On March 19, 2020, the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued what it emphasized was an advisory list identifying essential critical infrastructure workers during the COVID-19 response. It specifically disclaimed that “is not, nor should it be considered to be, a federal directive or standard in and of itself.” Rather the list was to assist State, local, tribal, and territorial governments in implementing and executing response activities in communities under their jurisdiction. 

The list is available here. Employers may be interested in seeing whether their employees or operations might be perceived as essential or critical during this pandemic.