California workplaces will see some minor changes to coronavirus prevention procedures under new rules adopted Thursday that will last until year end. Many of the rules are now tied to California Department of Public Health guidelines, giving them more flexibility since that agency can be more nimble in adapting to changing conditions.

The Cal/OSHA Standards Board, a seven-member body appointed by the governor to oversee workplace regulations, approved the streamlined regulations Thursday. The board convened in person for the first time in two years at a hybrid meeting where people who wished to give public comments could do so either in person or by video conference.

Defaulting to CDPH rules on challenging issues “is a reasonable approach to keep up with the rapid pace of developments and changes,” said Pamela Murcell, president of the California Industrial Hygiene Council, during public comments. Her group advocates for the industrial hygiene profession.

Ben Ebbink, a partner at management law firm Fisher & Phillips, speaking after the meeting, said the real significance lies in the fact that the state will continue to have Emergency Temporary Standards for workplaces through the end of the year.

Since California dropped most masking requirements, the most visible pandemic restriction, many businesses were tempted to feel as if COVID were over, he said. The rules remind them that they still have to take steps to keep workplaces compliant.

And the timing is fortuitous. “In the past two weeks we’ve gotten more calls about outbreaks than in previous months,” Ebbink said. “We’re back to employers seeing more positive cases and having to remind themselves what to do in outbreak situation, with the fluctuating nature of this virus.”

California is currently averaging about 2,700 new cases a day, or 6.9 per 100,000 people, while the death rate averages 20 cases a day, according to state data.

Changes in the new standards include:

• There are no distinctions between treatment of vaccinated and unvaccinated employees.

• Requirements for barriers, partitions and physical distancing were axed in favor of a focus on improved air supply, ventilation and air filtration.

• Requirements for surface cleaning and disinfecting were removed.

• Face covering requirements were relaxed, with no requirement that unvaccinated workers wear them. As per CDPH guidelines, masks are required only in emergency shelters, cooling/heating centers, health care settings, correctional facilities, homeless shelters and long term care. Face coverings are no longer required on employer-provided transportation either.

• Using at-home tests is now easier as workers just have to provide a time-stamped photo of test results rather than a video.

• Employees who test positive now can return to work after five days if they test positive and wear face coverings for another five days.

The most controversial aspect of the latest regulations is that they maintain exclusion pay — continuing an employee’s salary and benefits if they have to stay home because of a workplace exposure — even though lawmakers have approved supplemental sick leave until September.

Several employer representatives said the wording of the regulation, which says that exposed employees should receive exclusion pay until they test negative, could encourage workers to refuse tests so they would receive more paid time off.

“This incentivizes employees to refuse testing after exposed because they will receive more exclusion pay,” said Rob Moutrie, policy advocate at the California Chamber of Commerce.

“There should not be a perverse incentive to refuse testing,” said Megan Shaked, an attorney representing California Employers COVID-19 Prevention Coalition, a business group.

However, labor and worker advocates hailed the continuation of exclusion pay.

“Guaranteed inclusion pay for positive COVID cases is necessary for worker safety and health,” said AnaStacia Nicol Wright, an attorney at Worksafe, which advocates for worker safety. “As time goes on, the burden for exclusion pay will become minimal. As the pandemic fades, there will be fewer cases, so exclusion pay won’t be as relevant.”

Eric Berg, CalOSHA deputy chief of Health and Research and Standards, said that other state regulations allow employers to mandate tests for workers as a job necessity, meaning that workers should not be able to refuse tests.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @csaid

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