The growing number of people infected with coronavirus has forced the introduction of instruments to fight against the second phase of COVID-19 epidemic. The instruments involved in this fight, have a real impact on operating in many different sectors of the economy, including activities within commercial and service facilities. For the purposes of this publication, we assume that commercial or service facilities are commercial or service facilities with an area of sale or service provision over 2,000 square meters and commercial facilities within the meaning of the Act of January 10, 2018 on the restriction of trade on Sundays and holidays and on certain other days.
Some of these restrictions have become an almost permanent part of everyday life, because since the announcement of the state of the epidemic, they have been in force to a greater or lesser extent and in various variants, throughout the country. The current restrictions are not, after all and at least for now, as drastic and aggressive as the orders and bans introduced with the outbreak of the epidemic then gradually tightened through its first phase. However, today some of them return with diverse intensity depending on the zone we’re actually in. The last law acts which regulate the adopted and binding restrictions are:
- Regulation of the Council of Ministers of October 9, 2020 (Journal of Laws of October 9, 2020, item 1758) on the establishment of specific restrictions, orders and bans in connection with the epidemic, which entered into force on October 10, 2020 (except for two provisions that entered into force on October 17, 2020) and two amending regulations:
- Regulation of the Council of Ministers of October 14, 2020 amending the regulation on the establishment of specific restrictions, orders and bans in connection with the epidemic (Journal of Laws of October 14, 2020, item 1797), which entered into force on 15 October 2020; and
- Regulation of the Council of Ministers of October 16, 2020 amending the regulation on the establishment of certain restrictions, orders and bans in connection with an epidemic (Journal of Laws of October 16, 2020, item 1829), which entered into force on October 17, 2020 (except for one provision regarding the limit of participants in gathering, which entered into force on October 19, 2020).
Regardless of the introduction of distinctive and specific bans on conducting some scopes of economic activity (e.g. the operation of discotheques and nightclubs or swimming pools, gyms and fitness clubs) or restrictions in conducting business activity in specific sectors of the economy within the specific area (e.g. limits for restaurants or cinemas), as well as regardless of the specific obligations imposed within the said restrictions, in commercial or service facilities throughout the country, it should be remembered that:
- people staying inside are required to wear disposable gloves or use hand antiseptics (the obligation to wear gloves does not apply to people who, in general, for health reasons or various types of developmental abnormalities or mental disorders, are not able to meet this obligation);
- the said facilities are responsible for providing the disposable gloves or hands antiseptics, as well as for disinfection of the cash desk or service stand during their opening hours, at least once per hour;
- in those facilities being at the same time the workplaces, employees (regardless of the basis of employment) should be provided with disposable gloves or hand antiseptics and should have granted the distance between workstations of at least 1.5 m, unless the nature of the activity make it impossible, and the employer provides the personal protective equipment relating to the epidemic control;
- in commercial or service facilities (including car parks), with few exceptions, such as e.g. children up to 5 years, it is mandatory to cover the mouth and nose; as for the employees, this obligation applies only to persons providing direct service to clients or petitioners during its performance, but not to persons performing professional, business or commercial activities in these facilities. Of course, the obligation to cover the mouth and nose does not apply, among others when this is required by the type of the provided service or while consuming or drinking in the dedicated premises, food gardens or a separate catering area in the given commercial or service facility, although other restrictions appropriate for a given service still apply;
- the exclusive hours to serve customers over 60 years old have been introduced, from Monday to Friday from 10.00 to 12.00; information on the above-mentioned hours should be available in a given facility, but the form of such information is discretionary. Of course, no time and age restrictions apply in life or health-threatening situations that require delivery of a drug, medical device or food for special nutritional use.
The above obligations apply to the operation of commercial or service facilities throughout the country, while additional and the most severe restrictions for individual types of activities operating also within commercial or service facilities have been introduced in the red zones, the scope of which is constantly changing. In the red zone, commercial or service facilities are additionally subject to a reduction in the number of people staying inside – in the facilities with an area up to 100 square meters – 5 persons per cash desk excluding the service, and for the area over 100 square meters – 1 person per 15 square meters. The current list of districts located in the red area is an appendix to the above-mentioned regulation of October 16, 2020.
The current regulations for specific types of activities, including commercial or service facilities, are detailed in the guidelines for their operation available on government websites and are updated as and when new law is adopted. However, as the name suggests, these are only guidelines on how to perform the obligations imposed by the applicable regulations in practice.
Tomasz Milewski
Radca prawny | Counselor at Law
T: +48 22 447 43 00
E: milewski@millercanfield.com
Disclaimer: This publication has been prepared for clients and professional associates of Miller Canfield, and is based on the facts and guidance available at the time of its release which may be subject to change. The purpose of the publication is to draw attention to the legal events indicated in it and should not be the sole basis for any decision regarding a particular course of action; nor should it be relied on as legal advice or regarded as a substitute for detailed advice in individual cases. The services of a competent professional adviser should be obtained in each instance so that the applicability of the relevant legislation or other legal development to the particular facts can be verified.