May employees leave work during an emergency in California?

Wildfire, flood, earthquake and criminal act are the situations this was written for, and the rule it creates is narrow but firm: when an emergency condition exists, the decision to leave belongs to the employee.

An emergency condition is a disaster or extreme peril caused by natural forces or a criminal act, or an evacuation order due to such a peril. The protection turns on the employee's reasonable belief that the workplace or worksite is unsafe — a standard measured by what a reasonable person would conclude in the same circumstances, not by what the employer concluded afterwards.

Two practical duties come with it. The employee should notify the employer of the emergency condition requiring them to leave or refuse to report, where feasible. And the employer may not prevent an employee from accessing a mobile device to seek emergency assistance, assess safety, or communicate with a person to confirm their safety.

The section carves out a health pandemic from the definition of emergency condition, and does not apply where the emergency has ceased. It also excludes certain first responders and roles whose duties require them to be present — which is why a policy that simply says "you may always leave" is as inaccurate as one that says you may not.