Summary — Effective March 19 at 12:01 a.m.
The City has expanded its original emergency declaration and order associated with COVID-19. The following is a summary of the provision of the declaration and order as it relates to the business community:
• Provisions are effective beginning Thursday, March 19, 2020
• Any reference to “group event” means a gathering of 10 or more people at any restaurant, tavern, religious, athletic, social, entertainment or special event
• Group events are prohibited from taking place
• Restaurants, convenience stores and retail stores shall not serve customers food or drinks for on-site consumption and shall limit service to customers via drive-through, pickup or delivery
• No more than 10 people, including employees, vendors and customers may be inside a gas station or convenience store at any one time
• Facilities operated for entertainment and recreational purposes shall not allow the general public or members of the facilities to enter said facilities. Facilities that shall not allow such entry include, but are not limited to, theaters, private clubs, fitness centers and bowling alleys.
The provisions only relate to those types of business identified.
No other businesses are affected by the declaration or order.
Also, only businesses within the City of St. Joseph are impacted. Questions may be referred to the City of St. Joseph Department of Health, 271-4636. To see the official press release, see this link. To see the official declaration, see this link.
No Doctor’s Note for Employees
Mosaic is not able to provide documentation to employees to return to work if they are sick. Please communicate to your employees that notes will not be provided from Mosaic health-care providers. Mosaic is following the guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which recommends the following for employers:
• Sick employees need to stay home
• Employees who have symptoms of acute respiratory illness are recommended to stay home and not come to work until they are free of fever (100.4° F [38.0° C] or greater using an oral thermometer), signs of a fever and any other symptoms for at least 24 hours, without the use of fever-reducing or other symptom-altering medicines (e.g., cough suppressants). Employees should notify their supervisor and stay home if they are sick
• Ensure your sick leave policies are flexible and consistent with public health guidance and employees are aware of these policies
• Talk with companies that provide your business with contract or temporary employees about the importance of sick employees staying home and encourage them to develop non-punitive-leave policies
• Do not require a health-care provider’s note for employees who are sick with acute respiratory illness to validate their illness or to return to work, as health-care provider offices and medical facilities may be extremely busy and not able to provide such documentation in a timely way.
• Employers should maintain flexible policies that permit employees to stay home to care for a sick family member. Employers should be aware that more employees may need to stay at home to care for sick children or other sick family members than is usual.