New corona rules
Vaccination query, 3G, home office compulsory: This is what employees at the workplace now have to deal with
Soon you will only be allowed to get vaccinated, recovered or tested in the office
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The number of infected people is exploding, and stricter corona rules will soon apply to the workplace. The politicians are preparing, among other things, an obligation to provide information on the vaccination status.
So far, corona restrictions have mainly affected the leisure sector. But in view of the massive increase in the number of infections, politicians are now also preparing tougher corona rules for the workplace. This week the Bundestag and Bundesrat want to adopt a package of measures to combat the pandemic. These should also contain previously unseen rules for the job world. The state of affairs:
Disclose vaccination status
Probably the most fundamental innovation: A draft law by Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) stipulates that employees must disclose their vaccination status in the future. So far, employers have not been allowed to ask their employees whether they have been vaccinated or have recovered. If the law were passed in this way, companies would even be obliged to check the vaccination status of their employees. If they fail to comply with this obligation, they face fines.
3G in the workplace
The step is the basis for the introduction of a general 3G rule in the workplace. Because those who cannot prove that they have been vaccinated or recovered should, according to the will of the Ministry of Labor, be tested closely. Unvaccinated persons are then only allowed to go to work with an antigen rapid test that is no longer than 24 hours old or a PCR test that was not more than 48 hours ago.
Green boss Robert Habeck has also spoken out in favor of 3G in the workplace. Employer President Rainer Dulger also emphasized that employees who do not want to be vaccinated or tested can have their wages cut. “Anyone who does not appear to work for reasons for which they are responsible cannot claim any wages for the work they have lost,” said Dulger of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”.
Home office compulsory
In addition to the 3G rule for face-to-face work, Minister of Labor Heil also wants a new home office obligation for certain activities. On July 1, the old home office obligation was lifted, according to which employers have to offer home office for office work, for example – and employees must also accept this, unless there are important reasons against it. The SPD, the Greens and probably also the FDP want to reactivate the home office obligation. IG Metall supports the proposal, while the Association of Medium-Sized Entrepreneurs rejects the obligation to work from home. The German trade union federation has spoken out in favor of more home office offers by employers, but does not want to force employees.
Test obligations in nursing homes
Unvaccinated people will probably not only have to be tested at the entrance to the office in the near future. Further test obligations are currently being discussed. According to the will of the traffic light parties, for example, unvaccinated craftsmen and parcel deliverers should test themselves if they work in old people’s and care facilities, reports the “Tagesspiegel”. Compulsory vaccinations for certain occupational groups, however, have not yet been announced.
3G in buses and trains
The traffic light parties are also planning a 3G regulation for buses and trains – in addition to the mask requirement that continues to apply. “Anyone who uses public transport must either be vaccinated, recovered or tested,” according to information from the dpa in the plans of the traffic light parties.
Even general contact restrictions for unvaccinated people should be possible in the future. Green leader Habeck and the deputy SPD parliamentary group leader Dirk Wiese both spoke on Monday of a “lockdown for unvaccinated people”. In Austria, a country-wide partial lockdown for unvaccinated people has been in place since this Monday. The Bundestag will vote on the measures for Germany on Thursday.