With the economy in shock from the COVID-19 pandemic that has forced many businesses to cease in-person operations, the dialogue at the federal and state level has turned to “reopening.” Nearly all states have begun relaxing restrictions to allow businesses to reopen and employees to return to work. However, the federal government had not provided any reopening guidance to employers, leaving them to grapple with a complex web of orders and guidance at the state and local level as they take steps to bring employees back to work.

On May 14, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finally published guidance in the form of a one-page workplace decision tree. Although the document―entitled “Workplaces During the COVID-19 Pandemic”―provides high-level recommendations for employers to consider when reopening, it largely defers to state and local guidance and is a far cry from the substantially more detailed guidance documents that the CDC reportedly had been considering in recent weeks. Concurrently with its issuance of the workplace decision tree, the CDC issued several other one-page reopening decision trees for schools, restaurants and bars, youth programs and camps, child care programs and mass transit.

To read the alert, please click here