Go to work "in the fields" in full confinement? Not that easy

• Didier Guillaume wants the confined employees or the self-employed to go and help the farmers.
• There are around 200,000 seasonal jobs to be filled.
• The approach is not prohibited, but raises several questions.

In food stores, the coronavirus epidemic has sometimes emptied the shelves and caused shortages of supplies. But on the government side, don't worry: the stock of ideas for coping with the pandemic is overflowing. Latest, that of the Minister of Agriculture, Didier Guillaume. In two successive interviews, he called on the idle French to go and help farmers.

First statement Monday evening, at the microphone of France Bleu: "A hairdresser who no longer has any activity, can he not go to do work in the fields, pick up fruit, strawberries, go to an agrifood company to put yogurts in boxes? " Second statement, more lyrical, on BFM TV this Tuesday morning: "I am launching a big appeal to the army of the shadows (…), to women and men who do not work, who are confined to their homes, who are waiters in a restaurant, hostess in a hotel, hairdresser in my neighborhood, who no longer have any activity… And I tell them to join the great army of French agriculture, those who will allow us to feed us on clean, healthy way. "

Reactions to this call were swift. On social networks, many citizens criticize the minister for maintaining a double discourse, between the obligation to stay at home and the injunction to go to farmers.

Didier Guillaume, Minister of Agriculture, proposes to those who are confined to go and pick up strawberries ... we add the box on the exit certificate? https://t.co/EmS27PbVds

I do not understand the communication from this government. Should we stay confined or not? Is there a conductor at the maneuver? #LesApprentis. Coronavirus: Didier Guillaume calls the French without activity to help farmers | via @BFMTV https://t.co/1D1mpWD5EL

"If the call is not heard, the products will remain in the fields"

In the agricultural world, the Minister's initiative is on the contrary welcomed by representative organizations. "We are going to enter a harvest period - strawberries, spring vegetables - and in general, we are calling on a foreign workforce coming from outside the European Union. However this year, we have a big problem since seasonal workers are blocked at the borders of the EU ”explains Aurélien Clavel, vice-president of Young Farmers.

The problem is not limited to work in the fields: “in the agro-food industries (slaughterhouses, cheese factories, etc.), there may be personnel absent for medical reasons or to look after the children. This leads to a situation of tension for production ”.

According to the FNSEA, agricultural union, the sector would need 200,000 people over the next three months. Its president, Christiane Lambert, announced Tuesday morning that she would launch a national platform called "arms for your plate". The goal: to link farmers who need arms and volunteer workers to help a farm near their home. "If the call is not heard, the products will remain in the fields, and the entire market gardening sector will be damaged," warns Christiane Lambert.

Precautions to take

The ministry's approach nevertheless raises questions. For example, does an employee placed on technical unemployment by his employer have the right to go and pick strawberries during his forced unemployment? "Yes, subject to not having a lawful exclusivity or non-competition clause in her contract," says Sabrina Kemel, lawyer specializing in labor law. The employee [or the self-employed] may therefore receive remuneration in addition to compensation for the partial activity. For employees, you simply have to inform their main employer, specifying the name of the company where you are going to work and the expected working time, so as not to be at fault. When the partial activity comes to an end, the employee must return to work with the initial employer, even if the partial activity period would be shortened ”.

Another precaution: the “barrier gestures” must obviously be respected, even outdoors. "The employers are committed to implementing health guarantees," explained Christiane Lambert. Disposable jerry cans of water and paper towels will be made available ”.

For Sabrina Kemel, Didier Guillaume's approach is risky: “he did not set limits. For example, if we live in Paris, can we go to work in Burgundy to help farmers? This is a real question. The idea has been understood: economic activity must be continued so that France does not come to a halt. But his speech was clumsy and inconsistent with the confinement situation we are experiencing. Safeguards should be put. " Contacted Tuesday for details, the Ministry of Agriculture had not yet responded to 20 Minutes at the time of publication of the article.

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