In the city center of Melun (Seine-et-Marne), the boss of the Le Francilien brewery sighs: for him, “Back to school has not really started”. Place Saint-Jean is almost empty on the morning of Monday, August 30, and the Ferris wheel installed for the summer no longer turns.
The gradual return of customers gives professionals time to adapt to new rules: since Monday, the presentation of a valid health pass (complete vaccination schedule, negative virological test of less than seventy-two hours or certificate of recovery ) is mandatory for all employees of establishments in which the document was already requested from visitors.
While Ile-de-France customers are systematically hailed on their arrival and their QR code examined, there was no verification of that of the staff before the start of service. “Who do you want me to control?” spear the manager who, failing to give his real name, suggests that we call him Joseph. I am on my own with a waiter and a kitchen helper. They are vaccinated, we trust each other. ”
Joseph is hoping for a return the next day from a waitress from his team, who took a day off after receiving her second injection. He will not wait for the mandatory seven-day delay after the second dose to get the pass in due form. “I have no choice, I can’t find anyone to replace her”, he justifies. Government spokesman Gabriel Attal pledged on Sunday that the entry into force of the measure would start with a week “Flexibility, pedagogy, running in, tolerance”, and he ruled out immediate sanctions.
“In the event of a police check, we will be in order”
Behind the bar of the French Bistrot, a few streets further on, Erwan Khettab also resumed service two days after receiving his second dose. Just in time to be in order when controls get tighter, starting September 6. In front of the restaurant, large banners hanging from the facade of the town hall display the slogan “Better to be vaccinated than confined”. Hired for three months, he “Did not want to risk losing his job”. “We have children to feed”, bid one of his colleagues while working at the coffee machine. Monday morning, in the dining room as in the kitchen, the four employees did not need to take out their certificate. “We discussed it between us, everyone is vaccinated, explains Erwan Khettab. In the event of a police check, we will be in order. This is the main. “
The twenty-six employees of the National Gendarmerie Museum in Melun, under the supervision of the Ministry of the Interior, had to show a little more formalism. Here, the health pass is compulsory for anyone in contact with the public, but it is not required of office workers. This is also the case in cinemas, theaters, libraries, amusement parks and transport companies where the obligation is also established.
“The management checked all the passes last week”, assures Magali Dufour, responsible for the museum’s communication. The employees were all vaccinated on time, the pass will no longer be requested unless the current rules, in force until November 15, are changed. In the team, two soldiers – the only ones who were not civilian employees – received instructions from the military health service. forcing them, like much of the French army, to receive their two injections before September 15.
“The real difficulties are coming in the coming weeks”
In Melun, the employer faced with the management of the largest number of health passes among its staff happened to be the town hall: around 190 civil servants, out of the thousand hired by the community, must submit to it. “The debates with the unions were long, it is a subject that raises many questions on a daily basis”, testifies Marie-Liesse Dupuy, deputy mayor of Melun, in particular in charge of social dialogue among municipal staff.
Several meetings of the health, safety and working conditions committee were necessary to establish a protocol. The department heads carry out a weekly pass check. Only the human resources department is authorized to consult a complete list of the agents’ situation, on which only the validity (or not) of the certificate appears, without specifying whether the employee is vaccinated or whether he has submitted to a screening test. In accordance with the European General Data Protection Regulation, no health data is kept.
” A minority “ of the teams is not vaccinated, according to the town hall. “We are not going to put anyone on the sidelines”, assures Mme Dupuy, who wants to show “Flexibility” and increase the number of meetings with each agent without a valid pass before possible sanctions. “The year has been complicated for everyone and the health past has created inevitable tensions”, says the elected, for whom “The real difficulties are coming in the coming weeks”. At the beginning of October, the end of free virological tests will restrict, for some employees, access to an alternative to vaccination against Covid-19, forcing them to receive an injection or risk the suspension of their contract. of work.