From the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce:
The Fredericksburg Regional Chamber is STRONGLY opposed to the Department of Labor and Industry’s COVID-19 Regulations becoming permanent. In a time where some reports estimate that 20-25% of businesses will close forever, these regulations threaten to drive those numbers even higher.
Businesses, especially small businesses, are already struggling to survive these hard economic times and these regulations only increase the burden on them. The business community had no real input when they were originally drafted and developed and when they were put in place. The regulations were developed too quickly and are incredibly broad in scope.
On top of these regulations, the business community also needs to follow guidelines from the CDC, OSHA and there is guidance in the CARES ACT as well. Those regulations alone change almost week to week, increasing the amount of regulations that businesses will have to adhere to will only make a hard situation more difficult.
We also see the DOLI Regulations dramatically increasing the amount of litigation that will go to the courts. The have created a litany of reasons for filing a lawsuit, and a majority of those reasons are based on an individual’s prospective, rather than on facts and the situation.
Making the DOLI Regulations permanent will only hurt businesses as they try to move into “the new normal” that we find ourselves adjusting too.
We STRONGLY encourage all businesses to comment on the public comment page and request that the Board NOT make these Regulations Permanent! You can do so by going here: https://townhall.virginia.gov/L/Comments.cfm?generalnoticeid=1137
