UPDATE (6/10/20): State and Federal Guidelines Available to Reopen Your Business
SOURCE: Business.NJ.gov
National Guidelines for Reopening
Businesses are advised to follow OSHA workplace guidance and CDC business guidance, in addition to the required state directives below, regarding how to approach reopening their brick and mortar locations. OSHA offers industry-specific guidelines for a variety of industries such as retail operations, farming and construction, and OSHA also has a 35-page guide on preparing workplaces during the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn also about OSHA's record keeping and recording requirements.
The CDC also offers a decision-making tool to assist employers in making (re)opening decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially to protect vulnerable workers.
New Jersey Requirements for Businesses
If any business is violating these guidelines, please report it at covid19.nj.gov/violation.
Requirements for All Businesses Operating
Owners of buildings used for commercial, industrial, or other enterprises, and of residential buildings with at least 50 units, must implement the following policies at minimum:
Clean and disinfect high-touch areas routinely in accordance with CDC guidelines, particularly in spaces accessible to staff, customers, tenants, or other individuals, particularly following a known or potential exposure;
Maintain current cleaning procedures in all other areas of the facility;
Ensure that the facility has a sufficient number of workers to perform the above protocols effectively.
Additional requirements by business type, which must be followed in addition to the above universal requirements if you are one of the specified businesses, are below.
Additional Requirements for Bars and Restaurants
Restaurants, cafeterias, food courts, bars, etc., that are still permitted to operate must adopt the following policies:
Limit occupancy to 10% of stated maximum capacity;
Ensure 6 feet of distance between workers and customers except at the moment of payment or exchange of goods;
Arrange for contactless pay options, pickup, or delivery wherever possible;
Provide hand sanitizer and wipes to staff and customers;
Frequently sanitize high-touch areas like credit card machines, keypads, and counters;
Require infection control practices such as regular hand washing, coughing and sneezing etiquette, and proper tissue usage;
Place conspicuous signage at entrances and throughout the food business alerting staff and customers to the required 6 feet of distance;
Require workers and customers to wear cloth face coverings, and require workers to wear gloves. A business must provide, at its own expense, these face coverings and gloves for employees. Customers may be exempted if it would inhibit their health, or if under two years of age. If a customer refuses, they must be denied entry, but another method of pickup should be provided.
Additional Requirements for Outdoor Dining (beginning June 15)
Beginning, June 15, food and beverage establishments can open for outdoor dining, while adopting the following protocols and policies:
Ensure all areas designated for food and/or beverage consumption conform to applicable local, State, and Federal regulations;
Limit capacity to a number that ensure patrons can remain six feet apart from all other patrons, except for those with whom they are sharing a table;
Ensure that tables seating individual groups are six feet apart in all directions and that individual seats in any shared area that is not reserved for individual groups, such as an outdoor bar area, are also six feet apart in all directions
Prohibit patrons from entering the indoor premises of the food or beverage establishment, except to walk through such premises when entering or exiting the food or beverage establishment in order to access the outdoor area, or to use the restroom;
Require patrons to wear a face covering while inside the indoor premises of the food or beverage establishment, unless the patron has a medical reason for not doing so or is a child under two years of age;
Prohibit smoking in any outdoor areas designated for the consumption of food and/or beverages; and
Additional Requirements for Transportation Carriers
Transportation carriers must cut capacity on all trains, buses, light rail vehicles, and paratransit vehicles to 50% of their maximum, effective Monday, April 13, 2020, at 8:00 p.m.
Require infection control practices such as regular hand washing, coughing and sneezing etiquette, and proper tissue usage;
Arrange for contactless pay options wherever possible;
Arrange for back door entry on buses wherever feasible, and take seats out of service near the bus operator to allow for proper social distancing from the bus operator;
Place conspicuous signage throughout buses, light rail and Access Link vehicles alerting workers and customers to the required 6 feet of distance;
Transportation carriers must provide their workers with face coverings and gloves, effective
Require workers and customers to wear cloth face coverings, and require workers to wear gloves. A carrier must provide, at its own expense, these face coverings and gloves for employees. Customers may be exempted if it would inhibit their health, or if under two years of age. If a customer refuses, they must be denied entry, unless the business is providing medication, medical supplies, or food, in which case another method of pickup should be provided.
Additional Requirements For All the Following: Retail, Manufacturing, Warehousing, and Construction
All businesses of these types must adopt the following policies:
Immediately separate and send home workers who appear to have COVID-19 symptoms;
Promptly notify workers of any known exposure to COVID-19, subject to confidentiality requirements in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA);
Clean and disinfect the worksite in accordance with CDC guidelines when a worker has been diagnosed with COVID-19;
Continue to follow all guidelines and directives issued by the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH), the CDC, and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) for maintaining a clean, safe and healthy work environment.
Additional Requirements for Construction
Prohibit non-essential visitors from entering the worksite;
Engage in appropriate social distancing measures when picking up or delivering equipment or materials;
Limit worksite meetings, inductions, and workgroups to groups of fewer than ten individuals;
Require individuals to maintain six feet or more distance between them wherever possible;
Stagger work start and stop times where practicable to limit the number of individuals entering and leaving the worksite concurrently;
Identify congested and "high-risk areas," including but not limited to lunchrooms, breakrooms, portable rest rooms, and elevators, and limit the number of individuals at those sites concurrently where practicable;
Stagger lunch breaks and work times where practicable to enable operations to safely continue while utilizing the least number of individuals possible at the site;
Require workers and visitors to wear cloth face coverings, while on the premises, except where doing so would inhibit the individual's health, and require workers to wear gloves while on the premises. Businesses must provide, at their expense, such face coverings and gloves for their employees;
Require infection control practices, such as regular hand washing, coughing and sneezing etiquette, and proper tissue usage and disposal;
Limit sharing of tools, equipment, and machinery;
Where running water is not available, provide portable washing stations with soap and/or alcohol-based hand sanitizers that have greater than 60% ethanol or 70% isopropanol;
Require frequent sanitization of high-touch areas like restrooms, breakrooms, equipment, and machinery;
When the worksite is an occupied residence, require workers to sanitize work areas and keep a distance of at least six feet from the occupants; and
Place conspicuous signage at entrances and throughout the worksite detailing the above mandates.
Additional Requirements for Manufacturing and Warehousing
Prohibit non-essential visitors from the worksite;
Limit all worksite meetings and groups to fewer than 10 people;
Require everyone to maintain 6 feet of social distancing wherever possible;
Stagger start and stop times to limit the number of people entering and leaving at the same time;
Stagger lunch breaks and work times to minimize the number of people on site while safely continuing operations;
Restrict the number of individuals who can access common areas such as restrooms and breakrooms at the same time;
Require workers and visitors to wear cloth face coverings, and require workers to wear gloves. A business must provide, at its own expense, these face coverings and gloves for employees. If a visitor refuses for a non-medical reason, they must be denied entry.
Require infection control practices such as regular hand washing, coughing and sneezing etiquette, and proper tissue usage;
Limit sharing of tools, equipment, and machinery;
Provide hand sanitizer and wipes to workers and visitors; and
Require frequent sanitization of high-touch areas like restrooms, breakrooms, equipment, and machinery.
Additional Requirements for Essential Retail
Businesses deemed essential retail businesses must adopt the following policies:
Limit occupancy to 50% of maximum store capacity at one time;
Establish hours of operation specifically for the exclusive use of high-risk individuals;
Install a physical barrier, such as a shield guard, between customers and cashiers/baggers where possible and anywhere you cannot maintain 6 feet of distance;
Require regular hand washing, coughing and sneezing etiquette, and proper tissue usage and disposal;
Provide employees break time for regular hand washing;
Arrange for contactless pay options, pickup, or delivery of goods wherever possible;
Provide hand sanitizer and wipes to staff and customers;
Frequently sanitize high-touch areas like restrooms, credit card machines, keypads, counters and shopping carts;
Require infection control practices such as regular hand washing, coughing and sneezing etiquette, and proper tissue usage;
Place conspicuous signage at entrances and throughout the store alerting staff and customers to the required 6 feet of distance;
Demarcate 6 feet of spacing in check-out lines to demonstrate appropriate social distancing;
Require workers and customers to wear cloth face coverings, and require workers to wear gloves. A business must provide, at its own expense, these face coverings and gloves for employees. Customers may be exempted if it would inhibit their health, or if under two years of age. If a customer refuses, they must be denied entry, unless the business is providing medication, medical supplies, or food, in which case another method of pickup should be provided.
Additional Requirements for Non-Essential Retail Operating Curbside Pickup
Non-essential retail stores may reopen for online or phone ordering and curbside pickup only at 6 a.m. on Monday, May 18, 2020. Non-essential retail businesses that open for curbside pickup must adopt the following social policies:
Customers can pick up goods outside of an establishment that they have already ordered but cannot enter the brick-and-mortar premises;
Where possible, limit in-store operations to those employees who are responsible for the operations required for curbside pickup;
Where possible, handle customer transactions in advance by phone, email, fax, or other means that avoid person-to-person contact;
Where possible, customers shall notify the retailer by text message, email, or phone once they arrive, or make best efforts to schedule their arrival time in advance. The customer shall be asked to remain in their vehicle, if arriving by car, until store staff delivers the purchase;
Where possible, designated employees shall bring goods outside of the retail establishment and place the goods directly in a customer’s vehicle; and
For retail businesses operating in shopping malls, employees must bring the goods to customers at the exterior of the mall and place them directly in a customer’s vehicle.
Updated: June 8, 2020 Source: Executive Order Nos. 122, 125, and 142; NJDOH Social Distancing Guidance for Essential Retail Businesses, NJDOH Protocols for Outdoor Dining
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