The Minister of Labor, Elisabeth Borne, received the social partners on Monday to discuss the possible extension of the health pass to all employees. The employers are wondering about the implementation of such a measure while the unions categorically reject it.
This Saturday, the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, mentioned the idea of making the health pass compulsory in all companies. “This is a legitimate question, and it has already been applied by some of our neighbors”, he said on France Inter, making sure to distinguish it from the vaccine pass, which had been mentioned the day before by the Prime Minister. “We cannot prevent people from working if they are not vaccinated, but we can require them to take a test”, specified the Minister of Health.
Still, the hypothesis of a health pass extended to all employees arouses the opposition of the social partners. The latter were received on Monday by the Minister of Labor, Elisabeth Borne, for “Report their proposals, their doubts, their criticisms to the government”. At the end of this meeting, the minister indicated that “Nothing is done”. “The trade unions are not in favor of it, while the employers’ organizations are reserved and wonder about the practical methods of implementation” she continued.
“A gas factory”
For the Confederal Secretary of the CGT Catherine Perret, the government has already made its decision and “It is not all these oppositions that will change the situation”. Near Release, she deplores “An announcement effect that is neither worked nor thought out” and considers that such a measure is inapplicable. “Who will control these millions of health passes? What will happen if the workers are not fully in good standing? It’s a gas factory! ”
Currently, 2 million employees working in hotels, bars and restaurants are already subject to the obligation to present their health pass to work. An extension to all employees would indeed pose several problems, particularly logistics. Checking the validity of passes, in the first place, which would be up to companies.
The latter should put in place controls at the entrance to the offices. The deputy chairman of Medef, Patrick Martin, questioned Sunday on France Info: “Is it up to business leaders to exercise police powers in a certain way while exposing themselves to very heavy penalties?” A boss who does not control the health pass of his employees could incur a fine of 45,000 euros and one year of imprisonment. The employers’ organizations also note, for example, that many employees work outside the sites and are therefore difficult to control.
The sanction applied to refractory employees also raises questions. Could an employee see his contract suspended in the event of non-presentation of the health pass? For Benoît Serre, vice-president of the National Association of HRDs (ANDRH) interviewed Sunday on France Info, “We do not have the right to force him to be tested and to have a health pass, to this day. Consequently, his contract should be suspended ”. Thus the offender would remain employed in his company, but would no longer receive his salary. A situation which, still according to Benoît Serre, “Would generate tension” within companies. Tension that he puts into perspective, “Because we know that there are a lot of people vaccinated”.
“Vaccination premiums”
For all the unions, the ideal rather than forcing remains to convince and encourage vaccination. For Catherine Perret of the CGT, this notably involves occupational medicine. “Only 2 million employees have been vaccinated thanks to occupational health services. It is ridiculous. If we strengthened these services, we could vaccinate massively on site and undoubtedly greatly accelerate the rate of vaccination. ”
Béatrice Clicq, Confederal Secretary of Force Ouvrière, notes that “The fact of being suspended does not convince the recalcitrant. We must therefore find alternative solutions, go through dialogue rather than sanction ”. In particular, this can take place through “Vaccine premiums” she assures. Many American companies pay sums of up to $ 1,000 to their employees with a complete vaccination schedule. In France, the food cooperative Cooperl offered “vaccine bonuses” of 200 euros to its employees between the end of August and October. But this practice being legally contestable, it could not be generalized. If this were the solution to convince the 2 million French people of working age who had not received any dose, it would cost 1.2 billion euros It is not said that companies or even the State is not inclined to spend such a sum …
Update at 4:50 p.m., with the reactions of the unions at the end of the meeting with the Minister of Labor.