Recently, both the New York and Connecticut state governments issued guidance on the requirements businesses must meet before reopening after the COVID-19 shutdowns.
The reopening plans are comprehensive and should be reviewed in full.
New York
You can find the New York requirements here: https://forward.ny.gov/ (you will have to scroll down the page to see all of the guidance).
There are a few notable aspects of the guidance:
- Before reopening:
- a business must be in one of the industries that is allowed to open under New York’s phased plan for reopening; and
- a business must meet the mandatory reopening requirements for the businesses’ specific industry.
- All New York businesses, including nonprofit organizations, will be required to create a written safety business plan before they can reopen. New York has created a template plan that can be found here: https://www.governor.ny.gov/sites/governor.ny.gov/files/atoms/files/NYS_BusinessReopeningSafetyPlanTemplate.pdf. Organizations may also create their own safety plan in accordance with state guidance.
- All New York businesses will be required to submit an affirmation that they have reviewed and will comply with the guidance related to their industry. The affirmations can be found following the industry specific guidance.
- All businesses, including businesses that have already been operating, must comply with these new guidelines from the state.
Connecticut
You can find the Connecticut requirements here: https://portal.ct.gov/coronavirus (you will have to scroll down the page to see all of the guidance).
There are a few notable aspects of the guidance:
- Before reopening a business must:
- be in one of the industries that is allowed to open under Connecticut’s phased plan for reopening; and
- follow sector-specific guidance; and
- self-certify that the business is following safety requirements. You can find more information about self-certification here: https://business.ct.gov/recovery.
Free Webinars on Reopening Requirements
While Pro Bono Partnership is unable to provide our clients with a review of specific reopening plans, in an effort to provide as much support as possible, we are offering free webinars on Connecticut and New York reopening requirements for nonprofits – the Connecticut webinar will be on Tuesday, June 16 at 9:00 a.m. and the New York webinar will be on Thursday, June 18 at 12:30 p.m. Registration information for both webinars will be available next week in our Learning Center.
This document is provided as a general informational service to volunteers, clients, and friends of Pro Bono Partnership. It should not be construed as, and does not constitute, legal advice on any specific matter, nor does distribution of this document create an attorney-client relationship.