By: Michael D. DeLoreto, Gibbons Law
Governor Murphy’s Executive Order 192, issued on October 28, 2020 (the “Order”), requires every business, nonprofit, and governmental or educational entity in the State “that requires or permits its workforce…to be physically present at a worksite” to follow a uniform set of public health measures to slow the spread of COVID-19.
The Order, that becomes effective at 6 a.m. on November 5, 2020, mandates these 10 actions:
- Enable employees to remain at least six feet apart at all times. When employees cannot maintain this distance, businesses must require employees to wear face masks and shall install physical barriers between workstations wherever possible.
- Require that employees, customers, visitors, and other people entering the worksite wear cloth or disposable face masks while on the premises, in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations. The only exceptions to this directive are for individuals under two years of age or where it is impracticable for a person to wear a face mask, such as when the individual is eating or drinking or where a service being provided by the employer cannot be performed on someone wearing a mask. Businesses must make face masks available, at the businesses’ expense, to their employees. Businesses may permit employees to remove face masks when the employees are situated at their workstations and are more than six feet from others at the workplace, or when individuals are alone in walled offices. Businesses may deny entry to any employees, customers, or visitors who decline to wear face masks, except when doing so would violate State or federal law.
- Provide sanitization materials, such as hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol and sanitizing wipes that are approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for the COVID-19 virus, to employees, customers, and visitors at no cost to those individuals.
- Ensure that employees practice regular hand hygiene, particularly when they are interacting with the public, and provide employees break time for repeated handwashing throughout the workday, as well as access to adequate hand washing facilities. Businesses may adopt policies that require employees to wear gloves in addition to regular hand hygiene. If a business requires its employees to wear gloves while at the worksite, the business must provide gloves to its employees.
- Routinely clean and disinfect all high-touch areas in accordance with the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) and CDC guidelines, particularly in spaces that are accessible to employees, customers, or other persons, including, but not limited to, restrooms, hand rails, door knobs, other common surfaces, safety equipment, and other frequently touched surfaces, and ensure cleaning procedures following a known or potential exposure (discussed below) are in compliance with CDC recommendations.
- Prior to each shift, conduct daily health checks of employees. This includes temperature screenings, visual symptom checking, self-assessment checklists, and/or health questionnaires, consistent with the CDC’s guidance. This information must be collected in a manner consistent with the confidentiality requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD), and any other applicable laws, including any guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights.
- Immediately separate and send home employees who appear to have symptoms consistent with COVID-19 illness, as defined by the CDC, upon arrival at work or who become sick during the day. Businesses must continue to follow all applicable State and federal laws regarding sick leave.
- Promptly notify all employees of any known exposure to COVID-19 at the worksite, consistent with the confidentiality requirements of the ADA, other applicable laws, and guidance from the EEOC.
- Clean and disinfect the worksite in accordance with CDC guidelines when an employee at the site has been diagnosed with COVID-19 infection.
- Follow all guidelines and directives issued by the NJDOH, CDC, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), as applicable, for maintaining a clean, safe, and healthy work environment.
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