Austria: government to introduce Covid health pass for workers

From 1 November 2021, anyone who comes into contact with clients or colleagues at their workplace in Austria will have to prove that they comply with the so-called 3G rule, meaning they must either have been vaccinated, recently tested negative for Covid-19 or recovered from the virus. The 3G rule – short for the German “geimpft, getestet, genesen”, meaning “vaccinated, tested, recovered” – is more or less the equivalent of France’s health pass and was announced by Austrian health minister Wolfgang Mückstein (Greens) on Wednesday 20 October. For a transitional period until mid-November, all those who cannot prove their compliance with this rule will have to wear an FFP2 mask at work. Ensuring compliance with this requirement will be the responsibility of both employers and employees. Random checks will be carried out. Employees found to have violated the requirement will have to pay a fine of up to €500, while businesses risk fines of up to €3,600. In return, free Covid-19 testing will be maintained for the time being. With only about 62% of the Austrian population vaccinated, the health minister hopes that this new measure will encourage more workers to get inoculated.