Employees who belong to a risk group have a particularly difficult time in the corona pandemic.
Can I take time off from work as such?
During the corona pandemic *, certain people are at a
higher risk of
suffering a severe course of Covid-19.
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), this includes people
from 50 years,
with underlying diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer or diseases of the respiratory system,
People who are overweight as well
Smoker.
Therefore, members of the
risk group are
also advised to reduce
the
risk of
infection as much as possible, for example by keeping your distance or regular hand washing.
But in practice this is often difficult to implement for many employees, for example because they work in sales, where they come into contact with many people every day.
Can
members of risk groups
be released from
work
in this case
?
What is an exemption?
Anyone who signs an employment contract is also obliged to perform the agreed work.
In fact, however, there are situations in which employees can be released from this duty.
The employee is then
“released” from work
and does not have to work
.
The employment relationship will continue to exist.
Also read:
Termination with leave of absence: This detail is overlooked by many exempted employees.
Corona: release of employees possible?
In Germany, there is no general right to stay away from work when a wave of diseases such as Covid-19 breaks out, as the federal government reaffirmed during the pandemic.
However, an
exemption is possible
if the
performance of the work is "unreasonable"
.
(Section 275 (3) BGB) In concrete terms, unreasonable means that there is an "objective risk" or at least a "reasonable suspicion" of a health risk to the employee for the person concerned.
Whether an exemption due to Corona is possible depends largely on the working conditions.
"First of all, it is important to clarify whether employees who belong to a risk group are endangered by doing their job
at work,
" writes the German Federation of Trade Unions (DGB) on its website.
However, it is not sufficient for employees to have a medical certificate issued by a family doctor or a specialist.
After all, he does not know the conditions in the workplace.
In this case, the DGB advises calling in the
company doctor
.
"The company doctor knows the workplace and suggests suitable protective measures to the employer if the normal occupational safety measures are not sufficient," continues the DGB.
This could be a time off or by the employee taking on other tasks or being released from partial tasks.
The employer then decides on this.
Also read:
Corona: Do I get a sick leave if I have to be in quarantine?
Will my salary continue to be paid if I am released due to Corona?
Usually it is largely up to the employer whether or not leave is paid.
In connection with the corona pandemic, however, the Federal
Ministry of
Labor makes it clear that the
employer must
continue to pay
the salary in the event of exemption due to corona
: "An employer who sends employees home who are
fit for
work and are
ready
to work purely as a precautionary measure remains to pay the remuneration obligated (so-called default of acceptance - § 615 S. 1 BGB).
In these cases, the employee does not have to make up for the lost working hours. ”
(As) * Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen central editorial network.
More on the topic:
Corona: Do I have to work in quarantine - or will I be released from work?
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Further sources: Robert Koch Institute, Arbeitsrechte.de, DGB
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