Tag: COVID-19

Reopening Offices

New York Phase 2: Reopening Offices

Phase 2 of New York’s reopening plan includes separate guidelines for offices and commercial building management. Where different entities own and operate portions of a commercial building, multiple parties have obligations related to keeping people safe within the building.

The industry-specific guidelines have been divided into five categories: Physical Distancing; Protective Equipment; Hygiene and Cleaning; Communication; and Screening. Summary Guidelines for these industry groups include both Mandatory and Recommended Best Practices. The office and commercial building management guidelines also indicate that businesses must follow other CDC and Department of Health recommendations that will assist in protecting employees and customers and prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Office-Based Work

Companies whose core functions are performed in an office environment may reopen in Phase 2. But to do so, they must implement the mandatory requirements outlined in the NYS guidelines. These include businesses previously operating as essential businesses that fall into the office-based work category.

Office-based work typically includes these categories, as well as an office location that performs similar functions for a company even if it falls into another industry category:

  • Professional Services
  • Non-Profit
  • Technology
  • Administrative Support
  • Higher Education Administration (excluding full campus reopening)

NYS Summary Guidelines

NYS Detailed Guidelines

Commercial Building Management 

This category covers all commercial and non-residential buildings in regions that have been permitted to reopen offices, including those that were previously operating as essential businesses. Since most commercial buildings have other industries operating within them, the guidelines for this business sector add to the requirements placed on a physical location overall. Thus, where one party owns the building and another or multiple others operate within it, several businesses may need to work together to satisfy the combined requirements for reopening offices.

NYS Summary Guidelines

NYS Detailed Guidelines

Physical Distancing Requirements

The mandatory health and safety guidelines address the physical distancing requirements for commercial building management and locations performing office-based work. Offices are restricted to no more than 50% of the maximum occupancy for the location, as set forth by the certificate of occupancy.

Individuals must stay at least 6 feet from each other at all times unless the core activity requires a shorter distance. If people must come within 6 feet of each other, they must wear proper face coverings.

Social distancing markers must be posted in all commonly used and other areas within the office where individuals may gather (e.g., health screening stations, clock-in/clock-out stations, or restrooms located within the office). Commercial Building Managers will be responsible for posting social distancing markers in any common areas throughout the building (e.g., restroom, elevator, lobby, health screening stations).

The use of confined spaces should be restricted to only one person at a time, unless all individuals are wearing proper face coverings. Even when utilizing suitable face coverings, no more than 50% of maximum occupancy will be permitted (e.g., elevators, restrooms). All non-essential common areas in the building and individual offices should be closed.

In-person gatherings must be limited to the extent possible. The guidelines encourage the use of tele- or videoconferencing. Shared workspaces should be eliminated or reduced to the extent possible. At a minimum, shared workspaces must be cleaned and disinfected between each use.

Employers in office-based environments should take advantage of alternate means to reduce interpersonal contact and congregations. Possibilities include adjusting workplace hours, only requiring essential staff to report to the office, modifications to employee shifts and office design, or changes to arrival and departure times.

Additional Physical Distance Requirements

Commercial building managers have some additional responsibilities. They must educate tenants on maximum occupancy limits for all rented or leased space and monitor compliance with the restrictions. They must inform tenants of social distancing requirements and of the need for wearing proper face coverings whenever a 6-foot distance from other individuals is not feasible. Depending on the terms of the lease agreement, building managers might be responsible for making physical altercations to the office space to allow for compliance with these requirements.

Protective Equipment Guidelines

Commercial building managers and employers overseeing locations with office-based work must provide employees with acceptable face coverings. They must provide masks at no cost to the employee and ensure that there is an adequate supply. They must educate employees on how to correctly put on, take off, and discard the face coverings.

Workers should avoid the sharing of objects, equipment, or workspaces whenever possible. These include items such as tools, laptops, touchscreens, printers, and writing utensils. Employers can either require workers that share objects and equipment to wear disposable gloves, provided at no cost by the employer, or clean and disinfect shared equipment between each use and provide employees with proper hand hygiene stations.

Additional Physical Equipment Guidelines

Commercial building managers will likely need to install physical barriers in any location where employees interact with the public, such as reception and security desks. OSHA recommends this measure.

Hygiene and Cleaning Guidelines

Commercial building managers and companies performing office-based work must adhere to the hygiene and sanitation requirements set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Health (DOH). These protocols include providing and maintaining proper hand hygiene stations throughout the building. Hand hygiene stations include soap, running water, and disposable paper towels, as well as an alcohol-based hand sanitizer containing 60% or more alcohol for areas where handwashing is not feasible.

Offices must be adequately cleaned and disinfected using registered disinfectants, at least as often as employees and contractors change work stations. Commonly used or high-risk areas should be cleaned and disinfected even more frequently. Employers are responsible for conducting rigorous cleaning and disinfection at least after each shift, daily or more often.

Companies must establish procedures to follow for confirmed COVID-19 cases. These should cover the cleaning and disinfecting of the individual’s worksite and the surrounding area, all heavy transit areas, and high-touch areas (e.g., such as elevators, lobbies, building entrances, badge screeners, restroom handrails, and door handles).

Commercial building managers and tenants should refer to the terms of their lease for guidance on which party is responsible for complying with these requirements for reopening offices.

Communication Guidelines

Once the company has had an opportunity to read and digest the guidelines, it must determine to implement them in the workplace. They must develop a safety plan. New York State has created a safety plan template to use as a starting point. However, each business should have a plan that is consistent with their business and facilities.

Employers may include additional policies and procedures that will assist with slowing down or eliminating the transition of the virus. Once that is complete, the company must submit an affirmation confirming that they have read, understood, and intend to implement the guidelines.

Companies must train employees on the new protocols and educate them on the importance of cleaning and sanitation, as well as the need to respect social distancing guidelines and wear face coverings when appropriate.

Offices must have signs inside and outside of the building to remind staff and visitors of the importance of proper hygiene, social distancing, appropriate use of PPE, and the mandatory cleaning and disinfecting protocols.

Many of the recommended signs can be found on the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention website, located here. It contains printable posters for businesses to utilize related to the following:

    • How to protect yourself and others in public settings;
    • The importance of wearing face coverings;
    • How to safely wear cloth face coverings;
    • Symptoms of COVID-19 that individuals should look out for;
    • How to stop the spread of germs;
    • Facts about COVID-19; and
    • Hand washing.

Screening & Tracking

Businesses reopening offices must implement mandatory health screening assessments for all employees and visitors. This screening should include questions about symptoms and an individual’s contact with COVID-19 patients. It can also include temperature checking, testing, and the collection of contact information. Remote screening before a person comes on-premises is ideal, if possible.

Those businesses located in a shared commercial building should coordinate with the building manager to help facilitate those screenings upon reopening offices. Some building managers could decide to organize mandatory health screenings for any individual that enters their building each day. By screening employees and visitors when they first enter the building, it would reduce potential exposure of an individual that was symptomatic or COVID-19 positive from interacting with others in the building’s common areas.

Employees who have COVID-19 symptoms and either tested positive for the virus or did not receive a test must remain home for a minimum of 14 days. An employee who does not have symptoms, but tested positive for the virus must self-quarantine for 14 days. If an employee had close contact with a person with COVID-19 for a prolonged period of time and is symptomatic, they must remain in quarantine for 14 days. An employee who had contact with an individual with COVID-19, but is not symptomatic, should also stay in self-quarantine for 14 days.

Upon reopening, employers must keep a daily continuous log of all employees and visitors that enter the worksite. The log should consist of contact information for anyone who had close contact with workers without using appropriate PPE. Businesses should attempt to collect contact information for customers, but they cannot mandate customers to provide it. Contact information will help facilitate proper contact tracing when necessary.

Next Steps for Reopening Offices

If you fall into one of these Phase 2 categories, you must review the industry-specific guidelines and affirm that you have read, understood, and intend to implement them before reopening. You must draft and post a safety plan and post appropriate signage. You also need a strategy to perform health screenings and assist in contact tracing when required.

Employers in shared commercial buildings should coordinate with building management. Individual companies may not have sufficient control over the premises to meet all State guidelines alone. Regardless, each business must designate a safety monitor that is responsible for ensuring compliance with the company’s safety plan. Employers must train individuals who will be responsible for conducting the health screening, collecting contact information, performing contact tracing, and notifying the state and local health department of positive tests.

Each company reopening offices must also develop a plan for cleaning, disinfecting, and performing contact tracing if a positive case occurs. Minimum measures should include cleaning and disinfecting all heavy-transit areas and high-touch surfaces.

 

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Reopening Retail Businesses

New York Phase 2: Reopening Retail Businesses

Phase 2 of New York’s reopening plan includes several categories of retail businesses. Specific retail business guidelines are available for the following industries:

  • Essential and In-Store Retail
  • Vehicle Sales, Leases, and Rentals
  • Retail Rental, Repair, and Cleaning

The industry-specific guidelines have been divided into five categories: Physical Distancing; Protective Equipment; Hygiene and Cleaning; Communication; and Screening. Summary Guidelines for each of the above retail industry groups include both Mandatory and Recommended Best Practices. The retail business guidelines all indicate that businesses must also follow other CDC and Department of Health recommendations that will assist in protecting employees and customers and prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Physical Distancing

The retail businesses in Phase 2 have a 50% occupancy limit for each location. This restriction applies to both personnel and customers.

Six-foot social distancing markers must be posted to remind employees and customers to keep space between them. These markings are especially important in commonly used areas such as cash registers, places where employees clock in and out for their shift, in locations where health screenings will occur, break rooms, and restrooms. The use of waiting rooms is discouraged where possible, and companies should establish designated areas for pickup and delivery.

Your business can find the maximum occupancy limit by locating the certificate of occupancy for each location. If your company is leasing the property, you can contact the landlord to obtain this information. The maximum occupancy likely applies to all tenants in the building if you are operating out of a multi-unit building. You may need to consult with the building owner to determine what portion of the reduced occupancy limit applies to your business operations.

In addition to restricting workforce and customer presence to 50% of the maximum occupancy, retail businesses must consider alternative methods for reducing their workforce. Possible options may include adjusting retail hours, shifts, and schedules to reduce occupancy. You might also be able to modify the layout of the businesses. Consider one-way foot traffic with signs that provide direction to employees and businesses.

Industry-Specific Suggestions

Businesses that have fitting rooms must equip them with appropriate cleaning/hygiene supplies for both employees and customers to use. Retail businesses that can do so should continue offering curbside pickup with reserved parking.

Protective Equipment

All customers entering retail stores must wear face coverings unless they are under two years old or have a medical condition that restricts their ability to wear them.

Employers must provide face coverings to all employees at no cost and clean or replace them when necessary. Employers are also responsible for adequately training employees on how to use face coverings properly while at work. However, employees may wear their own face coverings. Employees must wear face coverings whenever they come within 6 feet of a coworker or customer.

Businesses should eliminate the sharing of objects or equipment. Where that is not possible, they must supply employees with rubber gloves to prevent the transmission of the virus.

Industry-Specific Suggestions

In addition to requiring all employees in retail establishments to wear face coverings, employers must implement physical barriers at cash registers, such as plastic shield walls where doing so would not impact airflow, heating, cooling, or ventilation.

In retail businesses where travel and interaction with customers are frequent (e.g., home appliance repairs, in-home house cleaning services), employees must wear face coverings when within 6 feet of a customer. Cleaning services should provide and require all employees to wear disposable gloves when performing work. Travel within shared vehicles should be limited to only essential circumstances.

Hygiene and Cleaning

Retail businesses must adhere to hygiene and sanitation requirements set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Health (DOH). These guidelines include providing and maintaining proper hand hygiene stations throughout the building.

Businesses must arrange for frequent cleaning at least after every shift, daily, or more frequently. Companies should pay particular attention to shared objects and surfaces and high traffic areas. This cleaning and disinfecting should be performed using the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) products that are recommended for COVID-19. Employees must also be provided with the supplies to clean and disinfect commonly used areas, shared equipment, and worksites before and after each use.

Businesses must perform a deep cleaning and sanitation as frequently as possible. This requirement may require companies to engage the services of a third party specializing in cleaning and disinfecting buildings.

Where possible, companies should increase the circulation of outdoor air while maintaining safety precautions.

Industry-Specific Suggestions

Retail businesses that are responsible for handling food products must provide and require employees to wear disposable gloves any time they are handling food. Companies accepting returned merchandise must have a plan for the receipt, cleaning, and resale of the item to ensure the health and safety of employees and customers.

Retail rental, repair, and cleaning companies that provide equipment or goods for rent or that provide repair services must clean and disinfect equipment or goods before pickup by customers and after the items are dropped off or returned to their location. Companies or individuals that provide residential or commercial cleaning services must sanitize all equipment before and after each use.

Any businesses that provide laundry services such as a laundromat or dry cleaner should follow the guidelines released by the CDC. Examples include laundering at the warmest appropriate water setting, drying everything completely, and never shaking dirty laundry. Each customer’s laundry should be handled separately and never combined. As with everything else, these businesses should clean and disinfect any equipment used during the service after each use.

Communication

Once the company has had an opportunity to read and digest the guidelines, it must determine to implement them in the workplace. They must develop a safety plan. New York State has created a safety plan template to use as a starting point. However, each business should have a plan that is consistent with their business and facilities.

Employers may include additional policies and procedures that will assist with slowing down or eliminating the transition of the virus. Once that is complete, the company must submit an affirmation confirming that they have read, understood, and intend to implement the guidelines.

All employees should be trained on the new protocols and educated on the importance of cleaning and sanitation, as well as the need to respect social distancing guidelines and wear face coverings, when appropriate.

Signs will need to be posted inside and outside of the retail locations to act as a constant reminder to customers and staff of the importance of proper hygiene, social distancing, appropriate use of PPE, and the mandatory cleaning and disinfecting protocols.

Many of the recommended signs can be found on the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention website, located here. It contains printable posters for businesses to utilize related to the following:

  • How to protect yourself and others in public settings;
  • The importance of wearing face coverings;
  • How to safely wear cloth face coverings;
  • Symptoms of COVID-19 that individuals should look out for;
  • How to stop the spread of germs;
  • Facts about COVID-19; and
  • Hand washing.

Screening & Tracking

Businesses must implement mandatory health screening assessments for all employees and visitors to the worksite. This screening should include questions about symptoms and an individual’s contact with COVID-19 patients. It can also include temperature checking, testing, and the collection of contact information. Companies cannot force companies to participate in health screening. But businesses are encouraged to attempt to collect this information if possible. Remote screening before a person comes on-premises is ideal, if possible.

Employees who have COVID-19 symptoms and either tested positive for the virus or did not receive a test must remain home for a minimum of 14 days. An employee who does not have symptoms, but tested positive for the virus must self-quarantine for 14 days. If an employee had close contact with a person with COVID-19 for a prolonged period of time and is symptomatic, they must remain in quarantine for 14 days. An employee who had contact with an individual with COVID-19, but is not symptomatic, should also stay in self-quarantine for 14 days.

Upon reopening, employers are required to keep a daily continuous log of all employees and visitors that enter the worksite. Where possible, companies should try to collect customer information as well. The log should consist of contact information for anyone who had close contact with workers, unless appropriate PPE is being utilized. It is recommended that businesses attempt to collect contact information for customers, but it cannot be mandated. Contact information should be collected, to the extent possible, so proper contact tracing can occur. A communication plan must be established to determine who will be given responsibilities for tracking visitors, collecting contact information, conducting the mandatory health screening, and how positive cases or contacts should be reported to management and the state and local health departments.

What Should New York Retail Businesses Do Next?

If you fall into one of these Phase 2 retail categories, you must review the industry-specific guidelines and affirm that you have read, understood, and intend to implement them before reopening. You must draft and post a safety plan and post appropriate signage. You also need a strategy to perform health screenings and assist in contact tracing when required.

Retail businesses must designate a safety monitor that is responsible for ensuring compliance with the company’s safety plan. Employers have to train individuals who will be responsible for conducting the health screening, collecting contact information, performing contact tracing, and notifying the state and local health department of positive tests.

The company must also develop a plan for cleaning, disinfecting, and performing contact tracing if a positive case occurs. Minimum measures should include cleaning and disinfecting all heavy-transit areas and high-touch surfaces.

 

For our latest information on reopening your workplace and other issues of importance to New York employers, subscribe to our newsletter and follow Horton Law on LinkedIn.

Reopening New York - Phase 2

Reopening New York – Phase 2

The federal government put the individual states in charge of reopening after coronavirus shutdowns. In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo divided New York into 10 regions and assigned a Control Room to oversee the reopening efforts in each Region. Some of those regions entered Phase 2 of the reopening plan on May 26, 2020. The State issued industry-specific guidelines for the businesses that can open or expand operations in this next phase.

Click here for more information about Phase 1 of New York’s reopening plan.

Phase 2 Industries

Phase 2 includes these businesses:

However, the following industries will remain closed in Phase 2:

  • Malls; specifically, any indoor common portions of retail shopping malls with 100,000 or more square feet of retail space available for lease; however, any stores located within shopping malls, which have their own external entrances open to the public, separate from the general mall entrance (e.g., strip malls), may open
  • Dine-in and on-premise restaurant or bar service, excluding take-out or delivery for off-premise consumption
  • Large gatherings/event venues, which include establishments that host concerts, conferences, or other in-person performances or presentations in front of an in-person audience
  • Gyms, fitness centers, and exercise classes, except for remote or streaming services
  • Video lottery and casino gaming facilities
  • Movie theaters, except drive-ins
  • Places of public amusement, whether indoors or outdoors, including but not limited to, locations with amusement rides, carnivals, amusement parks, water parks, aquariums, zoos, arcades, fairs, children’s play centers, funplexes, theme parks, bowling alleys, family and children’s attractions

Phase 2 Reopening Guidelines

New York released industry-specific guidance for Phase 2 of the reopening plan on the State’s NY Forward website. The site includes “Summary Guidelines” and “Detailed Guidelines” for each covered industry segment. The documents contain information on how businesses should reopen. Specifically, how to operate in a manner that will minimize the transmission of COVID-19 and adequately protect employees, customers, and vendors from potential exposure. The guidance incorporates CDC and OSHA guidance. The NYS guidelines also set minimum requirements that businesses must implement before reopening. Companies are free to adopt additional health and safety measures to protect people in their offices, stores, and other places of business.

Mandatory Safety Plans

New York has provided a template safety plan that companies can use as a starting point. Upon completion, each business must post its COVID-19 safety plan “conspicuously” in the workplace. Companies don’t have to submit their individual safety plans to any governmental agency, but must make them available if an authorized agency conducts an inspection.

Review of Industry-Specific Guidelines and Affirmation of Receipt

Any business that intends to reopen under Phase 2, or that remained open as an essential business but fits into a Phase 2 industry category, must affirm that it has read and understood the guidelines and will implement them.

Common Phase II Health and Safety Requirements

Although the industry guidelines vary, most contain similar basic requirements. For example, businesses must:

  • Provide all workers with an acceptable face covering at no cost to the employees.
  • Adhere to hygiene, cleaning, and disinfecting requirements from the CDC and Department of Health.
  • Maintain cleaning logs on site that document the date, time, and scope of cleaning.
  • Limit occupancy to 50% of building capacity, including employees, customers, and vendors.
  • Provide and maintain hand hygiene stations in the office, including handwashing with soap, running warm water, and disposable paper towels, as well as an alcohol-based hand sanitizer containing 60% or more alcohol for areas where handwashing is not feasible.
  • Limit occupancy of tightly confined spaces, like elevators, stock rooms, or behind cash registers, to only one person at a time, unless all individuals are wearing face coverings.
  • Post social distancing markers using tape or signs that denote 6 ft. of spacing in commonly used and other applicable areas.
  • Limit the sharing of objects and discourage touching of shared surfaces.
  • Place hand sanitizer throughout the office in convenient locations for use by employees and customers.
  • Post signage to remind personnel and customers to adhere to proper hygiene, social distancing, appropriate PPE, and cleaning and disinfecting protocols.
  • Maintain a continuous log of workers and visitors who have close contact with other individuals at the worksite or area.
  • Implement mandatory health screening and assessment (e.g., questionnaire, temperature check) for employees, contractors, and other visitors, asking about (1) COVID-19 symptoms in past 14 days, (2) positive COVID-19 test in past 14 days, and (3) close contact with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases in the past 14 days. Responses must be reviewed and documented daily.
  • Have a plan for cleaning, disinfecting, and contact tracing in the event of a positive case.

Top Priorities for Phase 2 Businesses

If your business falls into a Phase 2 industry, you must review the relevant guidance documents. They are available at https://forward.ny.gov/industries-reopening-phase.

Remember, your company must submit the compliance affirmation and prepare and post a written safety plan. To do so, you must evaluate the realities of your operations and modify them accordingly. As the State documents emphasize, these are only the legally-mandated minimum requirements. Government officials may shut you down or take other action if you are not complying. However, satisfying the State’s guidelines does not guarantee that the coronavirus cannot be spread in your facilities. Moreover, it likely will not provide an absolute defense to possible claims by employees or other individuals that your business is unsafe or that the company is responsible for them contracting COVID-19.

The State’s guidelines are not close to normal operations for most businesses. And your company must continue to monitor the latest developments and adapt accordingly. There is currently no timetable for how long these extensive restrictions will remain in place. For example, the start of Phase 2 has not lifted the restrictions on Phase 1 businesses.

 

Horton Law continues to monitor the evolving requirements for all New York businesses. Sign up for our email newsletter to receive our latest blog posts and announcements of upcoming free webinars on this topic. You can also follow us on LinkedIn for even more frequent updates.