Federal politics are reacting to the pandemic with new corona rules.
Supermarkets and discounters are also affected by a measure, as the example of Kaufland shows.
Munich - Germany is in the middle of the fourth wave of the corona pandemic.
Day after day, the Robert Koch Institute reports new highs in new infections with Sars-CoV-2 and the associated incidence value.
In order to effectively counter the infection process, the Bundestag and Bundesrat recently passed a new version of the so-called Infection Protection Act.
The law came into force on Wednesday, November 24th: With the publication of the final version in the Federal Gazette, new corona rules apply.
Part of this is, among other things, the 3G regulation in the workplace, which also affects supermarket chains.
So far, the debate about corona rules in discounters and supermarkets has mainly centered on the customers' perspective.
2G options, such as those possible in Hesse and Lower Saxony, were discussed.
However, these were discarded relatively quickly with the reference to the so-called basic supply of food - even those who had not been vaccinated.
3G in the supermarket: new corona rules for Kaufland employees
Now the debate is turning.
The reason for this is that employees are required to provide evidence of 3G, which is provided for by the Infection Protection Act.
Accordingly, employees, including those of supermarket chains, have to prove that they have been vaccinated twice against the coronavirus, have recovered from the Covid-19 disease or have tested negative for Sars-CoV-2.
According to the new version of the law, anyone who does not provide this evidence is not allowed to do their work, i.e. not work in the supermarket.
For practical reasons, home office is not an option in discount stores.
+
The new corona rule is the 3G model in the workplace.
This also applies to supermarket chains such as Kaufland.
© Hahne / Eibner Pressefoto / Imago Images
This also applies to Kaufland.
When asked
by
Merkur.de, the
supermarket chain said
: "Due to the current revision of the Infection Protection Act, access to the workplace is only permitted to employees with 3G status."
That means: Kaufland employees have to provide 3G proof, unlike customers.
Anyone who works in the supermarket is therefore still exposed to an increased risk of infection with the coronavirus, as customers do not have to be tested for Sars-CoV-2 before they shop.
New corona rules at Kaufland
When asked, the Schwarz Group, to which Kaufland belongs, further explained: "We basically orientate ourselves to the regulations of the federal states, the respective regionally valid general directives as well as the Corona health and safety regulations and implement them accordingly."
Kaufland is thus referring to possible further corona measures of a regional kind. The Infection Protection Act only provides the basis as a decision-making basis for the federal states - in other words: State X can opt for a 2G or 3G model in supermarkets.
A few weeks ago, Kaufland had already made a clear statement to our editorial team: "As a food retailer that ensures basic supplies, we are not affected by the 2G regulation."
However, lawyers are critical of such developments. In
this regard,
ZDF
reports that plaintiffs in court have a relatively high probability of success in lifting the corona measure. Erik Schweickert, retail policy spokesman for the FDP in the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg, underlined this recently: "A restriction of access for unvaccinated citizens to the retail trade is a disproportionate restriction of freedom and would exclude them from the basic supply," said Schweickert in a press release. There was also criticism of a possible 2G rule in supermarkets and discounters from federal politics. Wolfgang Kubicki, deputy federal chairman of the FDP, said the
picture
, related to the state politics in Lower Saxony: That has "nothing to do with a meaningful pandemic fight."
Meanwhile, Black Friday 2021 is just around the corner and the trade beckons with a flood of special offers.
Our editorial team explains here what consumers should know about the discount war.
(do)
List of rubric lists: © Hahne / Eibner press photo via www.imago-images.de
