New California rules end distinction for vaccinated workers

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Workplace regulators are poised on Thursday to extend California’s coronavirus pandemic regulations into next year with some revisions that business groups say could worsen the labor shortage.

The main change to the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board's revised temporary rule is that it would erase current distinctions between vaccinated and unvaccinated employees.

Both would be barred from the workplace if they come in close contact with someone with the virus.

The revised temporary rules would require that exposed, vaccinated but asymptomatic workers stay home for 14 days even if they test negative or, if they return to work, wear masks and stay 6 feet (1.8 meters) from anyone else during those two weeks.

“Treating vaccinated and unvaccinated people similarly really denies the scientific value of the vaccine and disincentivizes vaccination,” said Rob Moutrie, a policy advocate at the California Chamber of Commerce.

The board’s consideration comes a day after California reinstituted requiring both vaccinated and unvaccinated people to wear masks indoors in a bid to slow the spread of the virus, including the omicron variant, as families and friends gather during the holidays and new coronavirus cases increase.

Under current workplace rules, vaccinated employees can keep working even if they've been exposed, unless they show symptoms, under the assumption that the vaccine generally will protect them.

California was among numerous states that adopted emergency COVID-19 workplace safety measures, including Michigan, Oregon and Virginia.

The Biden Administration has ordered all U.S. employers with more than 100 workers to be vaccinated, tested regularly or wear masks at work starting Jan. 4, but the order is stalled amid...