Faced with the mass of approximate if not false information circulating about the rights and duties of employees and employers in the event of suspected coronavirus, the government has decided to restore order and relax certain rules. Especially concerning work stoppages due to forced confinement.
Novelties unveiled this Friday morning after a meeting between Muriel Pénicaud, Minister of Labor, Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy and Olivier Véran, Minister of Solidarity and Health, on the one hand, and the all employers 'and workers' organizations on the other. The three ministers, who first recalled the rules to be respected by employers and employees, then announced new measures which "take account of the development of the situation".
Full salary for employees on sick leave
While the update of the decree of February 1 had removed the waiting period of three days for employees forced into quarantine, guaranteeing them that their wages will be covered from the first day by health insurance, it was still missing the salary supplement paid by the employer so that the employee receives his full salary. Muriel Pénicaud announced that a decree, soon to be signed, will remove the waiting period for employers. They will therefore have to compensate for the part of the salary missing from the first day of sick leave due to coronavirus.
Work stoppage to babysit
Another novelty, when a child is forced into confinement, because he has returned from a trip to a risk region, or because a pupil in his class is infected, for example, one of the parents can now, if has no custody solution for this child, request the Regional Health Agency to obtain a 14-day work stoppage fully compensated financially. This responds to the difficulties encountered by parents following decisions taken by the national education system.
Partial unemployment possible
If Muriel Pénicaud recalled that "the employer remains responsible" with regard to the health of his employees, Bruno Le Maire wanted to reassure the most worried, especially small merchants, hoteliers, restaurateurs and other hard-working subcontractors affected by the fall in tourism and activity. "We will meet the needs of all actors," he insisted.
VIDEO. Coronavirus: "A case of force majeure for companies"
First, the Minister of the Economy announced that in the event of a significant reduction in activity, "recourse to partial activity will be open". This also means for employees possible partial unemployment which should therefore be compensated. Similarly, he said, "we will set up next week, the spread of tax and social charges for companies that need it."
No penalties in case of delay
Considering also that "the coronavirus is a case of force majeure", Bruno Le Maire announced a new measure, requested by representatives of SMEs: "If ever there are delays in delivery from companies, we ( Editor's note) : State services ) will not apply penalties. I would write to the various associations of local authorities to invite them to do the same for the public contracts of local authorities. "In the same way, he invited" all major clients to show solidarity with their subcontractors who may find it increasingly difficult to source and respect the delivery delay ".