Governor Hogan issued an order on March 23 updating his office’s order of March 19 prohibiting large gatherings and closing certain facilities and non-essential businesses. The amended order urges Marylanders to stay home and asks employers to adopt work-from-home policies. It is not, however, a shelter-in-place order.
The amended order provides a non-exhaustive list of essential businesses that are not required to close. Those essential businesses include certain companies in the following industries:
- Chemical sector.
- Commercial facilities sector.
- Critical manufacturing sector.
- Defense industrial base sector.
- Emergency services sector.
- Energy sector.
- Financial services sector.
- Food and agriculture sector.
- Government facilities sector.
- Healthcare and public health sector.
- Information technology sector.
- Transportation systems sector.
- Water and wastewater systems sector.
- Firms providing staffing/payroll services or essential raw materials, products, or services to any businesses in the federal critical infrastructure sectors.
The order expressly mandates the closure of certain businesses, including casinos, racetracks, enclosed malls, and certain recreational and retail establishments. To honor the social distancing guidelines issued by the CDC, the order also prohibits door-to-door solicitation – even when done by businesses that are otherwise permitted to remain open.
This summary of the Interpretive Guidance issued by the Office of Legal Counsel of Governor Larry Hogan regarding the Order of the Governor of the State of Maryland, Number 20-03-23-01, dated March 23, 2020 is not intended as legal advice. For specific guidance, please contact the author, Erica Litovitz, Esq., or another member of Jackson & Campbell’s Employment Group.