CORMICAN LAW
  • Home
  • Businesses
  • Nonprofits
  • Churches
  • Families
  • Blog

What Businesses Need to Know About Texas's Retail-to-Go Requirements.

4/22/2020

Comments

 
Picture
Photo by Sylvie Tittel on Unsplash
By Stacey Cormican

Beginning Friday, April 24, 2020, non-essential retail businesses in Texas ordered to shut down during the COVID-19 may reopen to provide "retail-to-go" under the governor's latest order. These retail businesses may offer their products through pick-up, delivery, and by mail. However, they must comply with specific DSHS rules to do so. 

The rules non-essential businesses must follow in providing "retail-to-go" are:

For Employees:
  • Train all employees on environmental cleaning and disinfection, hand hygiene, and respiratory etiquette. 
  • Screen all employees before they come in the business for
    • new or worsening cough,
    • shortness of breath,
    • sore throat,
    • loss of taste or smell,
    • feverish feeling or temp 100.0 F or above, or
    • close contact with any person lab-confirmed as COVID-19 positive. 
          Employees who meet any of these criteria must be sent home.
  • Require all employees to wash or sanitize hands upon entering the business and wear face coverings and remain six feet apart.

To provide customer pick-ups:
  • Accept payments by phone or the internet, if possible. If not possible, minimize contact with customers during payment.
  • Deliver items to the backseat or trunk of a customer's vehicle whenever possible.
  • Have employees wash or sanitize hands after each pick-up and, whenever possible, disinfect any item that came into contact with a customer. (Such as payment devices, etc.)

To provide delivery:
  • Accept payments by phone or the internet, if possible. If not possible, minimize contact with customers during payment.
  • Deliver items to the customer's doorstep and do not enter the customer's home or business.

To provide items by mail:
  • Accept payments by phone or the internet.
  • Deliver packages in a manner that doesn't require customer contact (i.e., don't require a signature for delivery).

The most difficult rule for most employers may be that employees must remain six feet apart while working. Practically, this may mean employers will only be able to bring back portions of their regular staff to work.

Read the Governor's executive order here.
Download the DSHS guidance below.
DSHS Guidance
File Size: 118 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Comments

Comparison of the CARE Act Loans

4/14/2020

Comments

 
Picture
Comments

How Your Nonprofit Can Get a $10K Federal Grant in THREE days Under the CARE Act

3/30/2020

Comments

 
Picture
Photo by Alexander Schimmeck on Unsplash

Most Nonprofits Will Qualify for Emergency Economic Injury Grants of up to $10,000.


A part of the CARE Act allows nonprofits to apply for Economic Injury Disaster Loans and receive Emergency Economic Injury Grants of up to $10,000 in three days. To access the grant, a nonprofit must apply for an SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and then request an advance. 

The advance does not need to be repaid under any circumstance and should be considered a grant. Nonprofits can use the advance (grant) to pay for expenses that it could have paid had the disaster not occurred, including payroll, debts, rents, and mortgage payments. 

Almost all nonprofits with either (1) an effective ruling letter from the IRS granting a tax exemption under sections 501(c), (d), or (e) of the IRS Code of 1954 or (2) that can provide satisfactory evidence that it is a nonprofit under state law can apply for and received the grant. The only disqualified nonprofits are those that are principally engaged in teaching, instructing, counseling, or indoctrinating religion or religious beliefs or that primarily engage in political or lobbying activities. The nonprofit must also have been in operation since January 31, 2020. 

The SBA has created a streamlined application for the EIDL, which can be found here: https://covid19relief.sba.gov/#/. To apply for the Emergency Economic Injury Grant, you must check the box on the fourth screen of the application that says, "I would like to be considered for an advance of up to $10,000". The SBA has a goal of providing the advance in three days by direct deposit to your bank. 

If you have questions about whether your nonprofit qualifies or about the application, contact your legal counsel or the SBA Customer Center at 1-800-877-8339 or DisasterCustomerService@sba.gov.

About the Author

Stacey Cormican offers Bible-based legal counsel and services to businesses, nonprofits, churches and families. She can be reached at slc@cormicanlaw.com or 210-504-8150

Comments

    Author

    Stacey Cormican offers Bible-based legal services to businesses, nonprofits, churches and families. 

    Archives

    April 2020
    March 2020

    Categories

    All
    Businesses
    COVID19 Economic Relief
    Families
    Nonprofits

    RSS Feed

Picture
  • Home
  • Businesses
  • Nonprofits
  • Churches
  • Families
  • Blog