Georgia Governor Brian Kemp issued an March 12 Executive Order — effective through March 31 — that eliminates many of the requirements for businesses that were present in past executive orders but keeps in place an assortment of the provisions from the executive orders issued the last few months of 2020. What do employers need to know about this new order, and what should you do as you reopen and operate your business?

Differences Between Latest Order And Past Orders

The March 12 Executive Order eliminates many of the requirements from past orders as vaccines are rolling out nationwide. For example, bars in Georgia if licensed according to O.C.G.A. § 3-1-2(2.1) no longer have a 50-person or 35% limit on occupancy, no longer fall under their own category of COVID-19 mitigation measures, and now must merely comply with the Georgia requirements for restaurants.

The March 12 Executive Order also greatly reduces the requirements for restaurants (and bars), eliminating the explicit requirement that employee workstations be six feet apart, the prohibition on handshaking, limits on the number of persons in breakrooms, the emphasis on reservation-only and call-ahead service, and general social distancing guidelines, though seating must still be six feet apart or separated by partitions. Other businesses in an office setting and most other businesses not named in the March 12 Executive Order also see the elimination of distancing requirements between employee workstations.

What Should Employers Do?

As we advised employers to do when the CDC eased its COVID-19 guidance, employers should still follow the stricter guidance from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) applicable to their workplaces — even as more workers and members of the public get vaccinated. As discussed in detail here, OSHA just adopted a National Emphasis Program (NEP) on COVID-19. Given the increased resources OSHA will use under the NEP to enforce existing safety standards and the Occupational Safety and Health Act’s general duty clause, employers should follow a five-step plan now to prepare for a visit from OSHA, including adopting a written COVID-19 Policy. The model Virginia COVID-19 response plan is a good starting point for preparing a COVID-19 plan that would comply with Fed-OSHA’s guidance.

Conclusion

Despite Georgia eliminating certain state-specific requirements related to COVID-19 mitigation, the pandemic is not over, and all employers should continue to monitor and improve worker safety as they continue to bring more employees back to the workplace in the coming months.