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Los Angeles Employers Must Provide Medical Grade Masks No Later Than January 17, 2022

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Buchalter Client Alert

January 12, 2022

By:  Roger L. Scott

Workplace masking requirements have long been in place in California, with employees permitted to wear cloth or other masks of their choice. Last week, the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health went further, requiring that employers must, no later than January 17, 2022, provide their employees who work indoors and in close contact with other workers or the public with “a well-fitting medical grade mask, surgical mask, or higher-level respirator, such as an N95 filtering facepiece or KN95.” Employers must require their employees to wear the provided masks. The full text of the Order can be found here.

The requirement to provide high-quality masks places an additional financial burden on employers. While no specific penalty for non-compliance is specified, presumably the Department of Public Health will issue fines and penalties for non-compliance as it has with other COVID-related orders. In addition, a failure to comply may give rise to employee claims that the employer failed to provide a safe workplace, or that employees were forced to incur reimbursable expenses to purchase approved masks that the employer failed to provide.

Los Angeles-based employers must also remember that, although state and federal supplemental COVID sick leave has expired, both the City and County of Los Angeles have extended their own versions of COVID pay. The City of Los Angeles has extended COVID supplemental sick leave for employers with 500 or more employees. The County of Los Angeles has done so for all employers in any unincorporated area.


This communication is not intended to create or constitute, nor does it create or constitute, an attorney-client or any other legal relationship. No statement in this communication constitutes legal advice nor should any communication herein be construed, relied upon, or interpreted as legal advice. This communication is for general information purposes only regarding recent legal developments of interest, and is not a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter. No reader should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information included herein without seeking appropriate legal advice on the particular facts and circumstances affecting that reader. For more information, visit www.buchalter.com.

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