COVID-19 Q&A: Can my business stay open? Does my boss have to protect me?

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Last week, Gov. Kate Brown ordered most businesses that can't protect their employees or patrons from the new coronavirus to close.

But Oregonians remain worried about safety at work, filing more than 1,000 complaints in just one week's time, according to the state's occupational safety agency.

Between March 23, when Brown issued the order, and March 29, Oregon's Occupational Safety and Health Administration received about 1,300 complaints about unsafe workplaces, according to agency spokesman Aaron Corvin. 

In an average year, the agency gets about 2,073 total complaints, Corvin said. 

Unlike other states, which have designated essential and nonessential businesses and workers, Oregon has taken a different approach.

Brown has published a specific list of businesses that must close and required restaurants and bars to offer takeout and delivery only.

Otherwise she has left it up to most individual businesses to decide whether they can operate safely or should close their doors to customers.

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Brown told reporters last week that she wanted to issue an order "collaboratively, methodically and thoughtfully."

"I know that in other states that the orders that were crafted caused great confusion," Brown said. "And frankly, we wanted to avoid that here as much as possible."

But you may still have questions about the order and whether it applies to your business or workplace. Here's what we found out: 

What has to close?

According to Brown's March 23 order, the following businesses have to stop operating.

• Amusement parks
• Aquariums
• Arcades
• Art galleries (by appointment is allowed)
• Barbershops, hair salons
• Bowling alleys
• Cosmetics stores 
• Dance studios
• Estheticians
• Fraternal organizations
• Furniture stores
• Gyms, fitness and yoga studios, tennis clubs
• Hookah bars
• Indoor party spaces (including laser tag)
• Jewelry stores and boutiques
• Spas and nonmedical massage therapy services
• Nail and tanning salons
• Museums
• Nontribal card rooms
• Skating rinks
• Senior centers
• Ski resorts
• Social and private clubs
• Tattoo and piercing parlors
• Theaters
• Youth clubs

What can stay open?

Any nonretail business that is not on the list above can stay open as long as the business does three things:

• Allows workers to work remotely as much as possible
• If telework isn't feasible, appoints an employee onsite to be in charge of social distancing practices
• Enforces social distancing at work

Retail businesses not among the businesses the governor has ordered to close can stay open as long as they do the following:

• Designate an employee to set up and enforce social distancing policies
• Offer online ordering, curbside pickup or delivery to limit contact between people and exposure to  surfaces
• Modify checkout areas to increase distance between people as much as possible, and mark spaces where customers can stand to stay safely apart from other customers and employees

Where can I get necessities like food and prescriptions?

Groceries, pharmacies, health care and medical centers don't fall under the governor's order. But they are urged to help customers keep their distance from one another and from workers.

I'm still not sure if my business can stay open. How can I get clarity?

You can take an online quiz created by the state at https://govstatus.egov.com/or-covid-19.

Who do I talk to if an employer isn't protecting its workers?

You can file a complaint with Oregon's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

I work at a grocery store. Is my employer required to provide protective gear, masks and gloves?

There's no blanket requirement that the state provide protective gear for workers, even at workplaces that provide key goods and services like groceries. 

The state's emergency managers say they're trying to prioritize getting enough masks, gloves, gowns and other gear to health care workers.

"Right now, the focus remains on those front line health care workers," Andrew Phelps, the state's emergency management director, told reporters Thursday.

"If we can't protect those folks, the situation is just going to become much more exacerbated much quicker," Phelps said. "We're going to have more people that need treatment and fewer doctors and nurses and front line medical workers to treat those people that are getting sick."

Phelps stressed that Oregonians should go to the grocery store as infrequently as possible.

He said that some grocery stores have implemented social distancing policies that can help slow the spread, such as limiting the number of patrons in the store at once, establishing dedicated hours for elderly and immuno-compromised patrons, and cleaning aisles, door handles and checkout stands more often.

Why are some bars still open? 

Brown has allowed bars to stay open as long as they provide takeout and delivery only. Customers can't sit and have a drink or eat at the bar.

The state's liquor control commission is allowing restaurants and bars to deliver beer, wine and cider, or sell those drinks to go, for 90 days by streamlining the application process for off-premise sales. 

Why can the Saturday farmers' market stay open?

Brown's order doesn't close farmer's markets, which sell key goods like groceries. But markets and their vendors should take steps to socially distance, according to the Oregon Farmers Markets Association. 

At each market, someone should be in charge of enforcing social distancing and take steps like spacing vendors further apart and keeping aisles wide. 

And any vendor who innately can't abide by those guidelines because they require physical contact or proximity, like masseuses or face painters, can't sell their services at the farmer's market as long as the order is in place, the association says.

Claire Withycombe is a reporter at the Statesman Journal. Contact her at cwithycombe@statesmanjournal.com, 503-910-3821 or follow on Twitter @kcwithycombe. Support local journalism by subscribing to the Statesman Journal.