Business and Workplaces

Agricultural events

Activities allowed: These guidelines apply to livestock and horse exhibitions/shows/sales/auctions, companion animal (dog, cats, rabbits, etc.) shows, or any substantially similar event. 

• Agricultural Events COVID-19 Requirements

• Memo: Agricultural Events

Agritourism

Activities allowed: Agritourism such as U-pick farms and tree farms are allowed to operate following certain requirements.

• Requirements for agritourism

Airports

Limitations: The new Commercial Service Airport Requirements are a statewide approach that sets baseline requirements at each commercial passenger service airport. It also encourages airlines to adopt certain health screening questionnaires, and to require passengers abide by face covering and physical distancing requirements in order to be issued a boarding pass.

• Requirements for airports

Bowling

New Limitations, in effect 11/17: No indoor bowling is permitted.

Construction

Activities allowed: All construction, including new work and where social distancing may not be maintained. 

• Requirements for construction job site requirements

Domestic services

Activities allowed: Any worker (hourly, salaried, independent contractor, full-time, part-time, or temporary) who is paid by one or more employer and provides domestic services to an individual or household in/about a private home as a nanny, house cleaner, cook, private chef, or household manager. 

• Requirements for the domestic services industry

Fitness

New Limitations, in effect 11/17:  Outdoor fitness classes are permitted in groups of five or less. Indoor fitness and dropoff childcare are not permitted.

• Requirements for fitness and training

Funerals

New Limitations, in effect 11/17: Ceremonies must be capped at 30 people. Receptions are not permitted. Facial coverings are required, and social distancing must be maintained

• Requirements for funerals

Grocery stores

Activities allowed: As an essential business, grocery stores continue to serve customers and follow guidance for keeping customers and employees safe. 

Limitations: Grocery stores must apply social distancing, employee safety recommendations, sanitation practices, prohibit food sampling and self-serve stations.

• Guidance and requirements for grocery stores

Healthcare and Service Providers

Limitations: Healthcare and service providers can use the following up-to-date resources to prepare for and respond to cases of COVID-19 in their facility, and protect the health of clients, patients, and staff. 

• Guidance for healthcare and service providers

Higher education

Activities allowed: All non-lecture based higher education and workforce training, including where social distancing may not be maintained. 

• Requirements for higher education and workforce training

In-store retail

New Limitations, in effect 11/17: All retail activities are subject to current guidance, which restricts capacity to 25 percent. Common spaces like food courts must remain closed.

• Requirements for in-store retail operations

Libraries

Activities allowed: Libraries may operate as long as they meet certain requirements and limit capacity to 25 percent. 

• Requirements for library services

Long-term care facilities

Activities allowed: Indoor compassionate care visits, outdoor visits, window visits, and remote visitation.

New Limitations, in effect 11/17: All visits and activities must follow strict safety protocols, including masking, social distancing, and appropriate hygiene. Indoor visits are restricted to essential support persons and compassionate care situations.

• Guidance for all phases 

Manufacturing operations

• Requirements for manufacturing facilities

Miscellaneous venues

New Limitations, in effect 11/17: All retail activities and business meetings are prohibited. Only professional training and testing that cannot be performed remotely is allowed. Occupancy in each meeting room is limited to 25% or 100 people, whichever is fewer as long as six feet of physical distance can be maintained by all attendees. Any food service provided to attendees shall be self‐contained, pre-plated, grab‐and‐go meals/snacks to limit contact. Receptions, networking events, and live-entertainment are prohibited.

• Requirements for miscellaneous venues

Movie theaters

New Limitations, in effect 11/17: Drive-in only. 

• Requirements for movie theaters

Museums

New Limitations, in effect 11/17: Museums are closed for indoor service.

• Requirements for museums

Personal services

Activities allowed: All personal services including Cosmetologists, Hairstylists, Barbers, Estheticians, Master Estheticians, Manicurists, Nail Salon Workers, Electrologists, Permanent Makeup Artists, Tattoo Artists, Cosmetology Schools and Esthetics Schools. 

New Limitations, in effect 11/17: All personal services are subject to current guidance which restricts customer occupancy to 25% with the exception of one to one services in an enclosed room.

• Requirements for personal services

Pet grooming

Activities allowed: All pet grooming services including any location provided by an individual, or at a retail, veterinary, or other facility. 

Limitations: All pet grooming services are subject to current guidance which restricts client occupancy to 50%.

• Requirements for pet grooming industry

Professional photography

Limitations: All professional photography services are subject to current guidance which restricts services to appointment only and for one client (and family member, if client is a minor) at any given time. Group sessions are not allowed unless the group consists of immediate family only. 

• Requirements for professional photography

Professional services

Activities allowed: Accountants, architects, attorneys, engineers, financial advisors, information technologists, insurance agents, tax preparers, and other office-based occupations that are typically serving a client base. 

New Limitations, in effect 11/17: All professional services are required to mandate that employees work from home when possible, and to close offices to the public. If they remain open, occupancy is restricted to 25%.

• Requirements for professional services

Real estate (residential and commercial)

Activities allowed: All real estate brokers, firms, independent contractors and industry partners. 

New Limitations, in effect 11/17: Open houses are prohibited.

• Requirements for real estate

Religious and faith organizations

Activities allowed: All religious and faith-based organizations may operate services including worship services; religious study classes; religious ceremonies; religious holiday celebrations, weddings, and funerals. Remote or outdoor services are recommended.

New Limitations, in effect 11/17: All religious and faith based activities are subject to current guidance which generally restricts indoor services to the lesser of 25% capacity or 200 individuals as long as 6 feet of distance is kept between people from different households. In-home services/counseling is restricted to no more than five individuals. Limitations on capacity does not include an organization's staff, but does include volunteers. Choirs, bands, and ensembles are not permitted to perform. Soloists are permitted to perform. Facial coverings must be worn at all times.

• Requirements for religious and faith-based organizations

Residential Communities

Limitations: Housing managers, staff and residents can practice and encourage social distancing, wear face coverings, manage and limit use of common areas, frequently clean high-touch areas, limit visitors, and more to protect themselves and their residential community.

• Guidance and requirements for residential communities

Restaurants and taverns

New Limitations, in effect 11/18: No indoor dining is permitted. Outdoor dining is limited to tables of 5 or fewer.

• Requirements for restaurants and taverns, updated 10/6

• Guidelines for King County food establishments

• FAQs for Restaurants

Weddings

New Limitations, in effect 11/17: Ceremonies must be capped at 30 people. Receptions are not permitted. Facial coverings are required, and social distancing must be maintained.

• Requirements for wedding

Fitness

New Limitations, in effect 11/17:   Fitness places include but are not limited to gyms, studios and sports facilities. Only outdoor fitness is permitted with groups smaller than 5 people.

• Fitness FAQ, updated 8/10

• Current requirements for fitness and training

Outdoor Races

Limitations: Fun runs and charity walks without participant timing are not allowed.

• Current guidance for outdoor bicycle, running, cross country skiing, and non-motorized boating

Outdoor Recreation

Activities allowed: Staffed outdoor tennis facilities; guided ATV, paddle sports, and horseback riding; go-cart tracks, ORV/motocross facilities, participant only motorsports 

Limitations: The above outdoor recreation activities are subject to Current guidance and are generally limited to groups of five participants or less, in some instances up to 12 individuals or three households are permitted.

• Current requirements for outdoor recreation

Professional/Adult/Youth Sports

Activities allowed:  Golf, professional sporting activities indoor and outdoor; outdoor youth team sports and adult recreational team sports. 

New Limitations, in effect 11/17: Youth and adult sports are limited to outdoor only for intrateam practices and masks required for athletes.

Current guidance aligns school related and non-school related sports guidance. The key metrics consider both the "risk of transmission" associated with the the sport/activity and the level of COVID-19 activity in the county. For example:

• low risk sports = golf, tennis, cross country, non-contact dance and more.

• moderate risk sports = soccer, baseball, hockey, gymnastics and more.

• high risk sports = football, basketball, wrestling, and more.

King County is currently at the HIGH LEVEL COUNTY COVID ACTIVITY > 75 cases/100K/14 days AND < 5% positivity.

Once a county is confirmed to be at a HIGH activity level, full practices and matches cannot be played for two weeks, when the level can be assessed again.

It is important to know that this number changes and is updated daily.

HIGH LEVEL COUNTY COVID ACTIVITY guidance:

• Team practices and/or training OK for low, medium, and high risk sports if players are limited to groups of six in separate parts of the field/court, separated by a buffer zone. 

• Practice or training activities can only be done outdoors.

• Scrimmage, intra-team competitions, and league games or competition allowed for low risk sports. No tournaments allowed. 

• No spectators allowed except for one parent/guardian/caregiver for each minor-aged participant. No spectators allowed for participants 18 and older.

Limitations: Specific protocols for transportation, group size and facial coverings. Indoor facilities must adhere to overall capacity limits detailed in the Indoor Fitness and Training Guidelines.

• Current requirements for golf

• Current requirements for sporting activities

• Current requirements for indoor fitness and training guidelines

Social and Recreational Gatherings

New Limitations, in effect 11/17: Individuals may only gather outdoors with five or fewer people from outside their household per week. Indoor gatherings are prohibited with anyone from a different household.

Water Recreation Facilities

Limitations: By appointment only.

Post COVID-19 policies in a language your employees can understand. Inform them about the symptoms and risk factors associated with the virus; the importance of frequent and thorough handwashing and social distancing; and the need to stay home when sick. King County has educational materials in many languages to help employers fulfill this requirement.

This poster explains basic information for employees:

Reopening business poster for staff: Workplace requirements during COVID-19

Slides on safety requirements for workplaces can be used for employee education. (Powerpoint)

Maintain at least six feet of separation between employees and customers at all times, including between tables at restaurants, customers waiting in line, and people using elevators. Businesses may need to print posters encouraging this behavior, such as only allowing 1-2 people per elevator depending on the size of the cab, or place tape or markers on the floor six feet apart.

When strict physical distancing is not feasible for a specific task, other measures are required, such as installing barriers, reducing staff or staggering worker hours.

Provide cloth face coverings and require employees to wear them unless they are working alone or have a condition that makes wearing a mask dangerous. Workers can wear their own face coverings, provided they meet minimum requirements.

Some jobs require higher levels of personal protective equipment because they have a higher risk of exposure to COVID-19. You can find information about additional face coverings in Labor and Industries’ Which Mask for Which Task.

Provide cloth masks and require employees to wear them unless they are working alone or have a condition that makes wearing a mask dangerous.

More information about face coverings and King County's Face Covering Directive: kingcounty.gov/masks

Require frequent handwashing and provide the necessary supplies. Supplies may include additional sinks or stations where employees can wash their hands. If regular handwashing with soap and water is not possible employers must supply hand sanitizer.

Download handwashing posters in multiple languages: www.kingcounty.gov/stopgerms

Provide disposable gloves where appropriate to prevent virus transmission on shared tools and other equipment.

Regularly clean and sanitize your workplace, especially frequently touched surfaces. Each workplace should establish a cleaning schedule and ensure that high-touch areas are routinely sanitized.

• Guidance for cleaning and disinfecting, CDC
• Rodent prevention and control for reopening buildings during COVID-19

Check to see if employees have any signs or symptoms of COVID-19 at the start of their shift. Use this COVID-19 Screening Tool and keep a log that the screening process was followed for all employees.

If they do, send them home and advise them to seek testing.

Exposed employees with a known exposure time (no longer than a day) should be tested no sooner than 48 hours from their exposure date.

Due to limited lab capacity for processing tests, only people with symptoms or who are close contacts of confirmed cases should get tested.

Unless they work in health care or long-term care facilities, employers should not require workers to submit a negative COVID-19 test result or a positive antibody test before starting a job or returning to work after recovering from the virus.

Workers can return when at least 10 days have passed since their symptoms first appeared, and at least 24 hours have passed since their fever resolved without the use of fever-reducing medications, and their other symptoms have improved.

It is against the law for any employer to fire or retaliate against a worker for reporting concerns about health and safety. In addition, Governor Inslee has ordered that employees in high-risk groups for COVID-19 must be granted leave if they can't report to work for health reasons. Read the guidance memo for Proclamation 20-46.1 about "High-Risk Employees – Workers’ Rights" here.

• Find out more about worker's rights
• Viruses don't discriminate. Keep stigma out of the workplace

FAQs about high-risk workers

Can office workers be required to return to the workplace?

Yes. While much office work might be performed remotely, some employers may wish to return some workers to the workplace. The governor's Professional Services COVID-19 Requirements do not preclude or prevent this - employers may require some employees to return. High-risk workers, however, must be afforded "reasonable accommodation" to reduce their risk of infection.

If a worker is "high-risk" but has exhausted their sick and vacation time, what can they do if alternative work arrangements cannot be made?

High-risk workers are generally protected from adverse employment action under the proclamation, although employers are not obligated to pay beyond any accrued paid time off. 

According to Proclamation 20-46.2, "Employers are prohibited from failing to utilize all available options for alternative work assignments to protect high-risk employees, if requested, from exposure to the COVID-19 disease, including but not limited to telework, alternative or remote work locations, reassignment, and social distancing measures."

In short, the employer must consider alternative work arrangements for high-risk workers. If impossible, the employer is not obligated to pay for unworked hours, but may not take adverse employment action.

Effective July 7, the Governor's Safe Start Proclamation requires employers in King County (in non-healthcare settings) to notify Public Health – Seattle & King County *within 24 hours* if they suspect COVID is spreading in their workplace or if there are two or more confirmed or suspected cases among their employees in a 14 day period.

More information about what to do if an employee has COVID, and how to report.

The state released guidance for ventilation of indoor spaces.