As we begin looking at a reopening after the height of the COVID-19 crisis has passed, LABI's national partners at the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC are starting to work on a plan for getting the country back to work. The US Chamber has produced initial ideas, hoping to start a discussion among the nation's employers about what they want to see in a reopening plan. 
 

The US Chamber's suggestions, which can be accessed HERE, cover three main categories of topics. 

• Essential Services and Resources
  • General Health Screening, COVID-19 Testing, Personal Protective Equipment, Transportation, Childcare
• Resolution of Regulatory and Legal Liability Issues
  • Health Privacy, Discrimination Claims, Safe Workplace Requirements, Support for Independent Contractors, Employment Practices, Exposure Liability, Product Liability, Medical Liability, Securities Litigation, Customer Communications, False Claims 
• Support for Businesses and Individuals
  • Businesses Dependent on High-Density Gatherings or Travel, Individuals Delayed in Returning to Work

In addition, the US Chamber is also posing 10 questions to businesses in order to gather their ideas and hear concerns and expectations while formulating their return to work plan. Please email your thoughts, ideas, or responses to Camille Conaway, LABI's senior vice president, at cpconaway@labi.org. 

1. What additional essential services do you see as necessary to support a phased reopening?
2. What additional resources do you anticipate needing to operationalize a phased reopening?
3. What additional guidance, including specific regulatory guidance, from the federal government would be beneficial for a phased reopening?
4. What additional legal liability issues are you concerned about during a phased reopening?
5. Do you anticipate your businesses needing additional financial support to bridge a phased reopening? If so, what form should that take?
6. How have you changed how you operate your business as a result of COVID-19 and what changes do you anticipate continuing after the pandemic?
7. Have you benefited from any of the federal support, including the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program, implemented since the onset of the pandemic? If so, which support programs and do you have feedback on these programs and the federal response? Are there any changes you would recommend?
8. What new support do you envision needing going forward? For example, some types of standing support for business interruption in the case of a pandemic? How concerned are you about the potential costs of such support?
9. While restoring the economy will be a matter of private sector employers being able to resume activity, what other role should the private sector be playing, and what hindrances do you see in the way of any of these efforts?
10. What did we forget to ask?