COVID-19: Four Steps to Help Protect Supply Chains in Face of Shelter-in-Place Orders
March 19, 2020
Authored by: BCLP, Steven Poplawski, Tom Lee and Sara O'Keefe
Effective March 17, 2020, San Francisco and six other Bay Area counties passed “Shelter in Place” ordinances preventing workers not engaged in providing Essential Activities, working at Essential Businesses or providing Essential Government Services from leaving their homes to go to work. Such laws are now being considered throughout the country. This alert provides actionable steps companies can take to ensure that Shelter in Place laws in their jurisdictions do not inadvertently block employees from getting to work at their Essential Businesses.
First, be proactive, contact your state and local government officials to make sure they understand why your business is essential. If your product or service is truly essential, no government official is going to want to be blamed for inadvertently causing a shortage of that product. Note the Bay Area Orders define Essential Businesses to include “Businesses that supply other essential businesses with the support or supplies necessary to operate.” If your business falls into that category, you may want to have that business explicitly enumerated as an Essential Business rather than rely on a judgment call that this catch all provision applies. To proceed, identify to make sure they know. BCLP can help (a) identify the appropriate officials at the State and local level and reach out to them, (b) develop the message to be delivered as to why your employees should not be required to Shelter In Place and (c) draft language to clarify why your business and its supply chain should be exempt from the