On June 15, 2021, Cal/OSHA updated the FAQs related to its Emergency Temporary Standards (“ETS”). The update addresses the recently proposed ETS revisions, which were released on June 11, 2021 (after the Standards Board withdrew the previously proposed revisions last week). The Standards Board will review the revised ETS at its regular meeting on June 17, 2021. If approved at that meeting, the revisions likely would be effective no earlier than June 28, 2021.

However, at a June 14, 2021, news conference, Governor Newsom stated that he likely will issue an executive order making the revised ETS effective immediately (assuming the Standards Board approves them on June 17).

Among other things, the updated FAQs identify the most recent changes to the ETS proposed on June 11, which include new rules regarding face coverings and physical distancing. With some exceptions, under the proposed revisions, “employers may allow fully vaccinated employees not to wear face coverings indoors, but must document their vaccination status.” The revisions also remove physical distancing requirements in the workplace, unless there is an “outbreak” or “major outbreak.”

The FAQs also clarify which requirements from the November 2020 ETS will remain in place, including, among others, the COVID-19 Prevention Program (“CPP”) and training, notification and response requirements for workplace exposures and outbreaks, and quarantine and exclusion pay requirements. Of course, employers will need to update their current CPPs and training programs to reflect the ETS revisions.

Read the proposed ETS revisions here and the updated FAQs here.

To learn more about the ETS revisions, register for our June 22, 2021 webinar, “Developing Your COVID-19 Reopening Plan: Complying with the Cal/OSHA Requirements and More,” here.