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Employer President Rainer Dulger
Photo: Uwe Anspach / dpa
A corona test obligation for companies is getting closer - but the economy is against it and is increasingly on a course of confrontation with the federal government.
Employer President Rainer Dulger said that the private companies had greatly expanded their testing efforts: Anyone who constantly threatens a legal regulation does not recognize this commitment.
"A test law does not create more protection, but more bureaucracy, more costs, less initiative and a bunch of unanswered legal and organizational questions," he said.
The business representative responded to statements by Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The CDU politician criticized the slow implementation of voluntary commitments in the economy on Sunday evening on the ARD program "Anne Will".
Accordingly, every employee who is not in the home office should be tested twice a week if possible and this should also be certified.
You have the impression that this will not be implemented across the board, said Merkel.
Testing should probably be made compulsory in companies.
The chairman of the German Federation of Trade Unions, Reiner Hoffmann, supports Merkel's course.
"Commitment alone is not enough," he said.
“Far too many employers still refuse to live up to their responsibilities.
Test offers must be compulsory and the costs must be borne by the employers. «Any personal contact that can be avoided helps to keep the infection rate smaller.
A survey of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in mid-March showed that 19 percent of companies offer regular tests and 28 percent of companies plan to do so shortly.
At that time, half of the companies had no concrete plans for a test strategy - however, according to the survey, 23 percent of the companies worked exclusively in the home office.
In addition, many companies are in lockdown, for example in the catering industry.
In the business world, there is also some reference to delivery difficulties.
There are not enough test kits available, it is said.
The federal government emphasizes, however, that there are now sufficient rapid tests on the market.
ssu / dpa
