On July 15, Virginia’s Safety and Health Codes Board issued Statewide
Emergency Workplace Safety Standards “designed to establish requirements
for employers to control, prevent, and mitigate the spread of [COVID-19]”. Many
of the requirements mirror those published by the Centers for Disease Control
(CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), however,
the new standards contain several specific provisions that place more onerous
responsibilities on employers in the state. For example, in addition to providing
flexible sick leave and telework policies, assessing the risk for exposure in
certain job duties, and maintaining various workplace sanitation practices,
employers must, among other things:
- Notify state health officials about a positive COVID-19
test;
- Notify state safety officials about three or more
positive tests within a two-week period;
- Develop a COVID-19 response and preparedness plan within 60 days and provide training to employees; and
- Distribute state-provided COVID-19 information to
employees.
Lastly, the rules prohibit employer
retaliation for whistleblower employees who raise concerns about an employer’s
compliance with the provisions and employers who fail to comply with the new
regulations could face fines up to $13,000 or for repeated intentional
non-compliance, up to $130,000. The new standards are expected to take effect the week of July 27th and are set to expire after six months or at the
termination of the state’s COVID-19 emergency order, whichever is sooner.