Since Wednesday and Angela Merkel's announcement of the first gradual steps to ease the lockdown in Germany, the country’s economic sphere has begun debating the scope of the announcements and the economic and health conditions for the end to remote working. Although steps forward in the end of lockdown and clarifications regarding the conditions under which companies can call their staff back into offices and factories are still required, the labour ministry published on Thursday 16 April a catalogue of ten measures and advice regarding the prevention of the spread of the virus in the workplace.
Avoiding a second lockdown. At the press conference announcing the first measures to ease the lockdown, the German chancellor not only announced the reopening of stores with a surface area of up to 800m2 but also briefly mentioned the possibility for companies to recall their employees to offices and factories, “provided that the companies present a convincing health plan”. Of course, many companies had not waited for this signal before starting to prepare for a recommencement of business (see article n°11833), but the announcement provoked a debate over the economy’s recovery and the required conditions.
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