With the end of the quarantine obligation for corona-infected persons in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hesse and Schleswig-Holstein, there are labor law problems for employers and employees. Employment law expert Peter Wedde comments on this.
“The fact that infected employees are no longer obliged to isolate themselves at home does not mean that they have to come to the office,” says Emeritus Professor of Labor Law and Information Society Law at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences (Frankfurt UAS). .
But what if they want to work on site in the office?
»Being infected with corona means being sick. Employees who are on sick leave from a doctor due to infection are not allowed to work. This case is indeed clear,” Wedde says. Employers need to stick to this, although some were happy to accept that people with SARS-CoV-2 continued to work from home even if they were sick.
»But anyone who is symptom-free and feels fit despite a corona infection can now go back to work (with the exception of certain occupational groups, including hospital, senior and nursing home employees). He or she is only required to wear an FFP-2 mask indoors for five days and to take necessary precautions such as keeping distance,” Wedde explains.
No obligation to work from home
“Regardless, employers and employers can ask employees in this situation not to come to the office and instead temporarily work from home. However, this requires an agreement between employers and employees. If you don’t have room to home or you don’t want to or you can’t work from there, an employer can’t force you.«
Prohibition of hiring by the employer
If employers, also out of their duty of care towards uninfected employees, generally want to prevent Corona-positive employees from coming to the office, they can issue a temporary entry ban. At the same time, Wedde stresses that employers who prevent willing-to-work employees from entering the office must continue to pay them wages.
necessary protective measures
And another point is important to Wedde: “If employees infected with the corona virus work in the office, the employers must take the necessary protective measures there, such as physical separation. If effective protective measures exist, other employees usually they can’t refuse to show up at the workplace for fear of an infection.«
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