Germany has extended and expanded its Corona Occupational Health and Safety Ordinance for companies and their employees. Most current measures will remain in place until November 26, but a few new rules will also see employers asked to help out with the vaccination drive. 

New ordinance calls on German companies to boost vaccination rate

The Federal Cabinet voted on Wednesday to extend the health and safety ordinance until the end of November, with Labour Minister Hubertus Heil saying it will in future be linked to the duration of the pandemic. 

The existing rules will therefore continue to apply for another three months at least, including company hygiene plans and the obligation to offer coronavirus tests to workers. Companies should also continue to allow home working to reduce contact between employees. Where other measures do not provide adequate protection, employees must be provided with a medical protective mask. 

There are also a few new measures contained in the updated ordinance: companies must, as of September 10, offer time off to employees so that they can get vaccinated during their working hours. Additionally, employers are obliged to inform their employees about the risks of COVID-19, and about vaccination options. 

“The fourth wave that has already started can only be broken with more vaccinations,” said Heil. “To this end, companies must also expand their efforts to motivate employees who have not yet been vaccinated to get the jab.” 

Employers do not have right to ask about employees’ vaccination status

The updated rules only briefly touched on an issue that has been causing much debate in Germany recently: whether employees are obliged to let their employers know about their vaccination status. A few high-profile figures have been calling on the government to make a clear decision as to whether employers have the right to ask, stating that obliging employees to divulge this information would help to combat coronavirus in the workplace. 

However, the new regulation states only that employers can in future take their employees’ status into account when composing hygiene concepts, but only if they are already aware of this. It does not give employers permission to ask, except where the employee’s job might require it - for instance if they work in healthcare with clinically vulnerable patients. 

On Wednesday, Germany’s labour minister said that employees had no general obligation to provide their employees with information about their personal health data. “In any case, labour law does not provide for that,” said Heil.