Essential Services Added to Florida’s Safer-at-Home Executive Order

On April 9, 2020, Florida’s Department of Emergency Management issued a memorandum adding “essential services” for purposes of the Safer-at-Home Executive Order 20—91, which will be effective April 3 through April 30, 2020, and was recently clarified by FAQs.

The memorandum expands the list of “essential services” in Florida to include:

• Employees at services and programs addressing mental health, substance abuse, domestic violence, and other urgent counseling – as long as social distancing guidelines are maintained;
• Certain employees necessary for maintenance and preservation of theme parks and entertainment complexes, zoological parks and facilities, and aquarium facilities, that are closed to the general public; and
• Employees at professional sports and media production with a national audience – including athletes, entertainers, production team, executive team, media team, and others necessary to facilitate including services supporting such production – only if the location is closed to the general public.

The Division of Emergency Management maintains the Governor’s Executive Order 20—91 Essential Services List online but has not yet added these services to the list.

In compliance with the Safer-at-Home Order, Williams Parker remains dedicated to serving its clients and continues to advise and represent clients with respect to their legal matters. Our firm has launched a multidisciplinary task force of lawyers across the firm to advise on issues arising from COVID-19. This team is closely monitoring legal developments and guidance from federal, state, and local government and public health officials.