Kang Haggerty News
On May 13, 2020 Governor Murphy issued Executive Order 142, permitting the resumption of non-essential construction, curbside pickup at non-essential retail businesses, and car gatherings for the purpose of drive-through and drive-in events. The construction and non-essential retail provisions will take effect at 6:00 a.m. on Monday, May 18th, while the car gatherings provision will take effect immediately. EO142 reduces and supersedes some of the restrictions that were previously in under Executive Order 107 and 122.
Resumption Non-Essential Construction
The Order permits non-essential construction projects to resume effective at 6:00 a.m. on May 18, 2020. All construction projects must abide by the social distancing, safety, and sanitization requirements such as:
• requiring workers and visitors to wear facial coverings (the employer must provide to workers) and gloves,
• limiting the worksite meetings to groups of 10 individuals or less,
• staggering work times,
• setting infection control policies,
• addressing high-risk areas (e.g., breakrooms and elevators),
• having workers maintain six-feet apart when possible,
• frequently sanitizing common areas, and
• allowing frequent break times so workers can wash their hands.
The New Social: Car Gatherings
The Order states that car gatherings do not violate the Governor’s ban on gatherings under Executive Order No. 107. Examples of such car gatherings include but are not limited to drive-in movies, religious services, or drive-through farms or safaris. Car gatherings will be subject to the restrictions described in EO142, such as attendees participating must arrive and remain in their vehicles, the vehicle must remain closed the entire time unless they are at least six feet apart, individuals who are organizing the event may exit their vehicles but must wear a facial covering at all times and maintain social distancing, and there must be a form of contactless payment for these gatherings. Gatherings following these policies will not violate Executive Order 107.
Also note that gatherings that do not adhere to the strictures of EO142 that are less than 10 people are in compliance with EO107, but more than 10 people will be considered in violation of that order.
The New Shopper: Non-Essential Retail
Non-essential retail businesses are permitted, as of May 18th in the morning, to reopen to the public for “curbside-pick-up” only, provided they adhere to the minimum policies described in the order, such as enforcing infection control practices, providing employees with facial coverings, limiting in-store operations to those employees who are responsible for curbside pickup, transactions (including notification of “ready time”) shall be handled in advance to avoid person-to-person contact.
EO142 stresses the continued need to keep measures in place to reduce new COVID-19 infections, particularly until increased metrics relating to expanded testing and use of contact tracing have been satisfied. The Governor, however, has determined that the decrease in the rate of reported new cases coupled with the reduced risk by adhering to the requirements in the order in these particularly areas, permits the safe re-opening of construction projects, curbside retail, and vehicular gatherings.
Jacklyn Fetbroyt is a founding member of Kang Haggerty LLC and is currently a committeeperson of the Voorhees Township Committee. Among other things, Jackie focuses on counseling companies and business owners through all stages of their ventures from conception to dissolution, assisting her business clients in all of their needs for maintenance and growth. On Township Committee, Jackie strives to be a resource to and ears of the residents in her hometown.
In this ever-changing landscape of information and legislation, please be aware that the information contained in this blog post may no longer be relevant or applicable. The content of this post is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice or legal opinion.