pandemic
Corona numbers: 3G in the workplace an option for business
After dark, an employee sits at his desk in his office. (Archive image) Photo: picture alliance / dpa
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The economy is sounding the alarm because of the rising corona numbers. The industry president calls for concepts to break the wave. This could also have consequences for employees.
Industry President Siegfried Russwurm has called on the federal and state governments to do significantly more against the rapidly increasing number of new corona infections.
“Politicians threaten to make the same mistake as they did in the autumn of last year, when politics shied away from consistent and centrally effective measures,” said Russwurm of the German press agency. He made it clear that an option could also be a 3G rule in the workplace – that would mean access only for those who have recovered, vaccinated and tested.
“The federal government and the states must quickly jointly create a clear federal legal basis so that the companies can apply protective measures based on 3G in a comprehensible and planned manner for their employees in the coming weeks,” said Russwurm. “In this way, workflows can be largely normalized again, employees can be freed from burdensome hygiene requirements, and creative collaboration becomes possible again without restrictions.”
Concern about rising incidences
Russwurm, President of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), expressed concern about the skyrocketing incidences. The decision to lift the epidemic situation of national scope is the wrong signal: “In view of the rapidly increasing number of infections, it does not do justice to the seriousness of the situation to publicly indicate the imminent normal situation.”
The SPD, Greens and FDP, who are negotiating a new government, want the legal basis for drastic corona restrictions such as curfews to expire on November 25th. By spring, the federal states should be able to set less comprehensive guidelines.
Russwurm criticized that it was wrong for the federal government to want to delegate responsibility for coordinated crisis management to the federal states right now. “Instead of breaking the wave with cross-border control and consistent containment concepts, there is again a threat of an inefficient patchwork of inconsistent national measures.”
Legal security when inquiring about vaccination status
The Federal Association of Medium-Sized Businesses demanded that employers be allowed to inquire about the vaccination status of their employees. Federal Managing Director Markus Jerger told the dpa that the 3G rule was already a reality in many companies. “But there is still uncertainty as to whether employers can ask about the vaccination status of their employees. A legally regulated request for inquiries by employers would create the urgently required legal certainty here. ” The federal government must quickly provide clarity. “It is crucial that the business processes in the companies that are suffering from the consequences of the pandemic and lockdown are not disrupted or even come to a standstill.”
Politicians must do everything in their power to ensure that the number of vaccinations continues to rise and that booster vaccinations are carried out systematically, said Russwurm. “The federal states are called upon to reactivate their vaccination centers now if the vaccination capacities in medical practices are insufficient for a quick refreshment.” It should not be the case that a small group of people who refused to vaccinate would paralyze an entire society, the majority of whom were vaccinated, in the coming months.
Kindergartens and schools could close again
Schools and kindergartens threatened to close in the coming weeks. “In addition to the negative effects for the children, there are also sensitive effects for employees who are dependent on functioning childcare, which we had to experience last winter,” says Russwurm. Considerable restrictions on mobility in international business travel are to be feared due to exploding numbers abroad.
The industry president said it was high time to think about compulsory vaccinations for all working people with regular contact with vulnerable groups in nursing homes, schools and daycare centers. «It is the task of politics to protect children and everyone else who is particularly in need of protection. Otherwise, it risks avoidable long-term damage from infections for hundreds of thousands of people. “