Michigan Workplace Virus Rules, Office Restrictions Extended for 6 Months
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration has extended workplace coronavirus restrictions for an additional six months, including a requirement that Michigan employers prohibit office work if employees’ jobs can feasibly be done remotely.
The emergency rules, which were issued in the fall, could be modified or withdrawn before they expire in mid-October. An advisory group of business, labor and health care leaders is assessing a phased return to offices and may make recommendations to the governor as soon as next week.
Sean Egan, the state’s director of COVID-19 workplace safety, said “some tweaks” possibly could have been made to the regulations now if not for Michigan’s spike in infections. It has the country’s highest two-week case rate, and hospitals were treating more than 4,000 adults with confirmed infections a daily record that surpassed the previous high from a year ago.