Existing law gives the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, within the Department of Industrial Relations, the power, jurisdiction, and supervision over every employment and place of employment in this state, which is necessary to adequately enforce and administer all laws requiring that employment and places of employment be safe, and requiring the protection of the life, safety, and health of every employee in that employment or place of employment. Existing law requires the division to enforce all occupational safety and health standards, as specified, and to issue a citation for a violation relating to those standards.
This bill would require the division to issue a citation to an egregious employer, as defined, for each willful violation, and each employee exposed to that violation would be required to be considered a separate
violation for purposes of the issuance of fines and penalties, as provided.
This bill would authorize the division to issue to an employer with multiple places of employment a citation, seek a temporary restraining order against such an employer, or both issue a citation and seek an order, with regard to an employerwide written policy or practice that violates the Health and Safety Code or the Labor Code. The bill would authorize the Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board to issue an order of abatement for the employer-wide written policy or practice. The bill would establish a rebuttable presumption that a written employer policy or practice that violates the Health and Safety Code or the Labor Code exists at all places of employment of the employer and citations may be issued accordingly.
Existing law prohibits an employer from retaliating against a worker for disclosing a positive Coronavirus (COVID-19) test,
diagnosis, or order to quarantine or isolate.
This bill would establish a rebuttable presumption that an employer’s actions are retaliatory if an employer takes adverse action against an employee within 90 days of the employee doing certain things, including, but not limited to, disclosing a positive test or diagnosis resulting from an exposure at the place of employment or worksite or of a communicable disease, requesting testing as a result of an exposure at the place of employment or worksite, and reporting a possible violation of an occupational safety or health standard.