The designation of the COVID-19 state of emergency in New York state, which required employers to have workplace safety plans in place, has ended.

The New York State Department of Labor updated its New York State HERO Act website confirming that the state commissioner of health’s designation of COVID-19 as a “highly contagious communicable disease that presents a serious risk of harm to the public health” ended on March 17, 2022.

The state’s HERO Act was signed into law on May 5, 2021, mandating workplace health and safety protections in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the purpose of protecting employees against exposure and disease during an airborne infectious disease outbreak.

While the news means that private employers no longer need to have their airborne infectious disease prevention plans in place, employers should be aware that there are other obligations under the HERO Act that remain, even when no designation is in effect.

These obligations include:

• creating an airborne infectious disease exposure prevention plan (if a business is new, new to doing business in the state, or otherwise has not adopted a plan);
• giving a copy of the plan to employees within 30 days after creating one; and
• giving a copy of the plan to any new employees when they are hired;
• posting the plan in each worksite so employees can view it; and
• updating the plan as necessary.