Alert 05.04.20
Florida’s “Step-by-Step” Plan to Reopening Businesses
Governor DeSantis issues an Executive Order to open businesses in Florida through a phased recovery
Alert
Alert
By Shani Rivaux,
05.04.20
After widespread business closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tennessee joins the first group of states that have started phased reopening of businesses this week. Governor Bill Lee previously ordered the closure of all nonessential businesses and limited all nonessential travel. Citing daily decline in growth rates of new cases for more than 14 days, increased testing, increased health care capacity and increased available PPE, the Governor has provided Tennessee businesses new guidance on the first phase of the reopening process.
Under Governor Lee’s overarching reopening plan, the “Tennessee Pledge,” businesses are provided safeguarding protocols, based largely on recommendations of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The plan, while not mandatory, is strongly encouraged for all Tennessee employers, employees and customers, and Gov. Lee has asked all Tennesseans to work together to successfully and safely reopen the state’s economy. During this phased reopening, the Governor’s Executive Orders make clear that if a business or industry does not operate in a safe manner or if there are adverse outcomes in a particular business or industry, additional safety orders will follow.
To this end, the plan instructs all businesses to screen employees reporting to work for COVID-19 symptoms. Employers are directed to ask all employees about whether they are experiencing symptoms and calls for temperature screening of employees. Employees who exhibit symptoms should be directed to leave the premises and to seek medical care. All employers are also to implement workplace cleaning and disinfection practices, mitigate exposure in the workplace by implementing social distancing guidelines, allow for telework and work-from-home if feasible, and to post extensive signage on new health policies and COVID-19. Employees are directed to stay at home when ill, wear cloth face coverings while at work, abide by social distancing policies and employer sanitation directives, and to increase their personal hygiene practices.
The plan also provides industry-specific guidance for restaurants, retailers and exercise facilities.
Following this guidance, Gov. Lee issued two executive orders pertaining to the initial stages of the reopening plan. Executive Order 29 allows restaurants to reopen for on-site dining as of April 27, 2020. Restaurants are “expected to operate in accordance with, and to fulfill the spirit of, applicable operation guidance and measures adopted and/or issued” by the Tennessee Pledge. The Executive Order permits the health departments in Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, Madison, Shelby and Sullivan counties to restrict restaurant operations within their counties.
Executive Order 30 allows for general return to work starting on April 29, 2020. The order strongly encourages and expects businesses to follow all applicable health guidelines adopted by the Governor’s Economic Recovery Group (ERG) which provides general and industry specific guidelines. While many businesses are permitted to reopen, business that perform “close-contact personal services” such as barber shops, hair salons, spas as well as entertainment, recreational, and gathering venues will remain closed. Further, under Executive Order 30, employers may not require or even allow employees who have tested positive for COVID-19 to work, until the employee has satisfied the requirements of the CDC guidelines.
As states begin easing restrictions, businesses will continue to face challenges about how to best reopen. Foreseeing these issues, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has provided additional information practical issues that employers and employees will face, addressing concerns of medical examinations, confidentiality of medical information, reasonable accommodations, and the interplay of new public health guidelines and workplace discrimination laws. Additionally, as in Tennessee, the CDC interim guidance for essential employees will likely continue to be incorporated into state and local guidance for all employees. Businesses will need to adopt new policies and procedures to protect employees and customers from the spread of the coronavirus, some of which may come at employers’ expense.
Beyond employment procedures, businesses should anticipate widespread impacts from COVID-19during the reopening stages. These changes may range from requiring new provisions when entering into business contracts and reassessing real estate holdings, to updating data privacy policies. Further, businesses should prepare for the possibility of additional stay-at-home orders, which may become necessary as social distancing policies are relaxed. Given the ever-evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and corresponding regulatory responses, employers should be developing plans for business decisions and contingency plans during the reopening stages.
Pillsbury’s experienced multidisciplinary COVID-19 Task Force is closely monitoring the global threat of COVID-19 and providing real-time advice across industry sectors, drawing on the firm’s capabilities in crisis management, employment law, insurance recovery, real estate, supply chain management, cybersecurity, corporate and contracts law and other areas to provide critical guidance to clients in an urgent and quickly evolving situation. For more thought leadership on this rapidly developing topic, please visit our COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Resource Center.