North Carolina labor chief rejects infectious disease rule petitions for workplaces

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s elected labor commissioner has declined to adopt rules sought by worker and civil rights groups that would have set safety and masking directives in workplaces for future infectious disease outbreaks like with COVID-19.

Commissioner Josh Dobson, a Republican, announced Wednesday that his refusal came “after carefully reviewing the rulemaking petitions, the record, public comments, listening to both sides and considering the North Carolina Department of Labor’s statutory authority.”

His department held a public hearing in January over the proposed rules offered in December by groups such as the Episcopal Farmworker Ministry, North Carolina State AFL-CIO and state NAACP. Most of the people who spoke at the hearing opposed the proposed rules.

One rule petitioned for focused on controlling the spread of infectious diseases among migrant workers and their dependents, while the other covered workers more broadly in various fields, The News & Observer of Raleigh reported.

The rules would have applied to any airborne infectious disease designated as presenting a public health emergency by the governor, General Assembly or other state or federal agencies. Rules would have required some North Carolina employers to create a written exposure control plan. Some exposure controls include requiring employees to maintain physical distance — following public health agency recommendations — or to wear a face mask if that was not possible.

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