3. Health and Safety Measures

Requirements mandated by law or any official guidance.

• An employer has a statutory duty of care, to offer employees a safe and healthy work environment. In the current times in which employees could be at risk of infection, this duty of care can imply to inform employees about hygiene measures such as washing hands, using paper towels, coughing in their elbow and to refrain from shaking hands.
• Another important obligation is to keep 1,5 meter distance from one another and the measures that prohibit any types of gatherings, which also must be observed in work environments. These requirements are now laid down in a temporary emergency decree, but might be adopted by the act of July 1 (see question 1).

Measures typically implemented by employers and the associated legal risks, limitations, obligations and issues to consider.

• Employees and employers are requested to work from home as much as possible, unless they perform vital occupations like healthcare. This is only advised not mandated, so it is not legally binding and cannot be enforced by law. Nevertheless it is implemented in most companies. Face masks are not obligated, except when using public transport. Most employers provide disinfectant hand gel and additional cleaning measures such as frequently cleaning handles. The rules of keeping 1,5 meter distance and no gatherings still need to be abided by. To guarantee this, some companies make use of a special schedule to make sure that not too many employees are in the workplace at the same time.