COMMERCE BUSINESS POLICIES OVERHAUL:
2022 Commerce Business Policies: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B7Bvb9Ujb_b7bkShMvCDZjwx4eLCvynj/view?usp=sharing
Effective on 04/24/2022 at 11:59 PM EDT
Universal Business Policies
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For the “organized Discord” you only need an Announcements and Staff channel at the minimum now. You need to have staff members roled as employees within your server. You need to have your permit publicly showing somewhere on your Discord server prior to renewal.
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Amended the requirement to only needing 2 employees to become permitted. You can become permitted by just yourself and two others. However, you will need at least four employees prior to requesting for land.
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Removed the requirement of having a fair application / interview process. Instead, we’ll be requiring that you have some way to train your employees.
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Changed the way administrations work. If you have an administration you need to have a separate role which would identify them. You can also make it now where just yourself is the only person part of the administration and then you wouldn’t need any separate roles to identify an administration.
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Require that businesses provide a realistic service and that the service provided doesn’t create a risk to physical harm to its customers or employees. If there is a risk presented then you just need to have a plan outlining what you plan to do in order to help reduce the risk.
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Made it possible for individuals with arrest records to own businesses. If you do have an arrest record, you just have to answer an additional question on the permit application on how you plan to safely operate a business.
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Reiterated that businesses are responsible for ensuring that businesses are responsible for ensuring their employees follow all policies listed within the Commerce Business Policies.
We also did some other rewording so make sure to actually read the whole document
Business Types
- Didn’t really change much with this besides adding and rewording some of the types.
Rideshare / Transportation Policy
- Reverted back to where you just can’t have a criminal arrest for murder or kidnapping if you are transporting someone. This changed from the original policy that you couldn’t have any arrests within the past 30 days (which we all think is stupid).
Business Employee Firearm Policy
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Now just require businesses to ensure their employees don’t act stupid and they work with LEO’s. Businesses no longer require employees to be marked if they are allowed to have CFL on duty or not.
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Businesses only need a firearms policy if they intend on using firearms beyond just self defense.
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We intend on only looking into businesses regarding firearm usage if there is a complaint about misuse and the business doesn’t adequately resolve the issues.
Business Employee Protections
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Reworded this section to specify that businesses must have a written policy/standard that the individual violated prior to disciplining them. We also require that the business notifies the employee when action is taken.
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Updated the language on how employees can appeal.
Permit Policies
- We just reworded some things and added in the grace period, which we had already implemented prior, within the official permit policy.
Land Permit Policies
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Removed the external document regarding land policies and instead listed all the requirements within this section.
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As stated in the UBP, you now only need four employees if you intend on obtaining property within the county.
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Updated the language on how we require proof of the land being used.
Conclusion
With all that being said, we’re happy to be releasing the new Commerce Business Policies which will go into effect on April 24th, 2022 at 11:59 EDT. We rolled back some overstepping policies while ensuring a safe and fun experience for all customers, employees, and owners. You can review the updated Business Guide as well located here.
Once the final draft goes into effect, we may be closing the Inspections Office temporarily to help retrain our staff and prepare for all the new systems that will be implemented. We thank you in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.
Thank you again for reading our new changes and again please reach out to a member of the administration if you have any questions or concerns regarding the new Commerce Business Policies.
Signed,
Department of Commerce Administration