COVID-19 Quick Reference Guide – State By State Treatment of Business Essentiality

Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) is affecting companies across the nation and around the world in a variety of ways. Dykema is closely monitoring the legal ramifications of the crisis and evaluating the potential impact on businesses in a wide variety of industries. The federal government has released its CISA guidelines, and many governors throughout the country have adopted executive orders directing residents to remain at home or in their place of residence to the maximum extent possible in order to limit the spread of COVID-19. Of those states, each has provided similar, but not identical, exemptions for certain businesses deemed “Essential Services.” Sorting through the federal, state and local guidelines and requirements is complicated and requires a fact-based analysis weighing essentiality against the need to sustain and protect life. To assist you in this process, Dykema has prepared and will continue to update COVID-19 Quick Reference Guides. The first of these is entitled “State Level Shelter-in-Place Orders and Essential Services Provisions.”

The Quick Reference Guide is issued and reissued as of its dated date, which is important to consult as these matters change daily. The most current version is always available on Dykema’s COVID-19 Resource Center and is intended to help our clients and other organizations better understand current government actions that may affect their respective business operations. This Quick Reference Guide is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice.

Stay tuned and look out for Dykema’s alerts and Quick Reference Guides on updated information regarding state measures on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

The Quick Reference Guide’s list of state by state “Essential Services” is not all-encompassing, and some of the general categories are restricted further to limit essential services within that general category. To determine whether your business is essential, and for more information on what is to come, please contact Ann Fillingham (517-374-9146 or afillingham@dykema.com), Courtney Kissel (248-203-0743 or ckissel@dykema.com), Leonard Wolfe (517-374-9178 or lwolfe@dykema.com), or your Dykema relationship attorney.

Stay ahead of emerging issues with Dykema's Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resource Center and subscribe to all relevant publications so you can easily leverage information, stay up to date on evolving developments, and better position yourself for success.