Today's Law As Amended


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AB-3106 School employees: COVID-19 cases: protections.(2023-2024)



As Amends the Law Today


SECTION 1.

 Part 15 (commencing with Section 9255) is added to Division 5 of the Labor Code, to read:

PART 15. School Employee Protections

9255.
 As used in this part, the following definitions apply:
(a) “COVID-19 case” means a school employee who has a positive COVID-19 test that has been approved or granted an emergency use authorization by the United States Food and Drug Administration to diagnose current infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
(b) “Employer” means a school district, county office of education, or charter school.
(c) “School employee” means an employee of a school district, county office of education, or charter school employed in a position requiring certification qualifications or employed in a position not requiring certification qualifications.
9256.
 (a) An employer shall ensure that COVID-19 cases are excluded from the workplace until the return-to-work requirements of subdivision (c) are met.
(b) (1) For a school employee excluded from the workplace under subdivision (a), an employer shall continue and maintain the employee’s earnings, wages, seniority, and all other employee rights and benefits, including the employee’s right to their former job status, as if the employee had not been excluded from the workplace. Both of the following apply to wages due under this paragraph:
(A) Wages may be limited to the period in which the employee is excluded from the workplace pursuant to subdivision (c).
(B) Wages are subject to existing wage payment obligations and shall be paid at the employee’s regular rate of pay no later than the regular payday for any pay period in which the employee is excluded. Unpaid wages owed to an employee under this paragraph are subject to enforcement through procedures available in existing law. If an employer determines that one of the exceptions in paragraph (2) or (3) applies, the employer shall inform the employee of the denial and the applicable exception.
(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply where the employee received disability payments or was covered by workers’ compensation and received temporary disability.
(3) Paragraph (1) does not limit any other applicable law, employer policy, or collective bargaining agreement that provides for greater protection.
(c) COVID-19 cases shall not return to work until either of the following conditions have been met, as applicable:
(1) Consistent with the COVID-19 Isolation Guidance updated by the State Department of Public Health on January 9, 2024, for COVID-19 cases with COVID-19 symptoms, both of the following have occurred:
(A) At least 24 hours have passed since a fever of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher has resolved without the use of fever-reducing medications.
(B) COVID-19 symptoms are mild and have improved.
(2) If the State Department of Public Health revises its COVID-19 Isolation Guidance after January 9, 2024, the return-to-work requirements in the revised guidance have occurred.
(d) By February 3, 2025, the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board shall adopt a standard that extends the protections of subdivision (b) to any occupational infectious disease covered by any permanent infectious disease standard adopted to succeed Section 3205 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations for school employees.
9257.
 The division shall enforce this part by the issuance of a citation alleging a violation of this part and a notice of civil penalty in a manner consistent with Section 6317. Any person who receives a citation and penalty may appeal the citation and penalty to the appeals board in a manner consistent with Section 6319.
SEC. 2.
 If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.