Executive Order 242: What Employers Need to Know about Indoor Mask Requirements and other Covid Restrictions

Posted on Wednesday, May 26th, 2021.

Governor Murphy recently issued Executive Order 242, effective Friday, May 28, 2021, which relaxes portions of previous Executive Orders 155, 192, 239 and 241 related to indoor and outdoor masking and social distancing requirements. Though widely publicized in the press as a complete removal of indoor mask requirements, the lifting of indoor masking requirements is only applicable under the following limited circumstances:

  • Masking and social distancing requirements are lifted only for “indoor public spaces” which do not include indoor worksites of employers, as defined in Executive Order No. 192 (2020), that “do not open their indoor spaces to the public for purposes of sale of goods, attendance at an event or activity, or provision of services.”
  • Employees in all other indoor workspaces shall continue to be required to wear masks except when employees are at distanced workstations or in their own offices, and must continue to maintain six feet of distance from others to the maximum extent possible.
  • Social distancing restrictions remain in place for those individuals who are not fully vaccinated.
  • Masking and social distancing requirements remain in effect for health care settings, long term care facilities, home health care settings, office based health care settings, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, and in forms of public transportation.

Therefore, employers whose places of business are not open to the public for the sale of goods, attendance at an event or activity, or provision of services must still adhere to the indoor mask and social distancing requirements of previous Executive Orders, most notably Executive Order 192.  Non-public workplaces must also keep social distancing measures and other Covid restrictions in place for non-vaccinated employees.

If you have any specific questions regarding Executive Order 242, please contact any of our attorneys for assistance.

 

 

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