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COVID-19, Is working from home and 3G rule becoming compulsory in Germany?

COVID-19: German Minister of Labour Hubertus Heil (SPD) wants people in Germany to revert back to working from home and the 3G rule being enforced.

COVID-19, Is working from home and 3G rule becoming compulsory in Germany?

As COVID-19 infections continue to rise sharply in Germany, Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) plans to reintroduce an obligation to work from home, heise.de reported.

The Ministry of Labour has reportedly prepared a draft law introducing a 3G rule in the workplace in tandem with lockdown in Germany still being enforced. Should the draft be approved, the 3G rule (geimpft, genesen, getestet – vaccinated, healed, tested) will be introduced in workplaces where the physical presence of employees is essential.

The people who are unvaccinated will therefore be required to submit a daily test since the employers are not required to offer the tests.

Bild am Sonntag newspaper, which has seen the draft, quoted from it: “In the case of office work or comparable activities, the employer has to offer employees to carry out these activities in their home, if there are no compelling operational reasons.”

The draft proposed law has reportedly been submitted to the parties in coalition negotiations, the SPD, FDP and the Greens. While the three parties have been discussing the draft law, they are yet to reach an agreement, WDR reported.

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The Verdi Union boss Frank Werneke is convinced it is “appropriate and necessary” to implement the 3G rule in the workplace. “If the employees do not have to provide proof of vaccination, their personal rights are preserved,” German press agency quoted Werneke to have said. “They can be expected to prove that they have been vaccinated, recovered or tested.

The check by employers can be done “routinely and quickly”.