Governor Baker on May 4, 2020 issued some important
clarifications for retailers regarding the Governor's prior
orders closing non-essential businesses' brick and mortar
premises to customers and most employees. While such businesses
must remain closed to customers, the new guidance permits
non-essential businesses to bring in a small number of employees to
brick and mortar premises for the purpose of fulfilling online and
phone orders. This change was urged by many retailers looking for
ways to remain solvent as customers have shifted to ordering
products from home.
Under the guidance, employees undertaking remote fulfillment of
orders are required to follow strict guidelines, with only three
employees at a time allowed in stores under 10,000 square feet,
five employees in stores up to 30,000 square feet, and seven
employees allowed in stores larger than 30,000 square feet.
Employees will also have to practice by-now familiar social
distancing precautions, remaining at least six feet apart and
wearing face coverings at all times. Employees will also have to
pass a temperature check prior to each shift. Employers will be
required to disinfect work surfaces regularly and provide
sufficient hand sanitizer and hand washing facilities on
site.
More broadly, the updated guidance provides a sneak peek of the
kinds of requirements the Governor is likely to impose as part of
the eventual phased re-opening of the Massachusetts economy. The
Governor is set to receive on May 18 a much-anticipated report from
the Reopening Advisory Board on strategies to begin gradually to
re-open businesses and public spaces. The Governor has downplayed
the importance of the May 18 deadline, emphasizing that re-opening
will be slow, gradual, and informed by the guidance of public
health officials. But it is likely that many of the features of the
updated guidance – temperature checks, significant
restrictions on numbers of employees, and so forth – will
form important parts of the re-opening strategy.
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