On February 14, 2022, Public Health Madison Dane County (PHMDC) announced that it will no longer require face coverings in public indoor spaces after 12:00 a.m. on March 1, 2022.
Dane County Face Covering Emergency Order #7
Public Health Madison & Dane County has issued Face Covering Emergency Order #7. The new order is effective February 1, 2022, and remains in place until March 1, 2022. The only change from the previous Order #6 (see Lake Effect’s summary of the previous orders here) is the extension of time.
Lake Effect is here to answer your questions about how local and state public health orders apply to employers. We continue to monitor important legal and HR developments, as well as COVID-related updates from federal, state, and local authorities. Please keep watching our blogs and emails for these important updates, as well as discussions of how compliance meets culture. To dive into these issues, contact us at info@le-hrlaw.com or 1-844-333-5253.
Dane County Face Covering Emergency Order #6
Public Health Madison & Dane County has issued Face Covering Emergency Order #6. The new order is effective January 3, 2022 and remains in place until February 1, 2022. The only change from the previous Order #5 (see Lake Effect’s summary of the previous orders here) is the extension of time.
Lake Effect is here to answer your questions about how local and state public health orders apply to employers. We continue to monitor important legal and HR developments, as well as COVID-related updates from federal, state, and local authorities. Please keep watching our blogs and emails for these important updates, as well as discussions of how compliance meets culture. To dive into these issues, contact us at info@le-hrlaw.com or 1-844-333-5253.
Dane County Face Covering Emergency Order #5
Public Health Madison & Dane County has issued Face Covering Emergency Order #5. The new order is effective November 27, 2021. The only changes from the previous order (see Lake Effect’s summary of the previous orders here) are the following:
- A new exemption for fully vaccinated persons in enclosed spaces with other fully vaccinated persons:
“When in an enclosed space with individuals who are fully vaccinated. Individuals are fully vaccinated two (2) weeks after their second dose in a 2-dose vaccine series for COVID-19 (such as Pfizer-BioNTech’s or Moderna’s vaccine) or two (2) weeks after their first dose in a single-dose vaccine series for COVID-19 (such as Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine).”
- An extension of the face covering requirements until January 3, 2022.
Lake Effect is here to answer your questions about how local and state public health orders apply to employers. We continue to monitor important legal and HR developments, as well as COVID-related updates from federal, state, and local authorities. Please keep watching our blogs and emails for these important updates, as well as discussions of how compliance meets culture. To dive into these issues, contact us at info@le-hrlaw.com or 1-844-333-5253.
Dane County Face Covering Emergency Order #4
Public Health Madison & Dane County has issued Face Covering Emergency Order #4. The new order is effective November 5, 2021. The only change from the previous order (see Lake Effect’s summary of the previous orders here) is to extend the face covering requirements until November 27, 2021. At this time, PHMDC plans to let its face covering requirements expire as of 12:01 a.m. on November 27 and not issue additional face covering orders.
Lake Effect is here to answer your questions about how local and state public health orders apply to employers. We continue to monitor important legal and HR developments, as well as COVID-related updates from federal, state, and local authorities. Please keep watching our blogs and emails for these important updates, as well as discussions of how compliance meets culture. To dive into these issues, contact us at info@le-hrlaw.com or 1-844-333-5253.
Dane County Face Covering Emergency Order #3
Public Health Madison & Dane County has issued Face Covering Emergency Order #3. The new order is effective October 8, 2021. The only change from the previous order (see Lake Effect’s summary of the previous orders here) is to extend the face covering requirements through November 5, 2021.
Lake Effect is here to answer your questions about how local and state public health orders apply to employers. We continue to monitor important legal and HR developments, as well as COVID-related updates from federal, state, and local authorities. Please keep watching our blogs and emails for these important updates, as well as discussions of how compliance meets culture. To dive into these issues, contact us at info@le-hrlaw.com or 1-844-333-5253.
Dane County Face Covering Emergency Order #2
Public Health Madison & Dane County (PHMDC) has issued Face Covering Emergency Order #2, effective September 10, 2021 through October 8, 2021.
The new order is substantially the same as the previous order issued last month. The only changes are two exceptions have been added to the situations in which an individual may remove their face covering. Those two additional situations are:
- While playing a wind instrument that has a cover on it as long as all individuals in the room are spaced six feet apart from one other
- While presenting or performing a religious, political, media, educational, artistic, cultural, musical, theatrical, or any other type of presentation for an audience as long as
- everyone at the presentation or performance is fully vaccinated, and
- the presenters or performers maintain at least six feet from all attendees
All other requirements from the previous order remain in effect, including the requirement that employers develop a policy providing and requiring face masks, and post a sign mandating a face covering indoors.
Lake Effect is here to answer your questions about how local and state public health orders apply to employers. We continue to monitor important legal and HR developments, as well as COVID-related updates from federal, state, and local authorities. Please keep watching our blogs and emails for these important updates, as well as discussions of how compliance meets culture. To dive into these issues, contact us at info@le-hrlaw.com or 1-844-333-5253.
Dane County Face Covering Emergency Order
Public Health Madison & Dane County (PHMDC) has issued a new Public Health Order, effective August 19, 2021 through September 16, 2021. The new order requires individuals to wear face masks indoors, employers to develop a policy providing and requiring face masks, and organizations to post a sign mandating face masks indoors.
To address the rise in positive COVID cases, individuals age two years and older must wear face masks when in an enclosed space in Dane County with people outside their household, including while using public transportation. PHMDC defines a face covering as:
a piece of cloth or other material that is worn to cover the nose and mouth completely. A face covering must be secured to the head with ties, ear loops, or elastic bands that go behind the head and must fit snuggly but comfortably against the side of the face. Cloth face coverings must be made with two or more layers of breathable fabric that is tightly woven (i.e., fabrics that do not let light pass through when held up to a light source). A face covering does not include bandanas, single layer neck gaiters, face shields, goggles, scarves, ski masks, balaclavas, shirt or sweater collars pulled up over the mouth and nose, or masks with slits, exhalation valves, or punctures.
Limited exceptions to the mask requirement are allowed when an individual is eating and drinking, undergoing a service requires temporary removal of the mask (e.g. dental services), communicating with someone who is deaf or hard of hearing and who cannot communicate with a mask, swimming, following safety or security guidelines that require removal of the mask, and other similar circumstances. In addition, individuals with medical or mental health conditions that prevent them from wearing face masks are exempt from the requirement. When addressing such exemptions, employers should put in place other safety precautions to protect the health and safety of employees, customers, and other members of the public .
Employers must develop a written protective measure policy and procedure that provides employees with face masks and requires face masks indoors to comply with the order.
Employers must also post in visible locations signs requiring masks indoors. Employers may use PHMDC’s sign or develop their own.
Lake Effect is here to answer your questions about how local and state public health orders apply to employers. We continue to monitor important legal and HR developments, as well as COVID-related updates from federal, state, and local authorities. Please keep watching our blogs and emails for these important updates, as well as discussions of how compliance meets culture. To dive into these issues, contact us at info@le-hrlaw.com or 1-844-333-5253.
Mask mandates end, but employers have options
With mask orders lifting around the country, many employers are left wondering what to do in their own workplace. In most communities, employers have several options, including the following:
- Remove all masking requirements in your workplace or place of business
- Require all employees and visitors to wear masks at all times
- Allow fully vaccinated employees and visitors to be maskless, but require unvaccinated employees and visitors to wear masks
- Allow employees and visitors to report their vaccination status using the honor system
- Require employees and visitors to provide proof of vaccination status, cautioning them to provide only vaccination documentation, not other medical information
After making such decisions, employers should communicate expectations clearly to all staff and visitors. Employers should also be mindful of treating all employees fairly and with kindness and respect regardless of their masking decisions or vaccination status.
Lake Effect is here to answer your questions about preventive measures, vaccinations, and safely reopening your workplace. We continue to monitor important legal and HR developments, as well as COVID-related updates from federal, state, and local authorities. Please watch our blogs and emails for these important updates, as well as discussions of how compliance meets culture. To dive into these issues, contact us at info@le-hrlaw.com or 1-844-333-5253.
Wisconsin Communities’ Face Covering Requirements Expiring
Outagamie County, Dane County, and the city of Milwaukee have joined the growing list of communities across the country that are lifting their mask and other COVID-related public health orders. Outagamie County lifted its face mask requirements on May 13, 2021. Public Health Madison & Dane County (PHMDC) announced on May 18, 2021 that its public health orders and mask requirements will expire on June 2. On the same day, Mayor Tom Barrett announced that the City of Milwaukee will lift its public health orders and mask requirements on June 1.
These announcements follow the guidance released by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) that fully vaccinated individuals can safely stop wearing masks outdoors and in most public indoor settings. The federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) has indicated that it will release updated workplace safety requirements for employers based on CDC’s guidance. We will keep you informed with updates from OSHA.
Without a mask mandate, employers have several options. Employers may lift all mask requirements; require masks only for individuals who are not fully vaccinated; or require masks for all employees, customers, clients, and/or others on-site. As employers grapple with the best decision for their organization, they should work with HR professionals and employment attorneys to address issues such as:
- What is your organizational culture?
- How do your employees feel about returning to the workplace with or without masks?
- Are you requiring vaccines?
- If so, have you set up a legally compliant infrastructure to address, among many other things, reasonable accommodations for disabilities and sincerely held religious beliefs, confidentiality, and consistency among your workforce?
- If you have employees in multiple states, have you checked the laws, including local or state health orders, to ensure vaccinations can be required?
- If you will allow vaccinated employees to work without masks, are you asking for proof of vaccination or relying on an attestation from employees?
- Have you set up a legally compliant process for checking vaccination status?
- If you will not require masks at all, have you adopted cleaning and hygiene protocols to ensure you can satisfy your duty to provide a safe workplace for your employees?
Lake Effect is here to collaborate with you on questions about workplace safety, employees returning to work, and employee vaccinations.
Lake Effect HR & Law, LLC
(844) 333-5253 (LAKE)
info@le-hrlaw.com
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