Cal/OSHA Long-Term COVID Rule Tightens ‘Close Contact,’ Drops Removal Pay

Correction Appended California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) has released a draft long-term COVID-19 rule that is already drawing employer concerns for its stricter definition of “close contact,” but the same stakeholders are welcoming plans to end the controversial “exclusion pay” requirement that mandates compensation for workers removed from their duties under the standard. Cal/OSHA quietly released the draft rule last week as its first step toward a permanent replacement for the COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) instituted in the early days of...