COVID-19 Workplace Rights: What Still Matters Today
Many of the temporary COVID-19 workplace programs and standards used during the pandemic have ended. Today, a workplace problem involving COVID-19 is more likely to overlap with general rules involving sick leave, workplace safety, retaliation, medical or disability issues, or termination than with a separate set of COVID-only rules.
California's statewide COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave program has ended. California continues to have a separate general paid sick leave framework that applies to illness more broadly. Employees looking for current information can review the California Department of Industrial Relations' paid sick leave guidance.
The COVID-specific Cal/OSHA prevention standards that applied during and after the pandemic have also ended. Cal/OSHA continues to oversee workplace health and safety more generally, so COVID-related concerns can still be relevant when they form part of a broader workplace safety issue.
If the main issue is ongoing symptoms, a longer-term health condition, or a request for changes to job duties or schedule, the more relevant topic may be Medical and Disability Discrimination. That page covers medical-condition and workplace-accommodation issues in greater detail rather than duplicating them here.
If the concern is a negative workplace change after raising a health or safety issue, requesting time away from work, or reporting another workplace problem, our Retaliation page may be more relevant.
Where an employee reported a suspected legal or safety violation, the circumstances may instead overlap with Whistleblower Retaliation. The appropriate category depends on what happened and what was reported.
If employment ended after an illness, absence, workplace request, or complaint, the timing and surrounding circumstances may be relevant. Our Wrongful Termination page covers termination issues in more detail.
Information that can help explain a COVID-related workplace dispute may include employer communications about the illness or absence, leave requests, workplace-adjustment requests, return-to-work communications, relevant workplace policies, and any changes in discipline or performance treatment that followed.
JLG Lawyers represents employees across California. A case review can help identify whether a COVID-related workplace problem is primarily a sick-leave, safety, retaliation, medical or disability, whistleblower, or termination issue.
- Temporary COVID-specific workplace programs have largely ended
- California's general paid sick leave rules may still apply to illness
- Ongoing medical symptoms or workplace adjustments: Medical and Disability Discrimination
- Workplace health or safety concerns
- Negative treatment after raising a concern: Retaliation
- Reports of suspected legal or safety violations: Whistleblower Retaliation
- Termination after illness, absence, or a workplace complaint: Wrongful Termination
- Current paid sick leave information from the California Department of Industrial Relations
- Current workplace safety information from Cal/OSHA
