1. Where can I find the latest information on COVID-19-related orders issued in Texas?

New rules and Executive Orders have been a regular occurrence throughout the COVID-19 crisis.  It can be hard to keep track of everything that has changed.  The following page on the Texas Department of State Health Services website contains a list of all statewide orders related to COVID-19: https://www.dshs.state.tx.us/coronavirus/execorders.aspx

2. Where can I find the latest information on COVID-19-related orders issued in San Antonio and Bexar County?

San Antonio: The following page on the City of San Antonio website contains links to COVID-19-related materials. One of the links is to a page on current declarations and orders for San Antonio and Bexar County, which is the second link below.

• https://covid19.sanantonio.gov/Home
• https://covid19.sanantonio.gov/About-COVID-19/Declarations-Orders

3. Does the WARN Act apply to businesses closed by the San Antonio Emergency Declaration?

Under the WARN Act, employers with 100 or more employees are required to provide 60 days’ advance notice of a temporary shutdown if the shutdown will either affect 50 or more employees at a single site of employment and result in a layoff of the affected employees of at least 6 months or at least a 50 percent reduction in hours of work of the affected individual employees during each month of any 6-month period of the shutdown. 

This notice is not required if the closure/shutdown is a result of a “natural disaster” or “unforeseeable business circumstances.” WARN does not address whether a pandemic fits within these definitions, although an “unanticipated and dramatic economic downturn” might be considered “not reasonably foreseeable.” 

However, assuming that the COVID-19 situation qualifies above, it is still recommended that employers provide as much advance notice as possible. Following the mandated closure, if the business does not resume full operations due to loss of business revenue, WARN notification would be required for those who meet the criteria above.

4. I believe my business is considered “essential”: do I need to document that somehow?

We recommend that you provide your employees who will be working from your office with a letter explaining the category that your business falls in to be considered essential (as identified in the mandate), the duties performed by the overall company to deem it essential, and the skills, training, duties that employees perform in order to be determined as vital to the organization in carrying out the company’s obligations deemed essential by the ordinance.  This letter should be customized for each employee and provide the employee’s name and address if the employee does not have a work-issued ID badge.