Matt Miller and our Labor & Employment team once again providing timely information for NYS COVID restrictions. Effective November 20, 2020, Governor Cuomo put parts of Erie County into an “Orange” zone under his micro-cluster initiative. This meant that, pursuant to Executive Order 202.68 and related Empire State Development guidelines, certain non-essential businesses, including all personal care services, among others, had to reduce their in-person workforce by 100%, effectively shutting them down.
Today, in response to our request on behalf of a personal care business client, we received confirmation from Empire State Development that it has reconsidered the restrictions on personal care businesses in an orange micro-cluster zone, stating:
We have received information that confirms personal care businesses that have retail sections can continue to perform retail transactions on the premises while they are in an orange zone, but are strictly prohibited from performing personal care services. If the zone were to be upgraded to red, such businesses can only fulfill retail transactions for curbside pick-up or delivery with no customers allowed within the establishment and only one employee physically present to fulfill orders.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz later confirmed these changes during his 2:30pm COVID-19 briefing.
This is important for a few reasons: Read More
