California set to keep workplace pandemic rules through 2022

(KYMA, KECY/ AP News) - Workplace regulators in California are poised to extend mandatory pay for workers affected by the Coronavirus through the end of 2022.

The decision expected Thursday again pits management against labor as the seven-member U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration board, OSHA, renews revised workplace safety rules that would otherwise expire in early May.

Small businesses have particularly struggled with the obligation as the Cal/OSHA rule applies in almost every workplace in the state covering workers in offices, factories and retail businesses, while the state sick leave law applies only to companies with 26 or more employees.