Last year, CA Governor, Gavin Newsom, signed an Executive Order that allows CAL/OSHA more time to issue citations after they have completed a workplace audit. Normally, under CAL/OSHA operating rules, Compliance Officers have up to 180 days (6 months) to issue a citation to an employer after they have conducted a site visit, but now, they have been granted more time to do so under EXECUTIVE ORDER N-63-20. Section 9 of that EO grants CAL/OSHA 60 MORE days (for a total of 240 days, or about 8 months) to issue a citation (emphasis added):

9) The deadlines specified in or that apply to the following statutes and
regulations shall be extended for a period of 60 days to the limited
extent that the time to issue a citation or file a complaint, claim, or
appeal would otherwise elapse in the 60-day period following this
Order:
a) All Labor Code sections and related regulations setting the time
for the Labor Commissioner to issue any citation under the Labor
Code, including a civil wage and penalty assessment pursuant
to Labor Code section 1741;
b) All Labor Code sections and related regulations setting
deadlines for any employer or other person to appeal or petition
for review of any citation issued by the Labor Commissioner;
c) Labor Code sections 98, 98.7, 1700.44, and 2673.1, related to
workers’ rights to file complaints and initiate proceedings with
the Labor Commissioner;
d) Labor Code section 6317, related to the issuance of Cal/OSHA
citations; and
e) Labor Code sections 6319, 6600, 6600.5, 6601, and 6601.5,
related to the appeal of citations, notices, or orders of
Cal/OSHA.

Synergy Safety is aware of one case where CAL/OSHA has already issued a citation to an employer beyond the 180 day requirement due to this EO. It is important to note that this 60 day extension granted via Executive Order may NOT be legal under State law. However, challenging CAL/OSHA’s legality of the extension would require extensive courtroom arguments that would be cost-prohibitive for most employers.

The Bottom Line: OSHA now has 8 months to issue an employer a citation once their audit is complete. It will most likely stay that way until the State is back to normal operations after the pandemic is over.