Working hours during the Corona crisis – you need to know that
Germany has been in an absolutely exceptional situation since March. The corona virus paralyzes many areas of the economy. Companies are faced with completely new challenges and have to act flexibly and, above all, quickly in order not only to maintain operations, but also not to endanger the health of their own employees. You can read here about the rights, obligations and options that employers and employees have during the Corona crisis:
Working from home during the Corona crisis
What used to be a privilege has now become the norm for an office worker: Every employer tries to let their employees work from home as much as possible. But employees are not allowed to decide independently to work in the home office – not even in times of the corona virus.
Important: The Working Hours Act also applies in the home office. This means that eight hours of work per day should not be exceeded and break times should also be observed.
Short-time work in times of the corona virus
The Corna crisis is hitting the creative industries and gastronomy particularly hard. Events are cancelled, restaurants, bars and clubs are closed. Many employers are therefore applying for short-time work benefits for their employees. This means that the employer reduces working hours or even suspends them completely. During this time, the employees receive compensation from the Federal Employment Agency: employees with children receive 67 percent and without children 60 percent of their net salary. Further information on short-time work can be found on the Page of the German Trade Union Confederation.
Benefits: The advantage of short-time work is that employers are relieved and therefore do not have to fire their employees. As soon as the restrictions due to the corona virus are lifted, employees can go about their jobs as usual.
Working during the Corona crisis – systemically important professions
Not everyone can work from home in times of the corona virus. Doctors, nursing staff, police officers and many other professions are systemically relevant and ensure the safety of all citizens. But employees in the food industry and in retail are also affected. To ensure that production does not stand still and that people continue to be supplied with goods, they have to come to work. But here, too, employers have special obligations during the Corona crisis:
You must ensure that employees have sufficient means of disinfection (soap, disinfectant, etc.) available.
In retail or other customer-facing industries, employees must maintain a minimum distance of two meters between customers.
Employees with reasonable suspicion of a coronavirus infection or an influenza infection must be sent home or to the doctor immediately.