Unvetted Pandemic Regulations Cause Small Business Strain

In November 2020, the California Occupational Safety and Health Agency (Cal-OSHA) adopted emergency regulations that outline how to handle COVID-19 in the workplace. However well-intentioned, these regulations have caused many problems—especially with small to medium sized businesses, says Tom Sheehy, Principal and Founder of Sheehy Strategy Group.

Cal-OSHA implemented these regulations without first vetting them with the public or the business community. Furthermore, employers are being cited for failing to adhere to them with no grace period given to make the changes necessary to comply. Businesses are seeking immediate relief because Cal-OSHA is not holding hearings about the adopted regulations until March 2021.

Two provisions pose specific concerns for the business community. The first one mandates that employers provide free COVID-19 testing for all employees once a week, for a specified amount of time, if an employee becomes ill with the virus. The second requires employers to provide paid time off (up to 14 days) to any employee who was in close proximity to either another employee or a customer who has COVID-19, even if the employee does not eventually test positive or never actually contracts COVID-19 or has already been vaccinated. Small employers with a limited workforce will be unfairly penalized by this requirement. Because the exposed workers may constitute most or all of a small employer’s workforce, not only would this mandate force the business in many cases to shut down entirely, it would require the employer to continue paying wages even though the business is shuttered.

Given the severe economic consequences of these regulations, Sheehy says it is unreasonable for Cal-OSHA to enforce them without public input. These types of regulations can and will put many employers out of business.

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