On May 13, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can:

In February and March 2021, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing released or updated the following resources:

On March 9, 2021, the County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors adopted the Temporary COVID-19 Hazard Premium for Specified Workers in Unincorporated County Ordinance, which provides an additional $5 per hour in hazard pay to employees of grocery stores and drugstores who are working in the county. The ordinance applies to grocery stores or drugstores with 300 employees nationally and 15 or more in a local store and franchisees (whose franchisor has 300 employees nationally and owns at least 10 stores in California. The ordinance is effective April 8, 2021 and is effective for the earlier of either 180 days or the end of the county’s COVID-19 health emergency.

COVID 19, Imminent Hazard to Employees, Closure, and Notice

On September 17, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation (AB 685) authorizing the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (division) to mandate the closure of, and prohibiting entry to, a workplace where the exposure to COVID-19 is an imminent hazard to employees. Closure is limited to immediate area where the imminent hazard exists. The division will provide an employer with a closure notice that it must conspicuously post in the workplace and only the division can remove it when the workplace is safe with the required safeguards in place. However, workplace entry is permitted, so long as with the division’s knowledge and permission, to eliminate the dangerous conditions. This COVID-19 imminent hazard provision is repealed on January 1, 2023.

On August 28, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued guidance to address President Trump’s August 8^th memo authorizing the deferral of the withholding, deposit, and payment of Social Security payroll tax obligations for affected taxpayers. Employers are not required to defer the payment of Social Security taxes, the deferral is optional, but any deferred taxes must be repaid. The guidance and the memo do not address whether employees can elect to defer (or decline the deferral of) this federal payroll tax. 

On August 12, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released guidance for the Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) program that is administered by states through a grant agreement with FEMA. FEMA does not pay benefits directly to individuals, instead the states distribute the funds through their UI system as a supplemental payment.

On July 24, 2020, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing released an updated guidance for employers about COVID-19 addressing:

On July 31, 2020, the California Department of Public Health updated its COVID-19 Employer Playbook For a Safe Reopening to require employers to contact the local health department in any jurisdiction where an employee lives when there is a COVID-19 workplace outbreak. An outbreak is three or more laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 within a two-week period among employees who live in different households.