On May 18, 2020 (the “Effective Date”), Governor Murphy’s Executive Order #142 (the “Order”) permits, inter alia, the resumption of non-essential construction, curbside pickup at non-essential retail businesses and gatherings in cars.

The following are some of the key points of the Order:

I. The Order allows for the resumption of non-essential construction projects. The Order requires that all construction projects abide by the following requirements:

• a. Prohibit non-essential visitors from entering the worksite;
• b. Engage in appropriate social distancing measures when picking up or delivering equipment or materials;
• c. Limit worksite meetings, inductions, and workgroups to groups of fewer than 10 individuals;
• d. Require individuals to maintain six feet or more distance between them wherever possible;
• e. Stagger work start and stop times where practicable to limit the number of individuals entering and leaving the worksite concurrently;
• f. 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;
• g. 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;
• h. Require workers and visitors to wear cloth face coverings, in accordance with CDC recommendations, while on the premises, except where doing so would inhibit the individual’s health or the individual is under two years of age, and require workers to
  wear gloves while on the premises. Businesses must provide, at their expense, such face coverings and gloves for their employees. If a visitor refuses to wear a cloth face covering for non-medical reasons and if such covering cannot be provided to the individual by the business at the point of entry, then the business must decline entry to the individual. Nothing in the stated policy should prevent workers or visitors from wearing a surgical-grade mask or other more protective face covering if the individual is already in possession of such equipment, or if the businesses is otherwise required to provide such worker with more protective equipment due to the nature of the work involved. Where an individual declines to wear a face covering on the premises due to a medical condition that inhibits such usage, neither the business nor its staff shall require the individual to produce medical documentation verifying the stated condition;
• i. Require infection control practices, such as regular hand washing, coughing and sneezing etiquette, and proper tissue usage and disposal;
• j. Limit sharing of tools, equipment, and machinery;
• k. 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;
• l. Require frequent sanitization of high-touch areas like restrooms, breakrooms, equipment, and machinery;
• m. 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
• n. Place conspicuous signage at entrances and throughout the worksite detailing the above
  mandates.

II. The Order allows for individuals to leave their homes and participate in gatherings of 10 people or less without any restrictions. The order also allows for people to leave their homes and participate in gatherings of more than 10 people, including for recreational and entertainment events, provided that they comply with the following requirements:

• a. Attendees participating in the gathering must arrive in a vehicle and they must remain in that same vehicle during the entire gathering;
• b. Each attendee’s vehicle must remain entirely closed at all times, meaning that the windows, doors, sunroofs, and tops of the vehicle must be closed at all times, unless:
• i. The vehicle is more than six feet from any other vehicle or individual, except for, as
  applicable, the limited number of individuals organizing or maintaining the
  gathering; or
• ii. A law enforcement officer, appropriate public official, or private security guard
  asks any attendee to open the vehicle’s windows, doors, sunroofs, and/or tops.
• c. If there are individuals organizing or maintaining the gathering, and who are not in closed vehicles, such individuals must follow all applicable Executive Orders and Administrative Orders, and must wear cloth face coverings or more protective face coverings in any settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain, except where doing so would inhibit that individual’s health; and
• d. To the degree that a gathering requires pre-payment, or seeks donations of any kind,
  contact-less options for pre-payment or donation, such as online or by telephone, must be offered wherever feasible.

III. The Order allows for non-essential retail businesses to open to the public provided that operations are limited to curbside pickup and abide by the following requirements:

• a. Customers shall not be permitted to enter the brick-and-mortar premises, but shall be permitted to pick up goods outside of the establishment that they have already ordered (“curbside pickup”);
• b. In-store operations shall be limited, wherever feasible, to those employees who are responsible for the operations required for curbside pickup;
• c. Customer transactions shall be handled in advance by phone, email, facsimile, or other means that avoid person-to-person contact, wherever feasible;
• d. Customers shall notify the retailer by text message, email, or phone once they arrive, whenever feasible, 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;
• e. Designated employees shall bring goods outside of the retail establishment and place the goods directly in a customer’s vehicle whenever feasible; and
• f. Retail businesses operating in shopping malls are permitted to operate by curbside pickup, in accordance with the other requirements of this paragraph, but employees must bring the goods to customers at the exterior of the mall and shall place them directly in a customer’s vehicle whenever feasible. The indoor portions of shopping malls shall remain closed to the public, consistent with Executive Order No. 107 (2020).

Additionally, the policies described in this paragraph should also ensure that non-essential retail business employers do the following, at a minimum:

• g. Require infection control practices, such as regular hand washing, coughing and sneezing etiquette, and proper tissue usage and disposal;
• h. Provide employees break time for repeated handwashing throughout the workday;
• i. Provide sanitization materials, such as hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes, to staff;
• j. Require frequent sanitization of high-touch areas to which workers have access; and
• k. Require workers to wear cloth face coverings and gloves when interacting with other workers or customers and require workers to wear gloves when in contact with customers or goods. Businesses must provide, at their expense, such face coverings and gloves for their employees. Nothing in the stated policy should prevent workers from wearing a surgical-grade mask or other more protective face covering if the individual is already in possession of such equipment, or if the business is otherwise required to provide such worker with more protective equipment due to the nature of the work involved.

If you have any questions regarding the executive order, you can reach the BMK real estate team via our main office phone, (973) 376-0909, using the extensions below or accessing the mobile telephone numbers and email addresses provided:

Keith Marlowe
Office Extension: 1120
Mobile: (973) 568-7559
kmarlowe@bmk-law.com

Richard Schkolnick
Office Extension: 1121
Mobile: (917) 514-8043
rschkolnick@bmk-law.com

Michael Greenberg
Office Extension: 1119
Mobile: (917) 716-9302,
mgreenberg@bmk-law.com

A copy of Executive Order 142 can be found at:
https://nj.gov/infobank/eo/056murphy/pdf/EO-142.pdf

This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute, and does not constitute, legal advice.