California set to keep workplace pandemic rules through 2022

By DON THOMPSON
Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California workplace regulators are poised to extend mandatory pay for workers affected by the coronavirus through the end of 2022, more than two months after state lawmakers restored similar benefits through September. The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board is set to take up the issue Thursday. The debate again pits management against labor. Business groups say the dual benefits are redundant and confusing, while employee advocates say they’re essential to allowing sick workers to stay home. The debate comes as a highly transmissible omicron variant becomes dominant in California and across the U.S.