The French Government, in a context of strong outbreak of the coronavirus, has imposed the use of the mask in the work centers , except in individual spaces, and that it is the companies that pay for this protective equipment.

"We have decided to systematize the mask in the collective closed spaces" given the risk of contagion by aerosol (particles that are suspended in the air), the Secretary of State for Occupational Health, Laurent Pietraszewski , explained to the press on Tuesday .

That includes, among other aspects, shared offices, meeting rooms or corridors, he said at the end of a videoconference chaired by the Minister of Labor, Elisabeth Borne , in which union and employer organizations participated.

Teleworking will continue to be " a recommended practice " to, among other things, try to avoid the massive use of public transport in large cities when the school year begins next month.

The Secretary of State emphasized that the use of a mask will not exempt the obligation to apply other basic health safety rules, especially physical distancing, regularly washing hands, cleaning furniture and equipment, or airing work areas.

Since the end of the confinement between 20% and 25% of the coronavirus outbreaks identified in France have appeared in companies : of the 268 that are still open, 60 are in a professional environment.

The companies will pay masks

The Department of Labor was clear about who will bear the financial cost of the masks that must be used during the working day: "From the moment they are mandatory, companies must provide them."

For now, no public aid is contemplated to finance this additional expenditure and it is ruled out that these obligations cause a shortage of masks, since the market - unlike what happened during and immediately after confinement - is well supplied and prices go to the low.

Labor inspectors will be in charge of controlling the new protocol and, following the usual procedures -without exceptional provisions-, in the event of non-compliance they will be the ones who take their findings to court.

The company directors will be empowered to impose disciplinary sanctions on those workers who refuse to put on the mask.

Repeal in certain sectors

Pietraszewski insisted on the willingness to agree with the unions and employers in the coming days to detail the particular circumstances of each sector.

For example, it will be necessary to define if any derogation is contemplated in the telephone attention centers or in the radio and television studios.

Specific pilot work will also be carried out for slaughterhouses, which, as in other countries, have concentrated many of the COVID outbreaks that have emerged in the world of work, as suspected by the cold and humid conditions in which the work is carried out.

The Government intends to strengthen the recommendations on worker accommodation, which are the responsibility of companies - as is often the case with seasonal workers - so that, as far as possible, individual accommodation is sought.

The General Labor Confederation stated in a statement that the mask should not be the only instrument of protection against epidemic risk, but that other dimensions must be adjusted to protect employees, such as time, conditions and work organization .

The employer Medef , through the mouth of its delegate president, Patrick Martin, had requested shortly before the announcements of the Executive that "general measures too coercive" be avoided.

" It is not necessary to send a password that means that our country is going to stop because it would be fatal, especially for employment," Martin pointed out on the "France Info" station.

He warned that the mandatory nature of the mask runs the risk of feeding the idea among workers that the epidemic has returned fully in France, something that is not true.

According to statistics updated this Monday, in France there are 4,925 people hospitalized for COVID-19, compared to the peak of almost 32,300 admitted in mid-April

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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