THE CAL/OSHA Standards Board has approved new emergency regulations that will impose strict rules on employers to implement safeguards in order to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading in the workplace.

The sweeping rules extend the reach of protections to employer-provided housing and transportation, as well as THE CAL/OSHA Standards Board has approved new emergency regulations that will impose strict rules on employers to implement safeguards in order to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading in the workplace.

The sweeping rules extend the reach of protections to employer-provided housing and transportation, as well as imposing new reporting requirements on employers who have workers that contract the coronavirus. The new rules took effect Nov. 30, so employers need to ramp up immediately to comply with them.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NEW REGULATIONS

• Physical distancing and mask-wearing are required unless it is not possible to Wear masks on the job. If physical distancing is not possible, the employer would have to explain why.
• Employers must provide face coverings and ensure they are worn by employees over the nose and mouth.
• At fixed work locations where it is not possible to maintain physical distancing, the employer shall install cleanable partitions that effectively reduce aerosol transmission between employees.
• Employers must implement cleaning and disinfecting procedures for frequently touched surfaces and objects, such as doorknobs, elevator buttons, equipment, tools, handrails, handles, controls, bathroom surfaces and steering wheels.
• Employers will be required to have a written COVID-19 prevention program. Cal/OSHA will allow the program to be incorporated into an existing injury and illness prevention plan or be stand-alone.
• Employers must identify and evaluate COVID-19 hazards with participation from employees, and then correct those hazards.
• Employers must investigate cases among their employees. If they discover one of their staff has contracted COVID-19, they must notify all employees at a worksite who might have been exposed, within one day. Workers who may have been exposed must be offered COVID-19 testing at no cost.
• Employers must report coronavirus cases in their workplaces to local health authorities.
• Employers must maintain medical records related to COVID-19 and provide those records to the local health department, the California Department of Public Health, Cal/OSHA, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (upon request).
• Employers must implement a system of record-keeping to track all COVID- 19 cases in the workplace.
• Employees with COVID-19 symptoms may not return to work until at least 10 days since symptoms first appeared, and not until after 24 hours have passed since the employee had a fever of 100.4 or higher and after all symptoms have passed.

There are even rules for disinfecting and cleaning employee housing and  transportation if the company provides them. The regs also include provisions that are beyond the scope of workplace safety regulations, such as requiring employers to maintain employees’ earnings, seniority and benefits when they are off work because of COVID-19.

Key takeaways

The new rules took effect Nov. 30, so you will need to immediately prepare.  You should:

• Prepare for new record-keeping requirements,
• Write COVID-19 prevention program guidelines,
• Implement testing protocols according to the
  regulations, and
• Prepare policies and procedures for notifying affected staff and others of possible COVID-19 exposure.

AS 2021 gets underway and while you’re making New Year’s resolutions, you should also resolve to review the state of your business’s insurance program.

The best way to do that is to start by reviewing your enterprise’s activities in the past year and how they may affect your insurance policies in the new year. What you find as you go through the following checklist may surprise you.

Did your operations change last year? Workers’ compensation and commercial general liability (CGL) insurance premiums are based in part on the type of work your business does.

If your business changed, the insurance company may revise how it classifies your operations when it audits your records. This could cause your premiums to increase; inform the company now to avoid a surprise later.

Did your payroll and sales change? These premiums are also based on the amounts of your payrolls and sales. Employment practices liability insurance premiums are based on the number of employees.

If you had a good year and these numbers increased, expect to pay additional premiums at audit time. Conversely, if both shrunk, ask your insurer to reduce its estimates so you can get the return premium now.

Did you acquire, form or sell any businesses? CGL policies typically provide short-term coverage for some newly acquired or formed entities. After 30 or 90 days, that coverage disappears unless you report the new entities to the insurer.

Workers’ comp policies do not automatically cover a new entity. If your business and the new entity have common ownership, you may be able to add that entity to your policy, but you must report it to the insurer.

Did your properties change? Did you buy or sell any buildings? Lease new ones? Add on to or upgrade any buildings? Buy new equipment? Make sure your insurer knows about these changes.

Some property insurance policies provide limited automatic coverage, but only for 30 days or so. Also, the amounts of insurance on your properties should reflect the cost of replacing them. If your building is 30% bigger than it was this time last year, you may be underinsured.

Did your auto schedule change? If you have sold, replaced or added any vehicles, make sure your insurance company has an up-to-date list of all vehicles. Do you need new or additional insurance? Could you afford to pay for legal costs, settlements, penalties, lost income and recovery measures if you were sued over a network data breach or suffered a ransomware attack? If not, you may need cyber insurance.

Could a client sue you for alleged errors or omissions in your work? If so, you might need professional liability insurance. Also, you may need greater amounts of general liability and automobile liability insurance, especially if you work for other firms. They often require their vendors and contractors to carry high insurance limits. You may need a commercial umbrella liability policy for additional amounts of insurance.

The takeaway

You’ve worked hard to build your business, and your work
deserves protection. By using this checklist, you will get a good
start on protecting what you have while you work in 2021 to
make it grow.

EVERY YEAR starts with a bevy of new laws and regulations affecting  employers and business in California, and many of the new rules this time around are an outgrowth of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on workers.

 

Employers in the year ahead have a number of changes they will have to contend with, some of which were enacted near the end of 2020 as emergency regulations or legislation. The following are the top 10 laws and regulations affecting employers in 2021.

1. COVID-19 workers’ compensation rules

AB 1159, which took effect in September, requires that workers’ compensation benefits be extended so that any employee who reports to a workplace and contracts COVID-19 is presumed to have contracted it at work, making them eligible for workers’ comp  benefits.

But the law also imposes sweeping reporting rules for employers that have outbreaks in their workplaces (it’s considered an outbreak if 4% of an employer’s workers test positive for COVID-19). Under new rules by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau, though, COVID-19 illness claims will not count against employers’ experience modifiers (X-Mods).

Under the law, when reporting a COVID-19 claim employers must provide the following information:

• The date the worker tested positive
• The workplace address of the worker during the 14 days before the positive test, and
• The highest number of employees who reported to work in the 45 days preceding the last day the employee worked in the workplace.

The above must be reported for each worker COVID-19 case. The law sunsets on Jan. 1, 2023.

2. Cal/OSHA COVID-19 regulations

Cal/OSHA in November enacted emergency regulations that require employers to implement safeguards i to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading in the workplace. The rules require employers to create a COVID-19 prevention plan, require masks in the workplace, social distancing and other ways to reduce the likelihood of virus spread.

Employers must investigate coronavirus cases in their workplace. If a worker contracts COVID-19, they must notify all staff who may have been exposed, within one day. Workers who may have been exposed must be offered COVID-19 testing at no cost. Employers must report every new case to local health authorities.

3. Cal/OSHA law adds confusion

Before Cal/OSHA came out with its emergency COVID-19 regulations, Governor Newsom signed into law AB 685, which adds to Cal/OSHA’s responsibilities in policing COVID-19 protections.

The law expands the agency’s authority to issue stop-work orders to workplaces it deems a COVID-19 “imminent hazard.” The law also requires employers to notify a number of parties (state agencies, local authorities, employees, contractors and more) if they have coronavirus infections in any of their facilities.

Notice to employees must include information regarding benefits the employee may be eligible for under federal, state and local laws, including workers’ comp, COVID-19-related leave, company
sick leave, state-mandated leave, and more.

4. Expansion of California Family Rights Act

SB 1383 expands the California Family Rights Act to cover even smaller employers – those with five or more staff. The CFRA, which requires covered employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave a year for family and medical leave purposes, had until now applied to employers with 50 or more workers .

The new law also expands the scope of “family members” for whom employees can take leave to help care for them to include siblings, grandparents, grandchildren and domestic partners. Also, the law expands the definition of “child” to include all adult children.

5. Independent contractor law tweaked
AB 2257, which took effect in September 2020, revises the controversial AB 5 independent contractor law by adding a number of exceptions for certain classes of workers.
AB 5 created a new standard for discerning what workers should be classified as employees or independent contractors and it swept up a number of professions in its net, causing some
consternation and hand-wringing among both employers of those contractors and the independent contractors themselves. The professions that are now exempt include (among others):

• Graphic designers
• Web designers
• Consultants
• Freelance writers
• Translators
• Editors and content contributors.

6. Wildfire smoke safety regulations

Cal/OSHA is working on permanent wildfire smoke regulations to protect  outdoor workers when the air worsens during major events. An emergency regulation is set to expire Jan. 31, 2021, at which time Cal/OSHA hopes to introduce the permanent replacement that would require employers to protect their outdoor workers from smoke if the Air Quality Index (AQI) exceeds 150.
The regulations apply when the AQI for airborne particulate matter 2.5 microns (PM2.5) or smaller is 151 or greater. The permanent regulations are expected to cover training and methods for protecting workers (like moving them inside or providing N95 respirators during high-smoke conditions).

7. New classification for telecommuters

There is a new workers’ compensation class code to assign to employees who work from home, an outgrowth of the coronavirus pandemic which thrust so many people into working from home. The new class code, (Clerical Telecommuter Employees – N.O.C.), applies to employees that work from home or “away from any location of their employer,” doing office clerical work. This class code, available on policies effective Jan. 1 or later, is to be used for employees which would have been classified under class code 8810, Office Clerical employees, that are doing work at home 50% or more of the time.

8. Sick leave and kin care law

Under Labor Code, an employee was entitled to use up to half of their annual accrued sick leave to care for a family member, but not the full amount of sick leave they have. AB 2017 gives employees the sole discretion to use as much of their sick leave as they want to care for a family member, with no approval from their employer required. The law took effect. Jan. 1.
A “family member” is defined as a child, parent or guardian, spouse or domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild or sibling.

9. Data protections strengthened further

California voters last year passed Prop. 24, which established a new law: the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020. The CPRA amends and strengthens the state’s current data protection
privacy law, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which governs how organizations have to protect personal data that they collect. The CPRA gives additional rights to consumers and places extra obligations on businesses. It provides additional protections for sensitive personal information, expands the CCPA’s opt-out rights to include new types of information-sharing, and requires businesses to provide additional mechanisms for individuals to access, correct or delete data, with a particular focus on information used by automated decision-making systems.

While the law doesn’t take full effect until Jan. 1, 2023, it has a 12-month look-back period. Privacy experts advise companies to start working on their data protection infrastructure in 2021 in order to be ready for this expansive new law.

10. State minimum wage increases

As of Jan. 1, California’s minimum wage increased to $14 for employers with 26 or more employees, and to $13 for those with 25 or fewer employees. Local minimum wages may also have risen. Check your local rules for other minimum wage requirements.

AS WILDFIRES continue raging throughout California, Cal/OSHA has issued a reminder to employers that they are required to protect their outdoor workers from smoke if the Air Quality Index exceeds 150. Cal/OSHA has extended an emergency regulation it put in place in August 2019 through January 2021 as it works on a permanent regulation on wildfire smoke protection for outdoor workers in the state.

For the safety of your workers and to comply with the regulation, it’s important that you follow the regs and know when you will need to take action to protect them from outdoor smoke.
The regulation applies when the AQI for airborne particulate matter 2.5 microns (PM2.5) or smaller is 151 or greater in an area where employees are working outdoors. Here are the details:

Identification

Employers must monitor the AQI for PM2.5. You can monitor the index using the following websites:

• U.S. EPA AirNow
• U.S. Forest Service Wildland Air Quality Response Program
• California Air Resources Board
• Local air pollution control district websites or local air quality management district websites.

Training and instruction

Employers with outdoor workers need train their workers in:

• The health effects of wildfire smoke.
• Their right to obtain medical treatment without fear of reprisal.
• How they can obtain the current AQI for PM2.5.
• Actions they must take if the AQI exceeds 150 PM 2.5

Communication

Employers must implement a system for communicating wildfire smoke hazards to all affected employees, as well as a system for employees to inform the employer of smoke hazards.

The takeaway

If you have outside employees who may have to work in smoky conditions, you should stockpile a two-week supply of N-95 masks for all of them if you are unable to implement other controls to reduce their exposure.
Cal/OSHA is in the process of making the emergency rules permanent and has sent them out for public comment. We will continue monitoring the agency’s progress on the rules and update you when they have been completed.

 

 

THE COVID-19 pandemic seems to have reversed years of falling workers’ compensation rates in California, as the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau has recommended that average benchmark rates be increased by 2.6% for 2021.
The recommendation was forwarded to the California Department of Insurance, which will schedule a hearing on the recommendation in the fall.
It should be noted that the 2.6% increase recommendation would be an average across all class codes, as the Rating Bureau plans to allocate the expected COVID-19 costs by weight across the state’s overall industrial sector. Note that even low exposure classes will be surcharged.
The Bureau in its recommendation aims to apply the surcharge on a weighted basis according to each class code’s share of growing COVID-19 claims costs. It is considering a tiered surcharge model based on an employer’s risk, as follows (for examples, see below):

High risk – A 12-cent surcharge per $100 of payroll.
Medium risk – A 6-cent surcharge per $100 of payroll.
Low risk – A 4-cent surcharge per $100 of payroll.

 

The X-factor

The Bureau’s actuarial committee noted that the pandemic does present challenges for predicting workers’ compensation costs. “The 2021 policy year will still be impacted by COVID-19, but some trends may stabilize. The challenge will be projecting exposure and claims frequency (for COVID-19 claims),” the committee wrote in a report. Actually, the overall effect of COVID-19 on rates going into 2021 was 4%, according to the Rating Bureau. Had it not included the COVID-19 surcharge, it would be asking for a 1.3% decrease in benchmark rates.

The reason is that claims costs and claims frequency have been falling and long-term claims are costing less than originally anticipated. The Bureau also forecasts that the recession caused by the pandemic will also have a profound effect on overall claims: it projects an overall 6.3% decrease in claims frequency due to slowing economic conditions.

Interestingly, COVID-19 claims are not supposed to count against employers’ experience rating and loss histories, according to new rules that took effect in May. However, the claims are having an overall effect in terms of workers’ comp benefit payments. The Bureau also has to price in the uncertainty over the future of COVID-19. Will it get worse, or will it begin to wane? Will there be a vaccine and new and improved treatment regimens that reduce mortality or decrease symptoms and hospitalizations?

It is concerned that some low-risk industries may be getting a surcharge that is still out of proportion to their actual risk, particularly with people who are working remotely. It plans to further study the issue and will likely amend the filing depending on the results.

A NEW LAW has come to the rescue of a number of freelance professions by exempting them from the onerous requirements of AB 5, which required most independent contractors to be classified as employees in California. Governor Gavin Newsom on Sept. 1 signed AB 2257 as an urgency measure so that it took effect immediately. If you remember, AB 5 set a new standard for hiring independent contractors, requiring many to be reclassified as employees covered by minimum wage, overtime, workers’ compensation, unemployment and disability insurance. It created a three-pronged test that needs to be satisfied to determine if someone is an independent contractor or an employee.

To be independent contractors under AB 5’s “ABC test,” workers must (A) work independently, (B) do work that is different from what the business does, and (C) offer their work to other businesses or the public. All three conditions must be met.

It is prong B that’s problematic. For example, a freelance writer working for a magazine would not be doing something different than the business does. The new law sets limits on the amount of income someone can receive while doing this kind of work before being considered an employee. AB 2257 also expands the “business-to-business” definition in AB 5 to cover a relationship between two or more sole proprietors.

 

 

 

 

THE NOVEL coronavirus that broke out in the winter has caused immeasurable suffering, both physical and economic. For employers struggling to stay in business, this is a fraught time where mistakes in managing their workforces could lead to employee lawsuits. Here are 10 potential trouble spots to watch for.

1. Workplace safety – Businesses that still have employees working on-site run the risk that a single infected worker may send the virus ripping through the entire workforce. While workers’ compensation laws may prevent employees from suing, their family members who become ill or suffer through a worker’s illness face no such constraints.

2. Sick time and paid leave – Congress enacted the Families First Coronavirus Response Act in March, guaranteeing full-time employees of small businesses 80 hours of sick leave (part-timers get a prorated amount.) Mistakes in administering these benefits could prompt lawsuits.

3. Workplace discrimination – Because the coronavirus originated in China, there have been reports of Asian-Americans being targets of racist actions. Employers must take care to avoid the appearance of making workplace decisions based even partly on employees’ race.

4. Americans with Disabilities Act – The ADA prohibits discrimination against disabled individuals and requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for these workers. Employees who become ill from COVID-19 (the illness caused by the virus) may suffer after-effects that include trouble breathing, speaking, and working at their former pace. Employers must accommodate these workers to the extent that is practical.

5. Wage and hour violations – Non-exempt employees working remotely may be working more than their regular hours, missing rest and meal breaks, and using their own equipment. Employers must keep careful records, reimburse employees for their use of personal equipment where warranted and remind employees to take mandatory breaks.

6. Battered retirement plans – Stock markets have cratered since the beginning of the year, taking retirement account balances down with them. Questions may be asked about whether fund managers did enough to limit the damage. Employees who are not satisfied with the answers may go to court.

7. Health information privacy – Employee health information privacy is protected by law. Employers must secure the records of infected employees from unauthorized access by individuals within and outside the company.

8. Union contracts – Collective bargaining agreements may contain provisions that go beyond federal requirements for breaks, paid leave, layoff notices, and workplace safety. Employers must keep their CBAs in mind and work with their unions to avoid contract violations.

9. Disparate impact from layoffs – If layoffs are necessary, employers must take a thoughtful approach when deciding which employees to part company with. An appearance of singling out older workers or other protected classes under discrimination laws could invite lawsuits.

10. WARN Act – The Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act requires some employers to provide at least 60 days’ notice before layoffs. Many businesses’ revenues fell off the cliff so quickly that they were unable to provide that much notice.

A final thought
The pandemic is a crisis that few businesses foresaw. The effects, including the litigation, may haunt them for a long time to come.

AS IF BUSINESSES didn’t have enough to worry about, online scammers have started sending out malicious e-mails to organizations about coronavirus that appear to be from business partners or public institutions. The criminals send these to rank and file employees in the hope that at least one of them will click on a link or attachment in the e-mail, which unleashes malware or tries to trick them into wiring money for supplies purportedly to protect the organization’s workers.

The number of malicious e-mails mentioning the coronavirus has increased significantly since the end of January, according to cybersecurity firm Proofpoint Inc. The company noted that this wasn’t the first time they had seen such widespread cyber attacks associated with some type of disaster. But because this is global in nature, it decided to track the new threat. This practice of launching cyber attacks that are centered around global news and outbreaks (like the current COVID-19 coronavirus) isn’t anything new. Cybercriminals have long employed these tactics to take advantage of users’ desires to keep as up to date with any new information as possible or to evoke powerful emotions (like fear) in the hope that their sentiments will get the better of them and they will not pause to check for the legitimacy of these e-mails.

The cybercriminals are using the public’s ignorance about coronavirus, as well as the conflicting claims of how to protect against it, to lure people into clicking on their malicious links or get them to wire money. Because people are afraid, their guards may be down and they may not be as careful about identifying the e-mail as dangerous.

Some real-life examples

• Japanese workers were targeted in January and February with e-mails that looked like they came from local hospitals. The messages even included legitimate contact information for key personnel. The e-mails were focused on employees of various companies and came in a message that would look like it’s a reply to something or a warning that people are getting from the government. But when they clicked, it was malware. E-mails were sent to companies in the transportation sector that looked like they came from an employee of the World Health Organization.
They included the WHO logo and instructions about how to monitor crews aboard ships for coronavirus symptoms, and they included an attachment with instructions. This phishing e-mail attack was
intended to lure individuals into providing sensitive data, such as personally identifiable information and passwords.
• Companies in the US and Australia have been receiving malicious e-mails that use a display name of “Dr. Li Wei” and are titled “CORONA-VIRUS AFFECTED COMPANY STAFF.”

What you can do

All that it takes to break into your business is a cleverly worded e-mail message. If scammers can trick one person in your company into clicking on a malicious link, they can gain access
to your data. It’s important to train your staff to identify suspicious e-mails. They should avoid clicking links in e-mails that:
• Are not addressed to them by name, have poor English, or omit personal details that a legitimate sender would include.
• Are from businesses they are not expecting to hear from.
• Ask you to download any files.
• Take you to a landing page or website that does not have the legitimate URL of the company the e-mail is purporting to be sent from.
• Include attachments purportedly with advice for what to do. Do not open them even if they come from relatives or friends.

IF YOU are operating a small business, you are likely relying on a small staff to get the job done. Many employees in small firms have to wear many hats and if one of them or an owner should die, the business could suffer greatly from that sudden loss of talent. If you don’t have “key man” insurance, that setback could be devastating to the viability of your operations, whereas coverage would provide you with extra funding that you would need while recovering from the loss. Keyman insurance is life insurance on a key person or persons in a business. In a small business, this is usually the owner, a founder or perhaps a few vital employees. These are the people who are crucial to a business – the ones whose absence would sink the company. You need key man insurance on those people.

Key man insurance basics

Before buying coverage, give some thought to the effects on your company of possibly losing certain partners or employees. In opting for this type of coverage, your company would take out life insurance on the key individuals, pay the premiums and designate itself as the beneficiary of the policy. If that person unexpectedly dies, your company receives the claim payout. This payout would essentially allow your business to stay afloat as you recover from the sudden loss of that employee or partner, without whom it would be difficult to keep the business operating in the short term.

Your company can use the insurance proceeds for expenses until it can find a replacement person, or, if necessary, pay off debts, distribute money to investors, pay severance to employees and close the business down in an orderly manner. In other words, in the aftermath of this tragedy, the insurance would give you more options than immediate bankruptcy.

Determining whom to cover

Ask yourself: Who is irreplaceable in the short term? In many small businesses, it is the founder who holds the company together – he or she may keep the books, manage the employees, handle the key customers, and so on. If that person is gone, the business pretty much stops.

Determining amount of coverage

• The amount of coverage depends on your business and revenue.
• Think of how much money your business would need to survive until it could replace the key person, come up to speed and get the business back on its feet.
• Buy a policy that fits into your budget and will address your short-term cash needs in case of tragedy.
• Ask us to get some quotes from different insurers. • Check rates for different levels of coverage ($100,000, $500,000, etc.)

LEGISLATION SIGNED into law by President Trump extends sick leave benefits for workers who are stricken by the coronavirus, as well as provide for additional weeks of time off under the Family Medical Leave Act so they can be guaranteed of being able to return to their jobs afterwards.
Employers need to pay extra attention to the added paid sick leave and FMLA provisions of this new law, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which only applies to employers with fewer than 500 employees.

Paid sick leave

Employees are entitled to two weeks (80 hours) of paid sick time for coronavirus-related issues. Eligible workers must be paid their regular pay, up to $511 per day and $5,110 in total.
Those caring for someone subject to quarantine due to COVID-19, and parents of kids who can’t go to school or daycare, will receive two-thirds of their regular pay, up to $200 daily with a $2,000 cap. The emergency sick leave benefit can be used immediately, regardless of how long the worker has been employed with you. The law does not require certification of an order by the government or a health care provider. But employers can require reasonable notice procedures, such as not announcing in the middle of a shift that they take COVID-19 sick leave. They cannot require the employee to find a replacement worker to cover the shifts they will miss. Employers must post the law’s requirements “in conspicuous places.”
Employers are not allowed to discipline a worker who takes this sick or FMLA leave for coronavirus purposes. If an employer refuses to provide the leave, they can be subject to paying back pay and statutory damages.
Important: This law provides payroll tax credits to offset costs of providing paid leaves.

FMLA

The law provides for 10 additional weeks of FMLA leave, but only for those who must stay at home to care for a child whose school is closed or their childcare provider is unavailable due to COVID-19- related issues. These 10 weeks will be paid at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay, up to $200 per day with a cap of $10,000. They will also receive 12 weeks of leave
with job protection, though employers of health care or emergency care providers can exclude such employees. The employee would likely use up their two weeks of paid sick leave before applying
for FMLA benefits, which unlike traditional FMLA (which is unpaid), are paid leaves after the first 10 days under the new law. Employees who have been working for more than 30 days are eligible, and the employer can require them to provide reasonable notice that they are taking leave.

A final word

This law only applies to employers with fewer than 500 workers, so it leaves uncovered those people who work for larger companies. Also, employers need to make financial plans, as the credit
cannot be claimed until after the employer pays their payroll taxes. A bigger issue is that the law requires that workers be paid the sick leave even if they are not sick, but have been ordered to self-isolate. In states that have ordered workers to self-isolate, such as California, employers could be faced with an avalanche of paid sick leave claims all at once. This law sunsets on Dec. 31, 2020.