• ​F​or symptomatic confirmed cases, 2 days before the confirmed case had any symptoms (symptom onset date is Day 0) through Days 5-10 after symptoms first appeared AND 24 hours have passed with no fever, without the use of fever-reducing medications, and symptoms have improved, OR 

• For asymptomatic confirmed cases, 2 days before the positive specimen collection date (collection date is Day 0) through Day 5 after positive specimen collection date for their first positive COVID-19 test.​ 

The COVID-19 Prevention regulations apply to all employers, employees, and places of employment with the following exceptions:

• Work locations where there is only one employee who does not have contact with other people.

• Employees who are working from home.

• Employees who are covered by the Aerosol Transmissible Diseases regulation (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 5199) (section 5199).

• Employees working from a location chosen by the employee that is not under the control of the employer (for instance, an employee teleworking from a café or a friend's home).

Employers must:

• Review CDPH and Cal/OSHA guidance regarding ventilation, including “Interim Guidance for Ventilation, Filtration, and Air Quality in Indoor Environments.”

• Develop, implement, and maintain effective methods to prevent transmission of COVID-19 including one or more of the following:

  • Maximize as much as possible the quantity of outside air provided, except when the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Air Quality Index is greater than 100 for any pollutant or if opening windows or maximizing outdoor air by other means would cause a hazard to employees, for instance from excessive heat or cold.

  • In indoor locations with mechanical ventilation, filter circulated air through filters at least as protective as Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV)-13, or the highest level of filtration efficiency compatible with the existing mechanical ventilation system.

  • Use High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filtration units in accordance with manufacturers' recommendations in indoor areas occupied by employees for extended periods, where ventilation is inadequate to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

1. In indoor spaces of 400,000 or fewer cubic feet per floor, a close contact is defined as sharing the same indoor airspace as a COVID-19 case for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period during a COVID-19 case's infectious period.

2. In large indoor spaces greater than 400,000 cubic feet per floor, a close contact is defined as being within 6 feet of the COVID-19 case for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period during the COVID-19 case's infectious period.

3. Offices, suites, rooms, waiting areas, break or eating areas, bathrooms or other spaces that are separated by floor-to-ceiling walls are considered distinct indoor airspaces.

Determining who is a close contact is dependent on the size of an employer's indoor space. For indoor spaces of 400,000 cubic feet or fewer, a close contact is someone who shares the same indoor airspace with a COVID-19 case for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period during the COVID-19 case's infectious period. For indoor airspaces of more than 400,000 cubic feet, a close contact is someone who is within six feet of a COVID-19 case for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period during the COVID-19 case's infectious period.

Effective March 13, 2023, CDPH has adopted the following definition of "infectious period," which now applies to the COVID-19 Prevention regulations:

• For symptomatic confirmed cases, 2 days before the confirmed case had any symptoms (symptom onset date is Day 0) through Days 5–10 after symptoms first appeared AND 24 hours have passed with no fever, without the use of fever-reducing medications, and symptoms have improved.

  • Starting any time after Day 5, the infectious period has ended if the COVID-19 case has no fever for 24 hours and symptoms have improved, with no testing necessary.

  • After Day 10, the infectious period has ended if the COVID-19 case has no fever for 24 hours, whether or not other symptoms are improving, with no testing necessary.

• For asymptomatic confirmed cases, 2 days before the positive specimen collection date (collection date is Day 0) through Day 5 after positive specimen collection date for their first positive COVID-19 test.

The definition of "infectious period" will change if CDPH again changes its definition in a regulation or order.

An employer must develop a written COVID-19 Prevention Program or ensure its elements are included in an existing Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP). The employer must implement the following in accordance with their written program:

• Communication to employees about the employer’s COVID-19 prevention procedures.

• Identify, evaluate and correct COVID-19 hazards.

• Require and provide face coverings and respirators in the manner and in the circumstances specified in the ETS.

• Advise employees they can wear face coverings at work, regardless of their vaccination status, without fear of retaliation by the employer.

• Use engineering controls, administrative controls and personal protective equipment under certain circumstances.

• Follow procedures to investigate and respond to COVID-19 cases in the workplace.

• Provide COVID-19 training to employees.

• Make testing available at no cost to employees who have had a “close contact” (as defined in the ETS) with a person with COVID-19, and in the case of multiple infections or a major outbreak, make testing available at no cost on a regular basis for employees in the exposed work areas. This requirement does not apply to exposed employees who are fully vaccinated and have no symptoms, except during major outbreaks. 

• Exclude COVID-19 cases and exposed employees from the workplace until they are no longer an infection risk. Exposed employees who are fully vaccinated and have no symptoms do not need to be excluded. 

• Follow return to work criteria.

• Maintain records of COVID-19 cases, and report serious illnesses to Cal/OSHA and to the local health department when required.

Cal/OSHA has provided a model prevention plan template that employers may use as an outline in beginning to prepare the written COVID-19 Prevention Plan required under the regulation. The template is generalized and will likely need to be customized employer-by-employer. 

Yes, employers can have policies that are more protective than those required by the COVID-19 Prevention regulations. However, an accommodation must be made for those who cannot wear face coverings due to a medical or mental health condition or disability, who are hearing-impaired or communicating with a hearing-impaired person, or when an employee performs specific tasks which cannot be performed with a face covering.

Yes. As explained by the California Civil Rights Department, an employer may require employees to receive an FDA approved vaccination against COVID-19 infection so long as the employer: does not discriminate against or harass employees or job applicants on the basis of a protected characteristic; provides reasonable accommodations related to disability or sincerely-held religious beliefs or practices; and does not retaliate against anyone for engaging in protected activity (such as requesting a reasonable accommodation). For guidance on this topic, employers may wish to refer to information provided in the following FAQ resources provided by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the California Civil Rights Department at the following webpages:

• EEOC FAQ's regarding COVID-19

• Civil Rights Department FAQs regarding COVID-19

Employers must provide training regarding COVID-19 in accordance with the Injury and Illness Prevention Program Regulation (IIPPs), subsection 3203(a)(7). This COVID-19 training must be covered as part of employers’ existing safety training requirements in connection with their IIPPs. Regulation does not specify what must be covered in the COVID-19 portion of employers’ safety training, leaving that determination up to employers. Nonetheless, rather than determining from scratch what include in the COVID-19 portion of their safety training, employers may wish to continue to cover the topics identified in the Emergency Temporary Standards, which have already been deemed sufficient by Cal/OSHA.  Those topics are:

• Employer policies and procedures to protect employees from COVID-19 hazards and how to participate in the identification and evaluation of these hazards.

• Information regarding COVID-19-related benefits, either from the employer or from federal, state, or local governments, that may be available to employees impacted by COVID-19.

• The fact that COVID-19 is an infectious disease that can be spread through the air when an infectious person talks or vocalizes, sneezes, coughs, or exhales; that COVID-19 may be transmitted when a person touches a contaminated object and then touches their eyes, nose, or mouth, although that is less common; and that an infectious person may have no symptoms.

• The fact that particles containing the virus can travel more than six feet, especially indoors, so physical distancing, face coverings, increased ventilation indoors, and respiratory protection decrease the spread of COVID-19, but are most effective when used in combination.

• Employer policies for providing respirators, and the right of employees to request a respirator for voluntary use, without fear of retaliation and at no cost to employees.

• When respirators are provided for voluntary use by employees, how to properly wear them and how to perform a seal check, and the fact that facial hair interferes with a seal.

• The importance of frequent hand washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds and using hand sanitizer when hand washing facilities are not available.

• Proper use of face coverings and the fact that face coverings are not respiratory protective equipment.

• That N95s and more protective respirators protect the users from COVID-19, an airborne disease, while face coverings primarily protect people around the user.

• COVID-19 symptoms, and the importance of not coming to work and obtaining a COVID-19 test if the employee has symptoms.

• Information on the employer's COVID-19 policies; how to access COVID-19 testing and vaccination; and the fact that vaccination is effective at preventing COVID-19 and protecting against both transmission and serious illness or death.

• The conditions under which face coverings must be worn at the workplace and that employees can request face coverings from the employer at no cost to the employee and can wear them at work, regardless of vaccination status, without fear of retaliation.

• Offer testing at no cost and during paid time:

  • To employees who had a close contact at work, with an exception for symptom-free employees who recently recovered from COVID-19 (returned cases).

  • During an outbreak, to all employees within an exposed group, at least once a week, except for employees who were not at work during the relevant period and symptom-free employees who recently recovered from COVID-19 (returned cases). Employees who are not tested within 3-5 days after a close contact must be excluded from the workplace until the return to work requirements for COVID-19 cases in are met. Please see the CDPH Isolation & Quarantine section of this FAQ for information on when COVID-19 cases may return to work.

  • During a major outbreak, twice per week, except for employees who were not at work during the relevant period and symptom-free employees who recently recovered from COVID-19 (returned cases). Employees in the exposed group who are not tested must be excluded from the workplace until the return-to-work requirements for COVID-19 cases are met. Please see the CDPH Isolation & Quarantine section of this FAQ for information on when COVID-19 cases may return to work.

  • When following CDPH’s Isolation and Quarantine Guidance to keep employees working, if tested. Please refer to the section in this FAQ on CDPH’s Isolation and Quarantine Guidance.

• Provide testing in a manner that ensures employee confidentiality.