Virginia has repealed its first-in-the-nation standard on COVID-19 in the workplace.
On July 15, 2020, the Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board (which included author Courtney Malveaux) made Virginia the first state in the nation to promulgate an Emergency Temporary Standard to address COVID-19 in workplaces, and it made the standard permanent on January 27, 2021. The Board voted to repeal that standard, effective March 23, 2022.
Virginia will replace the standard with guidance that makes clear the agency’s and the Commonwealth’s policy to “support and respect the rights of individuals to choose whether to wear masks or to not wear masks in non-federally mandated environments, unless required by law or as medically appropriate in cases of acute illness or in certain healthcare environments.”
The guidance also makes clear Virginia Occupational Safety and Health (VOSH) and the Commonwealth “will not allow or condone illegal discrimination based on wearing or not wearing masks, and people should not be fired or terminated for not wearing a mask” in most circumstances.
Further, the guidance indicates that employers should engage workers to mitigate COVID-19 transmission by:
Facilitating employee vaccinations;
Encouraging workers with COVID-19 symptoms to stay home from work and seek a physician’s advice on testing and treatment;
Requiring workers infected with COVID-19 to stay home;
Providing workers with face coverings or surgical masks;
Encouraging personal...
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