May 11, 2023 marked the end of the two federal COVID-19 Emergency Orders. To address the announced end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Orders, on May 15, 2023, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) issued key updates to its COVID-19 technical assistance, “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws.”
The California Governor has approved AB 2693, extending and modifying employer COVID-19 notification requirements.
In September 2020, as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the California Legislature enacted AB 685 (adding Labor Code section 6409.6), mandating employers notify employees and local and state public health officials of COVID-19 cases in the workplace. The statute was set to expire on January 1, 2023, but the Legislature delayed the sunset provision to January 1, 2024.
On July 12, 2022, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its COVID-19 guidance for the workplace, most notably, its guidance regarding COVID-19 testing of employees. Prior to last week, the EEOC took the position that mandatory COVID-19 testing would always be “job related and consistent with business necessity” – a requirement for permissible medical examinations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Given the evolving nature of the pandemic, the EEOC has changed course and has determined that employers now must make an individualized assessment as to whether current pandemic and workplace circumstances justify mandatory testing of employees to prevent workplace transmission of COVID-19. In other words, employers can no longer simply assume that mandatory COVID-19 viral testing of employees is lawful under the ADA.
Continue Reading The EEOC Issues Updated Guidance on COVID-19 Testing