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Sierra Vierra is an associate in the Sacramento, California, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. She represents management in civil litigation and administrative proceedings involving employment law matters, including discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, benefits, and a wide range of wage and hour issues. She litigates in federal and state courts, including class and representative actions, and represents employers in administrative proceedings. She also provides preventive advice and counsel on best practices.

Prior to joining Jackson Lewis, Sierra clerked for the Honorable Joe B. Brown and the Honorable John S. Bryant, United States Magistrate Judges for the Middle District of Tennessee.

While in law school, Sierra received the highest grade in 12 courses. Sierra also served as an associate editor of the University of Illinois Law Review and as the editor-in-chief and administrative law columnist for the Illinois Law Update section of the Illinois Bar Journal. She also worked as a research assistant and teaching assistant and represented clients in connection with the University of Illinois Civil Litigation Clinic.

Before entering law school, Sierra worked as a paralegal at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division Office of General Counsel, where she supported civilian personnel litigation, government procurement, environmental compliance, intellectual property, Freedom of Information Act compliance, and government ethics teams.

Cal/OSHA has been working on a proposed Indoor Heat Illness Prevention Standard since 2017. Now, nearly 5 years later, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board published a draft standard and announced a public hearing on Heat Illness Prevention in Indoor Places of Employment. This comes after Cal/OSHA had stepped up enforcement of indoor heat hazards despite no

On March 3, 2023, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board published notice of proposed revised regulations pertaining to workplace exposure to lead for the general industry and construction safety orders.

In its Initial Statement of Reasons for the revisions, the Board indicates that the existing requirements are based on lead toxicity information and medical and epidemiological data

In October 2022, Governor Newsom announced the California COVID-19 State of Emergency would end on February 28, 2023. While this will phase out some of the tools the state used in handling the COVID-19 pandemic, it does not mean the end of all COVID-19 regulations and requirements for employers.  Three illustrative examples are discussed

California employers take note: the non-emergency version of the Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Prevention regulations are now in effect.

At the end of 2022, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board voted to adopt the COVID-19 Prevention non-emergency regulations to replace the Emergency Temporary Standard(ETS).

On February 3, 2023, the California Office of Administrative Law approved the non-emergency standard.

California employers are required to post their annual summary of work-related injuries and illnesses, in a visible and easily accessible area at every worksite from February 1st through April 30th. Cal/OSHA’s Form 300A must be used for this posting.

Employers can find an overview regarding completing both the log (Form 300

On December 15, 2022, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board held its final meeting of 2022 and adopted the COVID-19 Prevention Non-Emergency Regulations. The COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS)will continue to remain in effect while the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) reviews the non-emergency standard.

Once approved by OAL, the non-emergency standard will remain in effect for

On December 31, 2022, Cal/OSHA’s COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) finally sunset. However, the Standards Board has been working to pass a permanent standard to ensure it is in place before the expiration of the ETS. The Board has announced it will be voting on the permanent standard at its upcoming meeting on December 15

Previously, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) had redefined “close contact’ as someone sharing the same indoor airspace with a person who had COVID-19 for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period. This definition had caused issues for employers in particular who needed to comply with notice requirements. These

As part of the recent legislative session, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 1775, which implements new workplace safety training and certification requirements for entertainment events vendors who produce live events at public events venues. 

Specifically, any business that contracts with the entertainment events vendor to set up, operate, or tear down a live

On September 29, 2022, California’s Governor signed Assembly Bill (AB) 2693, which amends and extends COVID-19 workplace notice requirements until January 1, 2024.

Under existing law adopted under AB 685, if an employer receives notice of potential exposure to COVID-19, the employer must provide written notice of the potential exposure within one business