To: Chief Human Resources Officers
From: Matthew S. Brody, Senior Vice President for Human Resources
This memo is to ensure that your campus is aware of the face coverings guidance related to COVID-19 provided in Governor Cooper’s recent Executive Order 180, which remains effective through 5 p.m. on December 11, 2020, unless extended.
Executive Order 180 amended the previous face coverings guidance from Executive Order 169, tightening the requirements for wearing face coverings both indoors and outdoors. While this memo is intended to address employees, we strongly encourage you to coordinate with your institution’s Student Affairs Division to ensure that students are also instructed to follow these guidelines as well.
The revised face coverings guidance is as follows:
- For any place outside the home (including the workplace), face coverings must be worn indoors at all times if anyone else is in that space who is not a member of the same household.
- In the workplace, State employees must wear face coverings indoors at all times unless the employee is alone in a fully enclosed workspace, such as an office with the door closed, and has no expectation of interacting with another person in that space.
- Face coverings must be worn outdoors if it is not possible to consistently be physically distant by more than six feet from non-household members.
Please note that Executive Order 180 superseded the previous guidance that individuals did not need to wear face coverings if they could maintain six feet or greater distance between themselves and other persons while indoors.
Of course, employees may still formally request limited exceptions from this requirement, which may include the inability to wear face coverings due to medical or behavioral conditions or disability. Face coverings are also not required when an individual is actively eating or drinking.
NC DHHS issued a set of FAQs pertaining to the EO180 face covering requirements at https://files.nc.gov/governor/documents/files/EO-180-FAQ.pdf.
We will continue to monitor for developments as to whether this Order is extended after December 11.