In California this is not workers' comp. It is an HR action. PLease double check the regulations since I used AI to find the relevant regulations:

California Title 8: Maintaining Earnings and Benefits

Under California Code of Regulations, Title 8 (Cal/OSHA), when a safety standard dictates that an employer must "maintain the employee's earnings, seniority, and all other employee rights and benefits" after sending them home due to a workplace exposure, it means the employer must continue to pay the worker their regular wages as if they were still at work.

This legal concept is generally known as Medical Removal Protection (MRP) or Exclusion Pay. Its purpose is to ensure workers aren't afraid to report exposures or symptoms out of fear of losing their paycheck.

Here is how this rule applies across different Title 8 standards:

Aerosol Transmissible Diseases (ATD) Standard (8 CCR § 5199)

If you work in healthcare, corrections, or certain laboratory settings, you are covered by the ATD standard. If you are exposed to an airborne disease (like Tuberculosis) at work and the doctor or health officer recommends "precautionary removal" (sending you home to prevent spreading it), the employer must maintain your earnings and benefits until you are cleared to return.

Mike

On Thursday, March 26, 2026 at 11:01:30 AM PDT, Enass Awad <umhaneen@gmail.com> wrote:

Good morning MCOH/E:

I was curious to know what type of leaves you assign employees who have a work related infectious disease exposure and are instructed to stay home by employee health .

Obviously , if through WC , it will only be compensable if they develop the infection and a true causative link is established.

In some cases , employees will be kept off work pending results of their testing but if they test negative , they have to use sick time since their claim will most likely be denied .

Are there any other types of leaves they can ge eligible for without having to drain their sick hours ?

Thanks ,

Enass Awad A/Rahman,MD,MPH, FACOEM
UC Davis Health

Sacramento, CA, 95817

"We can enrich the world if we choose to embrace our similarities; we can destroy the world if we choose to emphasize our differences."

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