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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.

It may come as a surprise to some, but Cal/OSHA’s workplace violence regulations currently apply only to the Health Care Industry. Cal/OSHA plans to change that.

Right now, for non-healthcare industries, Cal/OSHA regulates workplace violence using the employer’s obligation to regularly identify and evaluate workplace hazards under Section 3203, California’s version of the general

As we head into the summer months, employers with outdoor worksites in California may wish to review their Heat Illness Prevention Plans (HIPP) and obligations under Cal/OSHA’s outdoor heat illness prevention standard.

Covered Employers

As the name of the standard implies, Cal/OSHA’s outdoor heat illness prevention standard applies to all employers with an outdoor

The Department of Industrial Relations’ (DIR) Labor Enforcement Task Force (LETF) has announced an initiative to inspect publicly funded construction sites to ensure employers provide worker’s compensation and follow labor laws, including workplace health and safety requirements.

With this new focus, construction employers who work on public works projects should review their workplace compliance to

California employers are required to post their annual summary of work-related injuries and illnesses, including COVID-19 illness, in a visible and easily accessible area at every worksite from February 1st through April 30th. Employers are required to use Cal/OSHA’s Form 300A for this posting.

Employers can find an overview regarding completing both

At the end of the year, California’s Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued updated guidance regarding Isolation and Quarantine, which applied to workplaces per the Governor’s prior Executive Order. The timing of this guidance was rather awkward, as the Cal/OSHA Standards Board had recently approved changes to the Cal/OSHA ETS set to go into effect

On December 16, 2021, Cal/OSHA’s Standards Board voted to readopt the Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) with several revisions.  This amended readoption of the ETS will go into effect on January 14, 2022, and will remain in place until April 14, 2022.  Only one member of the seven-person Standards Board voted against it.

This

Since the drama in passing the amended COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) in June, the Cal/OSHA Board has been relatively quiet, though discussing a more permanent COVID-19 Standard. In the meantime, federal OSHA took the spotlight with President Biden’s COVID-19 Action Plan.

Currently, the Cal/OSHA ETS is set to expire on January