Relaxation of State and Los Angeles County Quarantine Rules
Since our January 4 update, the CDPH and Los Angeles County have updated their guidance on quarantine (i.e., requirements for persons in close contact with a COVID-19 case).
Staying Home
CPDH guidelines had previously provided that an employee who was unvaccinated, or was vaccinated and booster-eligible but had not yet received their booster dose, had to stay home for at least five days, if they were in close contact with a person that tested positive for COVID-19. As of January 8, 2022, CPDH has now relaxed these guidelines to state that in workplaces other than healthcare, an employee who is vaccinated and booster-eligible but has not yet received their booster does need not stay home if:
- The employee is asymptomatic; and
- a negative diagnostic test is obtained within 3-5 days after last exposure to a case
- The employee wears a well-fitting mask around others for a total of 10 days
- The employee continues to have no symptoms.
LA County updated its health order on January 10, 2022, to include the same change for workplaces.
Testing
CDPH rules currently requires all employees who were identified as “close contacts” to test on Day 5, regardless of vaccination status. Previously, LA County had also required all close contacts to test immediately. LA County’s updated order now changes immediate testing from a requirement to a recommendation, and recommends it only for close contacts whose vaccinations are not up to date (unvaccinated, or booster-eligible but not boosted). However, to be compliant with the most stringent rule, employers must test all close contacts on day 5 and if they allow a home-test, it must be administered with employer supervision (i.e. watching the employee take the test over zoom).
LA County Mask Mandate
LA County’s latest health order requires employers to provide employees with upgraded masks. It provides that “no later than January 17, 2022, employers are required to provide their employees, who work indoors and in close contact with other workers or the public, with and require them to wear a well-fitting medical grade mask, surgical mask or higher-level respirator,
such as an N95 filtering facepiece respirator or KN95, at all times while indoors at the worksite or facility.”
Supreme Court Rulings on Mandates
Our update on December 31, 2021, on OSHA’s Vaccine-or-Test Mandate for Large Employers noted that the U.S. Supreme Court would shortly hold oral argument on whether the mandate should be stayed. Last week, the high court issued a ruling both on the OSHA mandate for large employers, and also on a similar mandate requiring mandatory vaccinations for employees in medical facilities that take Medicare or Medicaid payments. The court issued a split ruling blocking the mandate for large employers, but upholding the mandate for medical facilities.
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