Stay at Home Orders: Information for AAMD Supplier Members

Dear Supplier Members,

The Governor (on a statewide level), the Mayors of Denver and Boulder (on local levels) and the Tri-County Health Depart (for Arapahoe, Douglas and Adams Counties) have issued orders that affect the operations of businesses.  The issue is fairly straight forward for property management companies because the property management function is exempt from each set of limitations as an essential service (essential services are still advised to cut their on-site workforce size as much as possible).

For our Supplier Members, the analysis is a bit more complex.  We thought Supplier Members might benefit from some interpretation of the competing orders. It’s easiest to organize the discussion dividing it between statewide issues and local issues.
 

Statewide

Non-exempt business must reduce in office workforce at any particular time by at least 50%.  Exempt businesses are suggested (but not) mandated to reduce in office workforce where possible.
Exempt businesses are defined under the state order as Critical Businesses.  The best source for the definition of Critical Business is in Governor’s explanatory memo which accompanied the order and which is attached. 
Most Association Supplier Members who are exempt will find their relevant exemption in the definitions of Critical Retailing, Critical Services or Construction (pages 4-5).
The most likely exemption to apply to an Association Supplier Member is found in the Construction section providing:
9. Construction, Including: 

• other related firms and professionals for who provide services necessary to maintain the safety, sanitation, and critical operation of residences

Other exemptions that may be relevant to some Supplier Members include:
Critical Retailing, Including:

• hardware… building material stores
• retail sale of household consumer products

Critical Services, Including:

• trash and recycling
• shipping services
• building cleaning and maintenance

Construction, Including:

• skilled trades such as electricians and plumbers

Denver Boulder and Tri-County

 
Denver, Boulder and Tri-County have enacted their own local orders.  The mandates for each are identical, so reviewing one order is sufficient to understand the others.   It’s likely that additional local jurisdictions will adopt local orders in the future.  We will monitor future local ordinances for variances, but it’s also likely they will be identical to the Denver/Boulder/Tri-County models.  A copy of the full Tri-County order is attached. 
 
In a number of ways, the Denver/Boulder/Tri-County Orders are more restrictive than the Governor’s statewide order.
 
The biggest differences are that nonexempt workplaces are ordered to operate with a very minimal skeleton staff (basically only as necessary to secure the facility and far below the 50% reduction mandated statewide) and individuals are ordered to stay home unless going to or from certain exempt activities.
 
Consequently, if you’re not an exempt business, you can’t be open at all and your employees and customers do not have the authority to travel to the workplace.
 
The list of exempt businesses is much more detailed in the Denver/Boulder/Tri-County orders.  They are defined as Essential Businesses in the Denver/Boulder/Tri-County orders, as opposed to Critical Businesses in the state order (a distinction without any practical or legal difference).  The list of exempt businesses is broader in the Denver/Boulder/Tri-County orders than in the state order. 
 
Consequently, if your business is exempt as a Critical Business under the state order, you will more than likely be exempt as an Essential Business under the local order.
 
Conversely, a Supplier Member might find themselves not exempt under the state order (so they’d have to operate below 50% staff levels) but still exempt under the local orders (so they could remain operational).  If your business is not exempt as a Critical Business under the state order, it’s worth a detailed read of the Denver/Boulder/Tri-County order to see if there’s verbiage to support a claim for exemption under that order.
 
The expanded definition of exempt businesses that might be relevant to Supplier Members include:

• Construction of housing (6.c.iv)
• Other related firms and professionals who provide services necessary to maintain the safety, sanitation, and essential operation of residences (6. c. viii)
• Internet and telecommunications systems (6. c. viii)
• plumbers, electricians, exterminators, and other service providers who provide services that are necessary to maintaining the safety, sanitation, and essential operation of residences, Essential Activities, and Essential Businesses (6. f. ix)