Labor & Employment Law Blog

The State has authorized counties to maintain stricter orders and delay the start of Phase 2 to account for specific local concerns, as needed. 

Numerous other counties have moved forward to allow an even broader reopening of businesses.  As of May 19, 2020, 23 counties in California have submitted variation attestations to the State’s Department of Health, which allows counties to proceed to reopen dine-in restaurants (without bars or gaming areas) and destination retail stores such as shopping malls and swap meets, according to their county specific plan and with modifications for safety.  The 23 counties are Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Inyo, Lassen, Mariposa, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, San Benito, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne, Yuba-Sutter, all of which are comparatively sparsely populated and located in the northern part of the State.

Which county will apply next?  How soon can counties with a larger or denser population submit attestations to obtain variances?  The answers to these questions are sure to be forthcoming, and changes are developing with each passing day. 

If you have any questions or concerns about whether you may reopen, about how to ensure that you are in compliance with local and State restrictions and guidelines and about what protocols and policies you need to implement to open safely, please contact the authors of this blog or the other attorneys at AALRR.