California employers face new compliance updates in 2025, including the expiration of most COVID-19 prevention regulations, a mandatory whistleblower notice posting, and an updated state withholding allowance certificate—here's what you need to know.
1. OSHA's COVID-19 Prevention Non-Emergency Regulations Have (Mostly) Ended.
The days of notifying employees they were a COVID "Close Contact" are over. With many health officials declaring that COVID-19 is now endemic, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) is advising that most of the COVID-19 Prevention Non-Emergency Standards (Standards) expired on February 3, 2025.
As explained in the February 4, 2025, Department of Industrial Relations Advisory, while there is no longer a specific set of regulatory requirements relating to COVID-19 prevention in the workplace, employers in California must still:
- Maintain a safe and healthful place of employment.
- Establish, implement, and maintain an effective Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP).
- Identify, evaluate, and correct any unsafe or unhealthy conditions, work practices, or work procedures associated with COVID-19 if they identify COVID-19 as a workplace hazard at their place of employment.
Under these general requirements, employers must still take reasonable precautions (although less defined than before) to prevent or quickly address outbreaks and exposure in the workplace.
Furthermore, one section of the Standards remains in effect for another year. Specifically, the COVID-19 reporting and recordkeeping requirements will continue until February 3, 2026. Therefore, employers must still:
- Record and track all COVID-19 cases with the employee's name, contact information, occupation, location where the employee worked, the date of the last day at the workplace, and the date of the positive COVID-19 test and/or COVID-19 diagnosis.
- Retain these records for two years beyond the period in which the record is necessary.
- Provide information on COVID-19 cases to the local health department with jurisdiction over the workplace, CDPH, Cal/OSHA, and NIOSH immediately upon request, and when required by law.
2. Labor Commissioner Issues Model Whistleblower Notice for Employers to Post.
Assembly Bill 2299, which supplemented California's statutory protections for whistleblowers, went into effect on January 1, 2025. The law specifically required the Labor Commissioner to develop a "model list" of employees' rights and responsibilities under California's whistleblower laws. The model list, which has now been drafted and published by the Labor Commissioner, provides a definition for "whistleblower," describes the protections afforded to whistleblowers under the law, and advises employees how they can report improper acts. You can get the model list here.
Although private and public employers were required to post the model list beginning on January 1, 2025, the Labor Commissioner only issued it on December 24, 2024. Upon returning to work in the new year, many employers were understandably focused on other pressing issues at both the state and national level and may have missed this holiday gift from the Labor Commissioner. If you haven't already done so, you should post it now.
3. The EDD Issues Updated Withholding Allowance Certificate (Form DE 4).
If you haven't already done so, it's time to update your onboarding paperwork to make sure you are using the new Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate issued by the Employment Development Department in December 2024.
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