Who is an essential worker during Michigan’s stay-at-home order?

by: WOODTV.com staff

Posted: Mar 23, 2020 / 12:29 PM EDT

Updated: Mar 24, 2020 / 02:48 PM EDT

LANSING, Mich. (WOOD) — Starting Tuesday at 12:01 a.m., Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home order for all nonessential employees in Michigan will go into affect in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19 and help hospitals manage the number of severe cases.

Many are wondering: Who is considered an essential employee? Should my business stay open or do I need to stay at home?

Whitmer’s order, which was announced Monday morning, states that “workers who are necessary to sustain or protect life are defined as critical infrastructure workers” by the Director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. A full breakdown of who is included as a critical infrastructure worker can be found here at cisa.gov.

Here is an abbreviated breakdown of those critical infrastructure workers and their respective sectors:

Health care, public health
Law enforcement and first responders
Food and agriculture
Energy
Transportation and logistics
Public works
Communications, information technology and news media
Community-based government operations and essential functions
Critical manufacturing
Hazardous materials
Financial services
Chemical supply chains/safety
Defense industrial base
Child care (licensed or unlicensed workers who have arragned to care for kids/dependents of critical infrastructure workers)
Suppliers/distribution centers/service providers
Businesses/operations employing critical infrastructure workers needed to support or facilitate the work of its critical infrastructure workers
Insurance industry
Critical labor union function positions
Workers/volunteers in the religious or private sector who provide food shelter and life necessities for the needy or economically needy or those with disabilities