Employers must document the vaccination status of employees under revised CAL/OSHA rules

KSBY ^ | 06/17/2021 | Megan Healy

[TexasGurl24]

On top of dropping masks, a California safety board says employers are now required to document which employees are vaccinated.

In a 5-1 vote, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (OSHA) approved a clearer set of rules for vaccinated people in the workplace on Thursday.

Still, there is confusion on whether or not an employer can ask for an employee's vaccination status.

The short answer: yes.

CAL/OSHA rules

On top of dropping masks, a California safety board says employers are now required to document which employees are vaccinated.

In a 5-1 vote, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (OSHA) approved a clearer set of rules for vaccinated people in the workplace on Thursday.

Still, there is confusion on whether or not an employer can ask for an employee's vaccination status.

The short answer: yes.

“Not only will employers be allowed to ask for the vaccination status of their employees, but they will also be required to,” employment attorney Kathy Eppright said. "It's permissible for an employer if they wanted to ask that information of employees or customers in order to determine what rules to apply."

Eppright, who gave her perspective minutes before CAL/OSHA approved the revised rules, said asking for this info is not a violation of HIPAA laws in most cases.

“Restaurants, [law] offices like ours, we’re not covered by HIPAA which means you are not restricted by HIPAA from asking for medical information of this type,” Eppright added. "Right now, the agencies are making some sort of distinction between what a company can and can't do based on if someone is vaccinated or unvaccinated which is what justifies an employer asking for vaccination information.

[taxcontrol]

If they can ask for vaccinations, they can also ask for medications ... so

Who is taking AIDS / HIV / PREP
Who is taking birth control
Who is on blood pressure meds

Want to reduce the group insurance costs ... get rid of employees who are on xyz medications.

[piusv]

I was being sarcastic .. ;-)

[Bikkuri]

"Will there be cliques of the vaxxed vs unvaxxed employees?"

That clique is bad enough here (you would think otherwise, since most FReepers are more mature than that).

My body, my choice...

[L.A.Justice]

They are required to ask. They can require me to answer as a condition of continued employment. How will they know if I lie? Will they call my doctor and demand access to my records? I cannot see how a lie could be discovered here.

Question:What if the employee declines to state their vaccination status?

Answer: Under the ETS, an employer is not obligated to require employees to submit proof of being fully vaccinated. Absent such a requirement, an employee has the right to decline to state if they are vaccinated or not. In that case, the employer must treat the employee as unvaccinated and must not take disciplinary or discriminatory action against the employee.

https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/coronavirus/Revisions-FAQ.html#vaccines