Senator Ashby, is making its way through the Legislative committee process and was set for hearing on May 18, 2023.

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Employers with remote workforces should take note that they will need to begin physically inspecting new hires’ I-9 documentation again as of August 1, 2023 – and they will need to conduct a physical inspection of employees’ documents that were only virtually inspected during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced earlier this month that employers will have 30 days to reach compliance with Form I-9 requirements after the “COVID-19 flexibilities” sunset on July 31, 2023.

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Although most experts say that COVID-19 is here to stay, California’s employment-related emergency regulations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are winding down.  As most employers are aware, on December 31, 2022, California’s COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave ordinance expired and was not renewed or extended.

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COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave (“SPSL”) was set to expire on September 30, 2022.  However, on September 29, 2022 Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 152 (“AB 152”), which extends SPSL through the end of the year.  The bill took effect immediately.

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Healthcare workers are experiencing a significant amount of occupational fatigue, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Expecting nurses to work lengthy shifts without the chance to eat a meal or rest leads to exhaustion and can increase the likelihood of medical errors. State senator Steven Bradford authored SB 1334, which sought to guarantee meal and rest periods for public healthcare workers. The bill was sponsored by the California Nurses Association (“CNA”), which has 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California. On September 29, 2022, Governor Newsom signed SB 1334 into law, which adds section 512.1 to the California Labor Code.

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On May 7, 2022 (Yes, that was a Saturday), CalOSHA issued a Fact Sheet and updated Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”) to align with, and explain, its revised Emergency Temporary Standards (“ETS”) for preventing and responding to COVID-19 in the workplace.

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For the third time, CalOSHA has revised its Emergency Temporary Standards (“ETS”) governing workplace safety due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  The revised ETS are due to take effect on May 6, 2022 once they have been reviewed by the Office of Administrative Law and filed with the California Secretary of State.

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) adopted a temporary policy in response to the difficulties many individuals experienced with renewing documents.  As part of that temporary policy, employers were permitted to consider expired List B identity documents when completing the Form I-9 (“Employment Eligibility Verification”) which is required for employment in the United States.

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