Virginia drops covid workplace rules

On Monday, Virginia's workplace safety board voted to withdraw the state's emergency rules that protect workers from covid 19. This leaves employers to follow looser guidelines to prevent the spread of the virus in their workplaces. 

Virginia has its own workplace safety agency and was the first state to enforce emergency standards to protect workers from covid 19. The standards were enacted in July 2020 and under them, employees had to wear masks indoors in higher-risk areas and employers had to report covid outbreaks to the state’s Department of Health. 

Glenn Youngkin, the current governor asked the state health board to re-evaluate the standards earlier this year, arguing that they were a burden to businesses. Nathaniel M. Glasser, a lawyer at Epstein Becker & Green who specializes in covid 19 and employment law says, "The Virginia Covid-19 permanent standard became out of step with current C.D.C. guidance as well as what a lot of other states were doing to address the current state of the pandemic." He added that nothing prevents employers from going above and beyond the state guidelines.

Source: The New York Times