California law requires employers to provide their employees with written notification of a potential COVID-19 exposure. Amendments to the law took effect January 1, 2023 and remain in place until January 1, 2024. Here is an overview of the changes and what you need to do to comply with the law.
What stays the same?
Within one day of learning about a positive COVID-19 case in the workplace, employers are required to provide written notice of potential exposure to all employees who were at the worksite.
What’s new?
The new law provides that an employer may now satisfy this new requirement by prominently posting a notice that includes the dates on which an employee with a confirmed case was on the premises within the infectious period, and the location of the exposure. The notice should be posted in all places where notices of workplace rule or regulations are customarily posted. If the employer post other workplace notices on an existing employee portal, the notice must also be posted there. The notice must be in English and the language understood by the majority of employees. There is also an alternative notice process authorized by the statute. Under some circumstances, notice to the exclusive representative of employees is also required.
The notice must remain posted for 15 days. To the extent feasible, the identity of individual with the suspected infection should not be disclosed in the notice.
In addition, employers must also keep a log of all the dates the notice was posted at each of its worksites and allow the Labor Commissioner to access these records.
For additional information on how to protect workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, visit our COVID-19 Resources.