Increasing numbers of employers are bringing people back to work in some measure, but the office view — from masks to mandates — looks far from normal. 

The return of “non-essential” employees, many of whom have been working from home, has varied widely across the country, with some bosses even prohibiting masks at work. In California, the government is attempting to guide a safe return, offering a COVID-19 Employer Playbook and legislative efforts to revamp employment laws to protect workers amid a pandemic.

“As California businesses begin their reopening, it is essential that all possible steps be taken to ensure the safety of workers and the public,” states the COVID-19 Employer Playbook, provided by the California Department of Public Health. “In addition, it will be critical to have appropriate processes in place to identify new cases of illness in the workplace and, when they are identified, to intervene quickly and work with public health authorities to halt the spread of the virus. These efforts are essential to avoid further shutdowns.”

Here’s what to expect in terms of your employer’s responsibility to keep you safe:

1. Require masks. This comes as no surprise, given California’s mask mandate. Pretty much anytime someone is outside the house and around others, a mask is required — including for workers in offices, factories or other group settings, or for those in customer-facing industries. Certain localities, such as Los Angeles, require employers to provide masks for workers; many employers provide masks even if it’s not required. Note that there are a few select exceptions to the mask mandate, often due to other health factors.
2. Have a plan. The playbook says employers must do a detailed risk assessment and set up a COVID-19 prevention plan specific to the work site. This includes protocols for handling a positive case of COVID-19 or an outbreak, which is considered three or more positive cases within two weeks among employees who don’t live in the same household. At the very least, employees with symptoms should not stay at work, and they should follow health officials’ guidelines for when to return. The playbook includes further details, by industry, about appropriate communication (trying to maintain workers’ health confidentiality as well as reporting to the government), contact tracing, when to consider temporarily suspending operations, and other steps.
3. Provide training. Employers must train workers about limiting the spread of COVID-19, including how to know whether to stay home from work.
4. Provide screening. That includes individual screenings, such as temperature checks, and various control measures. 
5. Keep the work environment clean. Regular disinfection helps keep everyone healthy.
6. Make physical distancing possible. Health officials recommend a distance of 6 feet.
7. Accommodate COVID-related absences from work. Employees in the state start earning paid sick leave from day one.  Amounts may vary, but generally workers accrue at least an hour for every 30 hours worked; that may be capped at 48 hours of sick leave a year. An executive order by Gov. Gavin Newsom expanded those laws for COVID-19, specifically for essential workers in the food sector or for those employed by large companies (500-plus employees). The executive order included up to 80 hours of paid sick leave; it rounded out the federal measure that applied to companies with fewer than 500 workers. Other localities may have additional requirements. 

For longer absences, California’s Family Rights Act offers up to 12 weeks of leave with job protection for certain workers who are coping with a serious health condition — either their own or a family member’s. To qualify as serious, a health condition must require inpatient care or ongoing treatment or supervision by a health care provider.

Notably, California law includes strong anti-retaliation measures to ensure that workers who take sick leave aren’t penalized.

The California government is considering more labor law changes to help employees amid the pandemic. Legislative proposals include expanded workers’ compensation eligibility to cover COVID-19 diagnoses, more sick days for food service workers, and having employers help teleworkers pay for utility and Internet costs. Newsom has mentioned making workers’ compensation claim requirements easier and making sure employers report outbreaks. (Read more from the Los Angeles Times.) We keep tabs on government actions so we can best advocate for our clients — stay tuned for more in this rapidly developing arena.

Do you feel unsafe at work? Is your employer lax with COVID-19 prevention efforts or hard on employees who need time off? Keller Grover can help. We offer free consultations to advise workers about their specific situations. In more than 25 years litigating fraud and employment cases, the lawyers at Keller Grover have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for clients and class members. 

Related:

• As more businesses reopen amid COVID-19, will employees pay the price?
• Coronavirus and your rights: Balancing protection and privacy
• Coronavirus and your job: 8 FAQs about your rights at work