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A week ago the whole country was happy.
At last it was possible to make appointments with the hairdresser again - in the name of dignity, health and the salvation of the hairdressers.
But now the industry is sounding the alarm again.
And the dates are shaking again.
It is about the ten-square-meter rule as it is valid according to the SARS-CoV-2 occupational safety regulation of the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
A good week ago, she had also taken over the professional association for health and welfare services (BGW) responsible for the salons.
Only one person is allowed to stay in ten square meters of retail space.
Specifically, this means: In a small salon around the corner of, for example, 24 square meters, in which there are actually perhaps three hairdressing chairs, there should be exactly one hairdresser and one customer.
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The “#FriseureInNot” initiative, which claims to represent all 84,000 salons in the country, apparently no longer likes this prospect.
It has already taken to the administrative courts in all federal states for an “operating ban” and for an “immediate opening”.
Now follows a letter to Labor Minister Hubertus Heil, which WELT has received.
The advocacy group calls for a regulation similar to that which applies to professional colleagues in Austria.
Here employees, employees and suppliers are exempt from the ten square meter rule.
There are ten square meters available per customer - the rooms would be twice as full, and sales would be estimated to be twice as high.
In the German retail sector, for example, salespeople are not counted either.
The occupational health and safety ordinance is broad and raises many questions
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According to the hairdressers, higher frequency and income would be sorely needed.
Noah Wild, the head of the initiative, tells WELT: “The situation is serious.” Because the occupational safety and health ordinance is broad and raises many questions.
For example, it leaves open what will happen to salons that are smaller than 20 square meters or whether two customers can really only be served from 40 square meters.
Small service providers in particular are threatening the very existence of the protection concept.
The central association of the German hairdressing trade was unable to answer the question of how many hairdressing shops are smaller than 20 square meters.
But the ratio of 240,000 employees to 84,000 salons already gives an idea of how small the sector is.
Will the opening of hairdressers lead to a wave of corona lawsuits?
The hairdressers are allowed to open.
But outrage is growing in nail salons and massage practices.
Many other industries also feel that they have been treated unfairly.
A wave of lawsuits is feared.
Source: WORLD
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"In this respect, this has to be corrected, since on this basis service providers can hardly reopen or work properly," says Wild, who finances and coordinates the initiative as managing director of the import company Wild Beauty GmbH.
He even sees the industry as a pioneer: “The hairdressers are the beginning - but our entire economy faces the challenge of this regulation.
A restart can be promised theoretically, but not organized in practice. "
In the letter to the Minister of Labor, which was also sent to the master craftsmen and the parliamentary group chairmen of the German Bundestag, the initiators therefore urge "that the regulations in the ordinance be adjusted with a sense of proportion to be compatible with the craft and medium-sized businesses."
If this does not happen, it is in many cases a "de facto operating ban for entrepreneurs".
The uncontrolled shadow economy will presumably continue to flourish, and the employees will receive state-funded support for short-time work.
Because it is hardly possible for hairdressers to compensate for the lost space by working shifts, it says in the three-page to the Minister of Labor.
In many federal states, surcharges of 50 percent and more would have to be paid for extending working hours.
Costs that could not be passed on to the customer.
In short: If the regulation, which is to apply until March 15 and will probably be extended, remains in force unchanged, some Germans would probably have to wait even longer for a proper haircut.
Shops with an area of less than 20 square meters could not even open.
Larger salons with too many appointments would have to cancel or could not accept new ones.
Nevertheless, the question of proportionality arises again.
Even if the hairdressers emphasize that since the beginning of the pandemic, officially only seven people have been infected with the virus by cutting, dyeing or washing.
Other sectors are not allowed to open at all for the time being, or at least only later.
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The German trade association HDE does not want to comment on request, any more than the hotel and restaurant association Dehoga.
However, it doesn't take a lot of imagination to imagine how you feel about it at both associations.
According to a Dehoga survey, hotels and restaurants recorded a turnover loss of 78 percent in January compared to the previous year.
In many cases, they would be happy about 1: 1 care with a square meter restriction, provided they are allowed to reopen at all after a good three months.
The same presumably applies to shopping centers, department stores and boutiques which, according to HDE, lose 700 million euros per closed day of sale.
Both industries continue to complain about one thing in particular: “The lack of open perspective.” But that is not enough for hairdressers.
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