Georgia Governor Brian Kemp issues statewide Shelter-in-Place Order
On April 2, 2020, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp issued a statewide Shelter-in-Place Order. The order narrows, in several important aspects, the definitions of Essential Business that many metro-area businesses had been relying on from local jurisdictions. Importantly, the Governor’s Order states that all businesses, establishments, corporations, non-profit organizations, or organizations that are not Critical Infrastructure shall only engage in Minimum Basic Operations. “Minimum Basic Operations” is defined as:
- The minimum necessary activities to maintain the value of a business, establishment, corporation, non-profit corporation, or organization, provide services, manage inventory, ensure security, process payroll and employee benefits, or for related functions. Such minimum necessary activities include remaining open to the public subject to the restrictions of this Order.
- The minimum necessary activities to facilitate employees or volunteers being able to work remotely from their residence or members or patrons being able to participate remotely from their residences.
- Instances where employees are working outdoors without regular contact with other persons, such as delivery services, contractors, landscape businesses, and agricultural industry services.
“Critical Infrastructure” is defined by reference to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s definition of “essential critical infrastructure workforce,” in it guidance dated March 19, 2020 and revised on March 28, 2020, and those suppliers which provide essential goods and services to the critical infrastructure workforce as well as entities that provide legal
services, home hospice, and non-profit corporations or non-profit
organizations that offer food distribution or other health or mental
health services.
The full text of Governor Kemp’s Executive Order is available here: https://gov.georgia.gov/document/2020-executive-order/04022001/download
WCZ will be posting additional information soon with information about what these definitions mean for our clients.
The WCZ COVID-19 Response Team offers 24/7 access to attorneys for our clients’ legal needs as this situation continues to evolve.
