Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
California Businesses Baffled by Various Reopening Rules
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
June 11, 2021

Share

LOS ANGELES — Businesses in California remain baffled by the shifting rules over who needs to wear masks and where as the nation’s largest state fully reopens from the pandemic on Tuesday.

While Gov. Gavin Newsom’s health agency has said vaccinated people won’t need to wear face coverings in many public places, state regulators — following several lengthy and hotly contested debates — are still drafting rules for workers.

That has some business leaders clamoring for Newsom, who will likely face a recall election in the fall, to step in and order just one set of mask rules for California’s 40 million people.

“We asked the governor to issue an executive order to align the rules,” said Lucy Dunn, president and chief executive of the Orange County Business Council. “Otherwise it’s just terribly confusing.”

Cal/OSHA Board’s Rules Conflict With ‘Honor System’

With vaccinations rising and coronavirus cases low, California will end most mask rules on June 15 for people who are vaccinated while continuing to require face coverings for unvaccinated people in indoor public settings and businesses. Everyone will need to remain masked in some places such as public transit and indoor school classes.

Under the system, business can rely on an honor system where customers are expected to use a mask if they aren’t inoculated but aren’t required to show proof.

“The posting of this guidance clearly requiring people, putting the requirement on the individual to self-attest to their vaccine status by wearing or not wearing a mask, will be the way — one approved way — to comply with this set of updates,” Dr. Mark Ghaly, California’s secretary of health and human services, said this week. Ghaly said businesses can also require vaccine verification or face coverings if they choose.

But the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, which oversees workplaces, has been drafting its own, distinct reopening rules. Last week, the board adopted a rule that would have let workers forgo masks only if every employee in a room was fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. The Cal/OSHA board has since backtracked and is considering changes to those rules but these won’t be revisited until a June 17 meeting or likely to take effect until the end of the month.

The rules apply in almost every workplace in the state, including workers in offices, factories and retail.

Guideline Inconsistencies

Robert Moutrie, a policy advocate at the California Chamber of Commerce, said the board’s decision to rework the rules is welcome but more changes are needed. The chamber, for example, also opposes a proposal to require employers to provide the most effective N95 masks for voluntary use by unvaccinated employees who work indoors or at large outdoor events, saying it would be costly and compete with health care workers’ needs.

“California needs consistency as it moves towards opening on June 15th,” Moutrie said in a statement.

Derrick Seaver, president and chief executive of the Silicon Valley Organization, said businesses have struggled throughout the pandemic with a patchwork of approaches and lack of consistency in guidelines. But he believes the state is moving in the right direction by seeking to get in sync with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance on face coverings, and said local businesses are pleased they won’t be on the hook to verify or enforce mask wearing.

“By allowing those individuals to self attest, we’re allowing them to obviously to some extent take personal responsibility about that attestation,” Seaver said. “From a business standpoint, that gets them out of the thorny issues of reporting and privacy” related to vaccine administration.

“We’re going to go back to some semblance of normalcy, and obviously every step in that direction is a good day for business,” he said.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

49ers Draft Georgia Edge Rusher Mykel Williams With the No. 11 Pick in the NFL Draft

DON'T MISS

Trump’s Immigration Approval Ratings Decline as Enforcement Tactics Lose Support

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Tased, Arrested After Suspected Reckless DUI in Kerman

DON'T MISS

Madera Vehicle Burglary Leads to Arrests, Gang Charges for Juveniles

DON'T MISS

Why Texas Is Ahead of California on Bilingual Education

DON'T MISS

US Universities Help Foreign Students Weather Trump Deportations

DON'T MISS

Alphabet Says Waymo May Offer Robotaxis for Personal Ownership in Future

DON'T MISS

US Pharma Tariffs Would Raise US Drug Costs by $51 Billion Annually, Report Finds

DON'T MISS

Beware of Scammers Saying You Won the Publishers Clearing House Drawing

DON'T MISS

Abundance Meets Resistance: Are CA Dems Finally Ready to Go All In on Building Housing?

UP NEXT

Chicago Bears Great Steve McMichael Dies at 67 After Battle With ALS

UP NEXT

Long Wait Is Over for Cam Ward, Travis Hunter and Other Draft Prospects Joining the NFL

UP NEXT

Golden State’s Jimmy Butler Injured in Game 2 Loss, His Status for Game 3 Unknown

UP NEXT

Jalen Green Makes Eight 3s to Help Rockets Even Series With Warriors

UP NEXT

US Justice Department Directs Investigations Over Gender-Affirming Care

UP NEXT

US Justice Department Cancels Hundreds of Grants for Police, Crime Victims

UP NEXT

Yelich’s 5th Career Slam and Bauers’ 2-Run Homer Power the Brewers to Win Over the Giants

UP NEXT

Happ Hits Game-Ending Single in the 10th as the Cubs Rally Past Dodgers

UP NEXT

Trump: No Plans to Fire Fed Chair Powell, but Wants Lower Rates

UP NEXT

Top Producer at ’60 Minutes’ Quits Amid Trump Lawsuit Pressure

Madera Vehicle Burglary Leads to Arrests, Gang Charges for Juveniles

40 minutes ago

Why Texas Is Ahead of California on Bilingual Education

52 minutes ago

US Universities Help Foreign Students Weather Trump Deportations

1 hour ago

Alphabet Says Waymo May Offer Robotaxis for Personal Ownership in Future

1 hour ago

US Pharma Tariffs Would Raise US Drug Costs by $51 Billion Annually, Report Finds

1 hour ago

Beware of Scammers Saying You Won the Publishers Clearing House Drawing

2 hours ago

Abundance Meets Resistance: Are CA Dems Finally Ready to Go All In on Building Housing?

2 hours ago

Less Than Half of Californians Think K-12 Schools Are on the Right Track: Poll

2 hours ago

Yastrzemski and Chapman Homers Help Giants Rally Past the Brewers

16 hours ago

Fresno City Council Finally Passes a Tough Smoke Shop Ordinance

16 hours ago

49ers Draft Georgia Edge Rusher Mykel Williams With the No. 11 Pick in the NFL Draft

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — With gaping holes on their defensive line depth chart, the San Francisco 49ers had one major target in mind headed int...

8 minutes ago

8 minutes ago

49ers Draft Georgia Edge Rusher Mykel Williams With the No. 11 Pick in the NFL Draft

President Donald Trump speaks at the National Prayer Breakfast at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP File)
19 minutes ago

Trump’s Immigration Approval Ratings Decline as Enforcement Tactics Lose Support

A Fresno man was arrested in Kerman on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, after allegedly driving recklessly, resisting arrest, and showing signs of being under the influence, police said. (Kerman PD)
25 minutes ago

Fresno Man Tased, Arrested After Suspected Reckless DUI in Kerman

A pedestrian was killed in a traffic collision early Monday morning in Madera, and police are asking for witnesses to come forward.
40 minutes ago

Madera Vehicle Burglary Leads to Arrests, Gang Charges for Juveniles

52 minutes ago

Why Texas Is Ahead of California on Bilingual Education

Demonstrators hold a banner during a "Stand Up for Internationals" rally on the campus of Berkeley University in Berkeley, California, U.S., April 17, 2025. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo)
1 hour ago

US Universities Help Foreign Students Weather Trump Deportations

1 hour ago

Alphabet Says Waymo May Offer Robotaxis for Personal Ownership in Future

U.S. dollar banknote and medicines are seen in this illustration taken, June 27, 2024. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration//File Photo)
1 hour ago

US Pharma Tariffs Would Raise US Drug Costs by $51 Billion Annually, Report Finds

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend