Cal/OSHA’s COVID-19 Recordkeeping Rule Remains in Effect

Most of Cal/OSHA’s COVID-19 Non-Emergency Regulations ended earlier this month, on February 3, 2025, including most of the general COVID-19 Prevention rule,[1] and the rules for COVID-19 Outbreaks[2] and COVID-19 Prevention in Employer-Provided Transportation.[3] As Cal/OSHA noted in their February 4, 2025, News Release: “[T]here is no longer a specific set of regulatory requirements relating to COVID-19 prevention in the workplace.”[4]

However, Cal/OSHA’s Non-Emergency Regulations for reporting and recordkeeping requirements remain in effect through February 3, 2026.  

History

California employers have navigated legal requirements about COVID-19 prevention since March 2020. Among the patchwork of federal, state, and local prevention laws were Cal/OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS). When Cal/OSHA’s Non-Emergency Regulations replaced the ETS in February 2023, most of the requirements were scheduled to sunset in two years, although the accompanying reporting and recordkeeping requirements would continue for an additional year.

The Non-Emergency Regulations imposed a wide range of requirements on employers, such as maintaining a written program for identifying and correcting COVID-19 hazards, the use of face coverings and personal protective equipment, employer-provided testing, and notices to individuals who had a “close contact” with a COVID-19 case.

Injury and Illness Prevention Programs

Though the COVID-19 Non-Emergency Regulations mostly expired, Cal/OSHA still requires employers to “maintain a safe and healthful place of employment” and requires employers to identify, evaluate, and correct any unhealthy conditions in the workplace through an effective Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP).[5] This means that, even without specific regulations, an employer that identifies COVID-19 as a hazard at their place of employment must identify, evaluate, and correct any working conditions, practices, or procedures that are associated with COVID-19.

Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirement

While the substantive requirements of the Non-Emergency Regulations are no longer in effect, employers must still comply with subsection 3205(j) – “Reporting and recordkeeping” – until February 3, 2026.

Employers need to continue retaining any notices they have issued that were required by the Non-Emergency Regulation through February 2026, like any notices provided to employees, independent contractors, or employers of other employees who had a “close contact” or potential exposure with a COVID-19 case at work.

Employers also need to continue tracking and maintaining records of all COVID-19 cases, to include:

1. The employee’s name, contact information, and occupation
2. The location where the employee worked
3. The employee’s last day at the workplace
4. The date of the positive COVID-19 test and/or COVID-19 diagnosis

Employers are required to retain these records for “two years beyond the period in which the record is necessary to meet the requirements” of the Non-Emergency Regulations. Because this subsection applies until February 3, 2026, it is unclear if any such records should be maintained for the full two years, or if all recordkeeping requirements will disappear with subsection 3205(j) on February 3, 2026.

Finally, personal identifying information and employee medical records remain confidential. However, unredacted information about COVID-19 cases must be provided to local health departments, the California Department for Public Health, Cal/OSHA, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health upon request and as required by law.

Next Steps

Even without COVID-19 specific regulations, employers must implement and maintain an effective IIPP, which includes considering the risk of contagious diseases and other airborne hazards in your workplace. Employers need to individually tailor their IIPP to address potential hazards in your workplace.

While employers are no longer subject to specific COVID-19 testing, notice, and response requirements, they must continue tracking and maintain records of any COVID-19 cases through February 3, 2026. Because of the ambiguity about how recordkeeping requirements will be enforced as the Non-Emergency Regulations sunset, employers should continue documenting new COVID-19 cases and positive tests until February 3, 2026, and plan to retain all documents for at least two years after they were created.

[1] 8 CCR § 3205.

[2] 8 CCR § 3205.1.

[3] 8 CCR § 3205.3.

[4] Cal/OSHA’s COVID-19 Prevention Non-emergency Standards end as of February 2025 | California Department of Industrial Relations

[5] 8 CCR § 3203 – Injury and Illness Prevention Program.