Under a new law (AB 685) that passed through the legislature this year, employers that learn of potential COVID-19 exposures in the workplace must notify employees within one business day and report COVID-19 workplace outbreaks to local health agencies within 48 hours.
AB 685 requires employers “provide all employees who may have been exposed . . . with information regarding COVID-19-related benefits to which the employee may be entitled, including but not limited to, workers’ compensation, and options for exposed employees, including COVID-19-related leave, company sick leave, state-mandated leave, . . . as well as anti-retaliation and anti-discrimination protections of the employee.”
If the employer is notified of the number of cases that meet the definition of a COVID-19 outbreak, they must report it to the local public health agency within 48 hours and include the “names, numbers of employees … and occupation …" of those employees. An outbreak under this law is defined as three or more laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 among workers at the same worksite who live in different households within a two-week period.
Separately, employers are required to report on Cal/OSHA Form 300 any COVID-19 cases. |
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