Effective Thursday, March 26th at 8:00 am, non-essential businesses located in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina must discontinue operations, with the exception of work that can be completed remotely at employees’ residences. The Stay at Home Order will remain in effect for twenty-one days, or until April 16^th.

There are many businesses and operations essential to maintaining public health and safety. Accordingly, some of the most important exemptions from the order include:

•         Healthcare, public health, law enforcement, public safety, and first responders 


•         Food and beverage manufacturing, production, and cultivation including agriculture

•         Grocery and medicine retail

In addition, there are many specific exceptions that might qualify a business as “Essential.” For example, under § 20 of “Essential Businesses and Operations,” a business involved in the manufacture, distribution, and supply chain for critical products and industries qualifies as an essential business.

Specifically, “manufacturing companies, distributors, and supply chain companies producing and supplying essential products and services in and for industries such as pharmaceutical, technology, biotechnology, healthcare, chemicals and sanitization, waste pickup and disposal, agriculture, food and beverage, transportation, energy, steel and steel products, petroleum and fuel, mining, construction, national defense, communications, as well as products used by other Essential Businesses and Operations.”

Even if a business does not qualify as Essential, the Order permits non-essential businesses to carry on with Minimum Basic Operations. Minimum Basic Operations include the minimum necessary activities to:

–          maintain the value of the businesses’ inventory

–          preserve the condition of the business’s physical plant and equipment

–          ensure security

–          process payroll and employee benefits

–          facilitate the employees of the business being able to continue to work remotely from their residences

Essential Businesses and businesses continuing Minimum Basic Operations must always comply with Social Distancing Requirements, where possible:

Best regards
und viele Grüße aus Charlotte
Reinhard von Hennigs
www.bridgehouse.law