Does my employer have to pay for bloodborne pathogens training?

What the standard says

29 CFR 1910.1030(g)(2)(i) requires the employer to train each employee with occupational exposure, and says that training must be provided at no cost to the employee and during working hours. The employer must also set up a training program and make sure employees take part.

The same standard makes the hepatitis B vaccine, protective equipment, and post-exposure evaluation and follow-up available at no cost to the employee.

What "no cost" covers

The course or certificate fee, and the time spent training, which counts as working hours. An employer who asks an exposed employee to buy their own course on their own time is not meeting the requirement. Training at hire and each annual retraining are both covered.

When you pay for it yourself

The requirement applies to employers and their employees. People who usually pay for their own certificate include self-employed practitioners such as independent tattoo artists and booth-renting stylists, job applicants who want a current certificate before they are hired, and licensees meeting a state renewal rule, such as Oregon cosmetology professionals.

If you are an employee and have already paid, raise it with your employer. Many reimburse once they know the rule.

How employers can meet it

Pay for a course for each exposed employee, schedule it during paid time, add your site-specific information (where your exposure control plan is kept, your equipment, your post-exposure procedure), and make a knowledgeable person reachable for questions while employees train. Keep training records for three years.

Bloodborne Cert sells employer seats for any number of staff, with a dashboard that shows who has finished, their certificate numbers and retrain dates, and a CSV export for your records.