The fourth wave of the coronavirus is causing highs in Germany for Incidence and New infections. Workers in particular are therefore increasingly concerned about how they can protect themselves from infection at work.
And the political discussion about reactions to the high infection figures is also in full swing. Bavaria's Minister President Markus Soder (CSU) has long been calling for a 3G rule at work – Similar to Olaf Scholz (SPD), who also spoke out in favor of the rule. On 11. November, the plan of the traffic light parties was first discussed in the Bundestag. North Rhine-Westphalia's head of government Hendrik Wust announced that the federal and state governments will meet next week to discuss the Corona situation.
Here you can read the most important info for Employees and employers.
Corona tests and masks: What employers have to pay for
Employers are in principle responsible for the health protection of their employees. In Corona times, this means you must have a Hygiene concept Create. Furthermore, they must provide workers with respirators as well as Corona tests. Twice a week, workers at the workplace must have a Test can make.
3G at work: what does it mean?
In the Bundestag, Olaf Scholz promoted the general introduction of the 3G rule at the workplace, as planned by the traffic light parties. That means: personally in the enterprise may be only Vaccinated, recovered or tested negative daily. Also planned is the employer's right to information on the vaccination status of employees. At the same time, it should be agreed that the employer may store this data for a certain period of time. The rule is to be mandatory nationwide.
Compulsory testing at work: possible or not?
According to the plans, all employees who present a vaccination or convalescent status at work will be exempt from the Corona testing requirement. So far, comparable regulations in individual German states apply to employees in customer contact as soon as a certain incidence is exceeded. However, there is still no legal basis at the federal level.
What needs to be clarified is whether this is unjustified unequal treatment – because individual employees have to get tested and may have to stay at home, while other employees do not. Legally, however, this question is considered unobjectionable, as there is a factual reason for the measure. With the goal of health protection of the employees is this given, says the labor law expert Nils Wigger from Hamburg the news agency AFP.
3G: Special rules for hospitals, daycare centers and schools
There are still particularly strict rules for some work areas – when people are particularly at risk from the coronavirus. Employers who work in industries such as schools and daycare centers are allowed to protect their employees according to the Vaccination status or a test result ask.
However, this regulation applies only for the duration of the epidemic situation of national scope. Since both the caretaker federal government and the traffic light coalition of SPD, FDP and Greens, which will presumably soon be in power, have made this the 25. November to expire, the legal basis for many currently valid Corona ordinances will also be eliminated. Corresponding regulations and laws will be adapted accordingly.
There is to be a general obligation to test for employees in old people's and nursing homes. The talk is of one to two tests a week PCR pool tests, namelyalso for vaccinated employees. In this procedure, samples are taken from several people at the same time and then analyzed together.
New laws for 3G and 2G: Who demands what?
If it were up to the Confederation of German Employers' Associations employers should be allowed to request the vaccination status and test results of their employees. Employer President Rainer Dulger demands: "The employer's right to information about vaccination or convalescent status must finally be established by law." Businesses should also be allowed to decide for themselves whether to use 3G or 2G rules.
A 3G rule at the workplace is considered by the chairman of IG Metall, Jorg Hofmann, for unavoidable. However, all employees would have the right not to have to declare their vaccination status – which is why IG Metall rejects a 2G regulation in the workplace. A testing requirement, on the other hand, is "reasonable," Hofmann says.
Here, a balance must be struck between the personal rights of the employees on the one hand and the legitimate interest of employers in the health protection of their employees on the other hand, says Wigger. Accordingly, this question has not been conclusively clarified in legal terms. (with afp)