Governor Tony Evers released Emergency Order #3 on October 7th, 2020 to limit public gatherings to 10 people or less and reduce occupancy limits to 25%. There are exceptions to this Order, including child care settings, schools, places of religious worship, public infrastructure operations (ex: manufacturing/construction), elections, and more.

Emergency Order #3 is effective October 8th, 2020 and expires on November 6th, 2020, if it is not challenged and no other emergency order supersedes it.

To read Emergency Order #3, please click the link below:

Emergency Order #3 - Limiting Public Gatherings

Governor Tony Evers declared a new public health emergency through Executive Order #90 due to COVID-19 numbers increasing in Wisconsin. Executive Order #90 includes the following actions:

• designate the Department of Health Services to take all necessary and appropriate measures to respond to COVID-19
• authorize the Adjutant General to activate the Wisconsin National Guard if necessary to assist with responding to the public health emergency, including the election on November 3, 2020 and community testing sites
• direct all state agencies to assist in responding to the public health emergency

Executive Order #90 is effective immediately and will expire in 60 days, unless Governor Evers revokes it or if the Legislature releases a joint resolution to revoke it. This Executive Order is subject to challenge.

In conjunction with Executive Order #90, Governor Evers also released Emergency Order #1, which requires individuals over the age of five to wear a mask when indoors or in an enclosed space with individuals who are not part of their household. The order provides exceptions for eating, swimming, confirming identity at a financial institution, and more. Emergency Order #1 is effective immediately and expires on November 21, 2020 if no other emergency order supersedes it.

To read Executive Order #90 and Emergency Order #1, please click the links below:

Executive Order #90 - Declaring a Public Health Emergency

Emergency Order #1 - Mask Mandate

Governor Tony Evers declared a public health emergency through Executive Order #82 due to COVID-19 numbers increasing in Wisconsin. Executive Order #82 includes the following actions:

• designate the Department of Health Services to take all necessary and appropriate measures to respond to COVID-19
• authorize the Adjutant General to activate the Wisconsin National Guard if necessary to assist with responding to the public health emergency, including elections and community testing sites
• direct all state agencies to assist in responding to the public health emergency

Executive Order #82 is effective July 30th, 2020 and will expire in 60 days, unless Governor Evers revokes it or if the Legislature releases a joint resolution to revoke it. This Executive Order is subject to challenge.

In conjunction with Executive Order #82, Governor Evers also released Emergency Order #1, which requires individuals over the age of five to wear a mask when indoors or in an enclosed space with individuals who are not part of their household. The order provides exceptions for eating, swimming, confirming identity at a financial institution, and more. Emergency Order #1 is effective August 1st, 2020 and expires on September 28th, 2020 if no other emergency order supersedes it.

To read Executive Order #82 and Emergency Order #1, please click the links below:

Executive Order #82 - Declaring a Public Health Emergency

Emergency Order #1 - Mask Mandate

These are the municipalities that have mandated mask requirements for municipality employees and/or the whole municipality prior to Emergency Order #1:

• Ashland County
• Bayfield County
• Dane County
• Door County
• Eau Claire County
• Glendale
• Green Bay
• Milwaukee
• Outagamie County
• Racine
• Shorewood
• Whitefish Bay
• Whitewater

WPCA will continue to monitor changes to municipal ordinances or health orders that will affect members and facilities.

OSHA released an Updated Interim Enforcement Response Plan for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) for compliance safety and health officers (CSHOs) who handle complaints related to COVID-19. OSHA officials included the following information with the memo:

The attached memorandum Updated Interim Enforcement Response Plan for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) provides instructions and guidance to Area Offices and compliance safety and health officers (CSHOs) for handling COVID-19-related complaints, referrals, and severe illness reports. On May 26, 2020, the previous memorandum on this topic will be rescinded, and this new Updated Interim Enforcement Response Plan will go into and remain in effect until further notice. This guidance is intended to be time-limited to the current COVID-19 public health crisis.

For more information about COVID -19 please visit OSHA’s COVID-19 webpage and CDC's COVID-19 webpage.

Please click on the button below to read the Enforcement Response Plan in full:

OSHA Enforcement Response Plan - May 19, 2020

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act signed into law in March 2020 created the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) through the Small Business Administration (SBA). The PPP provides small businesses with funds to pay up to 8 weeks of payroll costs including benefits. Funds can also be used to pay interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities. If the funds are used for certain expenses, all or part of the loan may be forgiven.

The Wisconsin Bankers Association created a toolkit for businesses to reference when deciding how to use the funds and what expenses will be covered under the loan forgiveness portion of the PPP. To view the toolkit, click the link below:

Paycheck Protection Program - WBA Toolkit

The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) has provided information for employers and employees about worker's compensation due to contracting COVID-19. For an employee to collect worker's compensation, a few rules apply:

• For coronavirus to be covered by worker's compensation it must be established that contracting the disease was work-related. In other words there must be evidence to prove that contracting coronavirus arose out of your employment while you were performing services growing out of and incidental to your employment.
  
• A work-related injury due to COVID-19 must be supported by a specific diagnosis by a physician or by a positive COVID-19 test.

DWD also states an employer's worker's compensation insurance policy should be kept in place if an employer furloughs employees, but the Wisconsin Compensation Rating Bureau will not charge a worker's compensation premium if workers continue to receive their wages despite not currently working.

To view the DWD FAQs and guidance from the WI Compensation Rating Bureau, please click the links below:

DWD FAQs on Workers Compensation During COVID-19

WI Compensation Rating Bureau COVID-19 FAQs

The Department of Labor has provided an FAQ page for employers and employees who have questions about paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. To receive paid sick leave or family and medical leave, employees are only eligible if they must take off work to take care of an immediate family member, resident in their home, or an existing "relationship that creates an expectation that you would care for the person in a quarantine or self-quarantine situation, and that individual depends on you for care during the quarantine or self-quarantine." 

For more information from the federal Department of Labor on paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave, please click the link below:

DOL - Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Questions and Answers

On March 31st, 2020, NCCCO updated guidelines for crane operators whose certification is expiring this spring. Please find below information from their website:

• Candidates in the process of obtaining certification – Typically, candidates have 12 months to complete certification after passing their first exam (Except Lift Director candidates, who have 24 months). Effective immediately, candidates whose deadline to complete certification is in March 2020, April 2020, or May 2020 will now be extended to June 30, 2020. This extended time is automatic, no request needs to be made by the candidate.
• Effective immediately, certificants will be granted additional time in which to complete recertification requirements. Certificants whose certification expires in March 2020, April 2020, or May 2020 may now test for recertification no later than June 30, 2020 and thereby meet recertification requirements. This extended time is automatic, no request needs to be made by the candidate.
  
• NCCCO will provide a temporary extension of the certification expiration date for certifications expiring in March, April or May of 2020. The extension will be valid through June 30, 2020. 
  

WPCA cannot inquire about specific certification measures or certification renewals for WPCA members due to privacy concerns. If you have any specific questions about recertification or an expiring certification, please contact NCCCO directly using the links and contact information below: 

For Employers:

• 703-560-2391 ext. 803
• Email: employer@nccco.org

For Candidates:

• Phone: 703-560-2391 ext. 801
• Email: candidate@nccco.org

To verify credentials online:

• Website: www.verifycco.org
• Email: vco@nccco.org

To find updated information from NCCCO about certification and re-certification deadlines, please click the link below:

NCCCO COVID-19 Response Center

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act signed into law in March 2020 created the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) through the Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA stopped accepting applications in April due to high volume of applications, but a new law enacted on April 24 allocated $310 billion for more small business loans. The PPP provides small businesses with funds to pay up to 8 weeks of payroll costs including benefits. Funds can also be used to pay interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities. 

To find out more information and eligibility, please click the links below.

Paycheck Protection Program - SBA

PPP Application

FAQs for PPP

On April 15, 2020, the Wisconsin State Senate passed a COVID-19 relief bill and Governor Tony Evers immediately signed it into law. The new law makes changes such as:

• UI payments for COVID-19 related layoffs will not result in any charges to the employer’s “experience account”. The benefits will be paid from the UI trust fund.  However, if the UI trust fund balance drops below $1.2 billion on June 30^th, solvency tax rates may be increased. The current balance of the UI trust fund is $1.9 billion.
  
• eliminates 1-week waiting period for unemployment benefits until February 2021
• authorizes accepting $2 billion in federal funds from the CARES Act to supplement the Medicaid program
• requires Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) to submit a report to the Legislature by June 30, 2020 that outlines how the state should support large state industries who have been affected by COVID-19, including tourism, manufacturing, agriculture, construction, retail, and services
• authorizes Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan to transfer state employees from any executive branch agency to another executive branch agency during the public health emergency

To read the law in its entirety, please click the link below: