Advocacy
New Legislation Brings Technology into the workplace By: Katie Roberts, Fiveash Stanley Georgia’s first confirmed case of COVID-19 was reported March 2, 2020. At the time, it was impossible to foresee the destructive ways in which the virus would impact lives and livelihoods. If there is a silver lining, it’s that that pandemic has advanced the adoption and acceptance of technology across virtually all sectors. A great example is telehealth. A former federal official with the US Department of Health and Human Services noted last summer that “the pandemic has allowed us to push this revolution in healthcare delivery to new frontiers. Now that providers and patients have had a taste, it’s difficult to imagine in the telehealth genie going back into the bottle.”
LEgislation Changes In Georgia, the legislature responded to advances in telehealth by codifying certain provisions. House Bill 307 authorizes health care professionals to provide telemedicine services from home and authorizes patients to receive telemedicine services from their home, workplace, or school. Health insurers cannot require a separate deductible or an in-person consultation before paying for telehealth services. While virtual and remote healthcare services have been growing in popularity, it’s unclear if protections would have been placed into state law without a pandemic spurring advances in the technology and acceptance among patients and providers. This is just one of several examples. Early in the pandemic, Governor Brian Kemp announced the suspension or relaxation of several state regulations, including those related to the review of building plans and construction inspections , childcare centers , driver’s license and identification card expiration dates , and annual performance evaluations for Georgia’s students . Without these changes, construction would have stopped, childcare centers would have been forced to close, drivers would be illegally driving with expired licenses, and students would have been required to return to the school building simply for standardized testing. The Governor also suspended enforcement sections 14-2-701 and 14-3-701 of Georgia statute, which require that Georgia
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Insight • Issue 2, 2021
corporations, both profit and nonprofit, hold annual meetings at “the place stated in or fixed in accordance with the bylaws.” For decades, this has been construed to require meetings to take place in person. This law was originally established to protect shareholders and the company employees. Other states expressly allow companies to hold virtual meetings or allow remote participation in meetings, but Georgia does not. On March 20, the Governor specifically permitted Georgia corporations and nonprofits to hold annual or special meetings of shareholders virtually. The Executive Order pertained to shareholder meetings scheduled to occur through the end of the state of emergency. A month later, Governor Kemp extended the suspension to apply to meetings even after the state of emergency. The move to allow virtual shareholder meetings was so popular that the General Assembly sought to codify it when they returned to Atlanta in January. The legislation, House Bill 306, allows the board of directors of corporations and non-profit corporations to hold annual and special shareholder meetings wholly or partially by means of remote communication unless expressly disallowed by the organization’s by-laws or articles of incorporation. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, whose office is responsible for annual corporate filings, noted that “especially considering the risk large annual meetings would pose to public health, virtual meetings provide a way for business to meet their responsibilities to their shareholders and to prevent further spread of COVID-19.”
Making the Most of New Considerations With this provision now protected in state law, how can organizations leverage technology to take full advantage? First, companies and nonprofit organizations should review their articles of incorporation and bylaws to ensure they are not explicitly
