Covid-19: the Road to Reopening for Businesses

• Publication year: 2020
• Author: By Cindy Elkins

COVID-19: The Road to Reopening for Businesses

By Cindy Elkins

Cynthia Elkins, of Elkins Employment Law in Woodland Hills is a management side employment attorney with over 30 years of experience providing compliance advice and counsel and litigation defense to employers throughout California. Cynthia is an advisor to the Solo & Small Firm and the Litigation Sections of CLA and is Chair of CLA's 2020 Solo & Small Firm Summit.

As businesses anxiously await and plan for their opportunity to reopen and resume operations, and the eventual return of their employees to the workplace, there are many employment law and personnel related concerns that must be considered and addressed.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC), OSHA, and many state and local agencies, have put forth considerable guidance to help employers better understand the nature of the virus and the resources designed to help with the concerns related to providing a safe and healthy work environment for employees and visitors.

The CDC's FAQ is one of the best and broadest resources on the subject And is a great starting point. The FAQ can be found here:https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/general-business-faq.html#Reducing-the-Spread-of-COVID-19-in-Workplaces

RETURN TO WORK ASSESSMENT

The first task for employers to perform is an assessment, which should focus not only on resuming business operations, but also on re-hiring or re-staffing protocols and ensuring a safe workplace, along with a myriad of other issues in these uncertain times.

The CDC's "Roadmap" to reopening, provides general information along with some industry specific guidance (e.g. auto dealerships, logistics and warehousing, manufacturing, and others) The Roadmap can be found here: https://covid19.ca.gov/roadmap/#guidance

The CDC has stated that employers, when reopening, should focus on the following:

• Promoting healthy hygiene practices
• Intensifying cleaning and disinfecting procedures (e.g., small static groups, no large events)
• Canceling non-essential travel, and encouraging alternative commuting and telework
• Spacing out seating (more than six feet) and staggering gathering times
• Restricting use of any shared items and spaces
• Training all staff in all the new changes to ensure compliance

Some additional strategies that employers should consider include the following:

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• Appoint a COVID-19 workplace coordinator: Designate someone in management as the "go to" person so that employees know that there is someone they can go to with issues, concerns, reports of illness, etc. This person is to be responsible for keeping up-to-date on CDC, OSHA and other state, federal, and local guidelines regarding COVID-19 issues and should be responsible for establishing communication with state and local health authorities if an exposure in the workplace occurs.
• Implement basic infection prevention measures: This includes but is not limited to frequent and thorough hand washing, respiratory etiquette, adequate tissues and trash receptacles for workers, customers, and the public. If necessary, retain an industrial cleaning company to do a...