California Changes Definition of COVID-19 Outbreak Easing the … – Fisher Phillips

By now, California employers are quite familiar with the following situation: the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) makes a change to COVID-19 guidance and your workplace obligations are affected under Cal/OSHAs COVID-19 regulations. CDPH has done it again but this time in a manner that will benefit employers in the state. Heres whats changing, how it will impact your policies, and a recap of your continuing obligations.

What Changed?

Previously, CDPH and Cal/OSHA had defined a COVID-19 outbreak as three or more cases in an exposed group during a 14-day period. As discussed below, an employer in an outbreak had to follow additional requirements under the Cal/OSHA COVID-19 non-emergency regulation until there are one or fewer COVID-19 cases for a 14-day period.

On June 20, CDPH changed its definition of outbreak to mean three or more cases during a seven-day period. This change is automatically incorporated into the Cal/OSHA regulation, which the agency confirmed in an updated FAQ as follows:

Q: What is an outbreak?

A:Effective June 23, 2023, CDPH has adopted the following definition of outbreak, which now applies to the COVID-19 Prevention regulations: at least three COVID-19 cases within an exposed group during a seven-day period. The definition of outbreak will change if CDPH again changes its definition in a regulation or order.

What Does This Mean for Employers?

The bottom line for California employers is that it will now be harder to officially be considered in outbreak status (which triggers additional obligations under the Cal/OSHA regulation). Previously, an employer would be in outbreak if you had three or more cases in an exposed group within a 14-day period. Now, you are only considered in outbreak if you have three or more cases in half the amount of time (a seven-day period).

As a reminder for California employers, once you are considered in outbreak under the Cal/OSHA standard, you have additional obligations including the following:

You should review your local public health department outbreak reporting requirements (if any) to see if they align with the new CDPH definition of outbreak. In addition, dont forget that employers that have 20 or more cases in a 30-day period are considered in major outbreak and have additional responsibilities under the Cal/OSHA non-emergency regulation.

Conclusion

Make sure you are subscribed toFisher Phillips Insight Systemto get the most up-to-date information. We are continuing to monitor evolving COVID-19 requirements and will provide updates as appropriate. If you have further questions on how to comply, contact your Fisher Phillips attorney, the author of this Insight, orany attorney in any one ofour six California offices.

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California Changes Definition of COVID-19 Outbreak Easing the ... - Fisher Phillips