March 20 Update: Auto Repair Facilities are Critical Infrastructure

Dear WANADA Members,

This morning, we have some important news regarding the ability for dealers to continue operations in this pandemic. Last night, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California authorized a month-long shelter-in-place notice that bans most public activities except those authorized by the federal government as " critical infrastructure sectors."

Fortunately, and correctly, the U.S. government defines auto repair facilities as part of our country's critical transportation infrastructure, as outlined on page 8 of the attached guidance, published yesterday. In summary, Maryland and Virginia could well implement even stricter shelter-in-place orders than California's, but you should expect your auto repair facilities, at minimum, to be able to remain open during this crisis.

Please continue referring to our  COVID-19 information page as a resource for the latest information from government officials and OEMs, and their impact on your business.

Also, please refer to this CDC best-practices poster for COVID-19 prevention, and please strongly consider posting it in your dealership and certainly in your workspaces.

Maryland Executive Order on Closures Exempts Car Dealerships 

Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland yesterday issued an executive order mandating closures of all large indoor communal spaces, including bars, restaurants (except for takeout), casinos, and shopping malls. As of now, car dealerships, including showrooms, are still allowed to be open, though with great sensitivity to helping prevent the spread of COVID-19. If you own a business in Maryland, please read the full executive order and familiarize yourself with it.

We urge you to take great care to keep your employees and customers safe should you choose to remain open. We strongly encourage you to familiarize yourself with the state's social distancing guidelines and we recommend that you implement these measures in the workplace immediately, including posting signs throughout your establishment requiring social distancing and regular hand-washing.

COVID-19 Communications to Employees and Customers

We received some stock language that you can use to communicate with your customers and employees should one of your staff members test positive for COVID-19. It is extremely critical right now that you prepare for the worst to happen, so that it does not create an additional extreme hardship on your business and the morale of your employees and customers.

Attached, please find language to use to communicate with  your customers and

your employees in the event that an employee tests positive for COVID-19. Please click here for guidance on how to handle any media inquiries that may arise after you send out a notice to your customers. Clearly, should an employee get sick, you will be better able to credibly defend yourself if you are preparing ahead for that possibility, and if you are proactively doing all that you can to keep your customers and employees safe and healthy each day.

Families First Coronavirus Response Act

On Wednesday, President Trump signed a major paid-leave expansion that will take effect on April 2, and which will cover all businesses that have between 50 and 500 employees. Employers with less than 50 workers will also be covered by this bill, but can apply for a hardship waiver through the U.S. Department of Labor if they can prove providing the leave would create an irreparable harm to the business' solvency.

We will provide ongoing communication in the coming weeks as the bill goes into force, including additional details about what that hardship waiver process might look like and when it would potentially be applicable. The Department of Labor is also working on fulfilling the requirements around workplace postings of these new provisions, and we'll communicate those details to you as soon as we have them.

This helpful link will provide you with a summary of the various paid and unpaid leave provisions in the new bill, including 2 weeks of paid sick leave for an employee that has contracted COVID-19 (up to $511 per day, in addition to any sick leave or PTO the employer already provides) and up to 10 weeks of paid leave ( up to $200 per day) for someone covered by a self-quarantine order.

In addition, you can find the slides from NADA's employment law seminar yesterday at this link.

Small Business Administration Disaster Loans and Tax Payment Deferrals

Update on Unemployment Data

According to the Virginian-Pilot newspaper down in Hampton Roads, more than 14,000 Virginians have applied for unemployment benefits in just the last four business days. For a state with historically one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation, this is a staggering rise, and one we anticipate to increase significantly in the coming weeks. The District and Maryland are also showing similarly large preliminary increases.  

We anticipate having official information from the states in the next two weeks that better reflects the economic damage wrought by this virus.

Summary

Trying to continue operating your business in a time of unprecedented health and economic challenges is a near-Herculean task, and that is why we are working around the clock to bring as much detailed information to you as we can, as quickly as possible. We are all in this together, and we take our responsibilities to you extremely seriously during this critical time.

If you have any questions, please contact me or Joe Koch ( [email protected]) at any time. We are here for you every day, as we have been for the last 103 years.

Sincerely,
  

John O'Donnell

WANADA President and CEO

[email protected]