GRA Weekly

November 7, 2021

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FEDERAL UPDATES

On Thursday, November 4th, OSHA released its highly anticipated Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing. All businesses in Georgia with more than 100 employees will be affected.

Under the ETS, employers with 100 or more employees must:

Adopt a policy in which all employees are “fully vaccinated” meaning two weeks after a one-shot vaccination (such as Johnson & Johnson), or two weeks after the second dose of two-shot vaccination (such as Pfizer or Moderna) by January 4, 2022.
Additionally, by December 5, 2021, employers must have policies in place to provide paid-time-off (PTO) to employees to get vaccinated, to recover from any side effects, and to require non-vaccinated workers to be masked in the workplace (subject to limited exception).
As of January 4, 2022, employees who are not fully vaccinated but who enter the workplace will be required to be tested weekly for COVID-19. The ETS lists a number of tests which are acceptable for this purpose including tests conducted by third-parties or tests taken by employees under employer supervision.
Employers will be required to maintain proof of vaccination, and a roster of employees vaccination status, available for inspection upon request by the Department, but they do not otherwise need to certify. These records must be maintained as long as the ETS is in effect but do not appear to be subject to the 30 years retention requirement.
Employers are not required to pay for testing
The requirements of the rule do not apply to employees who do not report to a workplace where other coworkers or customers are present, who work exclusively outdoors, or while working at home.

Additional information can be found at:

The National Restaurant Association will be further examining the 490-page rule closely, and will provide additional guidance in the coming days. We highly encourage you to register for a webinar with legal experts Monday, November 8th at 4:00PM ET to review the rule and discuss the most recent guidance on religious exemptions.

Meanwhile, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Attorney General Chris Carr announced on Friday, October 29 that they have joined a multi-state lawsuit challenging President Biden's Executive Order mandating vaccines for federal workers. It is believed additional complaints will be issued quickly on the mandate for businesses.

CITY OF ATLANTA

City of Atlanta Requires CPA Statement for Alcohol License Renewal

The City of Atlanta has decided to begin enforcing ordinance 10-106(c) beginning November 1, 2021. Ordinance 10-106(c) requires businesses classified as Restaurants selling alcoholic beverages to provide a statement from a Certified Public Accountant detailing how much of their annual business sales are alcohol versus food. The GRA is reaching out and working with City officials on this issue. We ask that this this enforcement be delayed until a better solution for all can be considered. We strongly encourage you reach out to the Mayor’s office and your council person to voice how this decision will impact you. Read more about this issue & what actions you can take here.

STATE UPDATES

Georgia Begins Drawing Legislative District Lines for next 10 years

Every 10 years, after the census is released, state lawmakers convene to reconfigure district lines. The drawing of lines is required by both the Constitution and federal courts with the goal that new maps will more accurately reflect the growing, more diverse population. On Wednesday, November 3, Georgia lawmakers convened for a special session to draw a new map for Georgia. Lines need to be drawn for 13 US Congressional Districts, 56 State Senate Districts and 180 State House districts. Every district should be drawn with almost an equal amount of population. You can view and learn more about Georgia’s proposed redistricting maps here.

IMPORTANT OSHA VACCINE WEBINAR

OSHA Vaccine Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS): What Does it Mean for Restaurants?

Multiple sources are advising that the ETS will be released on Thursday, November 4, 2021 on OSHA’s website and publication in the Federal Register soon thereafter. The ETS does not take effect until it is published in the Federal Register. There is also reporting that the ETS will allow employers to make employees pay for their tests if the employee refuses to be vaccinated; and if the employee has a religious or medical exemption, the employer would have to absorb the costs of the testing.

Please join Sean Kennedy, EVP, Public Affairs, and Shannon Meade, Vice President of Public Policy and Legal Advocacy with the National Restaurant Association as they host a webinar with legal experts to review the ETS, including James Paretti, Jr. and Bradford Hammock, shareholders with the leading labor and employment law firm of Littler Mendelson. The discussion will also include the new EEOC guidance on religious exemptions that seeks to provide more clarity about how employers should regard requests for religious exemptions.

Monday, November 8th | 4:00PM - 5:00PM ET

AN EVENING OF GIVING

An Evening of Giving: Fashion Showcase with Jonathan Simkhai - Atlanta Community Food Bank

Celebrating this unique opportunity to spend an evening with designer Jonathan Simkhai is a charity designer showcase taking place Thursday, November 11, 2021, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Willow Bar at The Sylvan Hotel. This event benefits the Atlanta Community Food Bank, a nonprofit organization that provides meals to families and individuals in need in the metro Atlanta... Read more.

DISASTER RELIEF FUND

DoorDash Restaurant Disaster Relief Fund | Applications open November 1

Disasters are unpredictable — but critical support shouldn’t be. The average small business loses $3,000 every day they remain closed due to a natural disaster. To help restaurants recover in times of critical need, DoorDash has partnered with Hello Alice to create the Restaurant Disaster Relief Fund. The fund supports restaurants impacted by natural disasters like fires, floods and hurricanes, and provides relief through $10,000 grants.

Learn more and to apply.

TEXT RECRUITING TOOLS FOR LOCAL BUSINESSES.

SERVSAFE OPERATING GUIDANCE

ServSafe Operating Guidance: COVID-19 Precautions Training

ServSafe and the National Restaurant Association are excited to announce ServSafe Operating Guidance: COVID-19 Precautions, the FREE COVID-19 training suite that brings together content from the original COVID-19 Delivery, Takeout, and Reopening modules as well as new information from the latest COVID-19 Operating Guidance.

The free 15-minute video covers:

Encouraging vaccinations for employees
Best practices on indoor dining, ventilation, mask use, and social distancing
Guidelines for hand washing, health monitoring and testing, and policies for ill or exposed employees
Operational guidelines for cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting
COVID safety procedures for pickup and delivery

Available in English and Spanish, this updated training combines best practices for continued operation during the pandemic in one, easily accessible training video.