3G rule at work: flood of complaints in Salzburg does not stop
The Chamber of Labor received hundreds of calls. Some tests are still not available. Affected employees are sent home. The website “Salzburg gurgelt” also collapsed several times on Tuesday.
The 3G rule in the workplace without exception causes major problems in Salzburg. In the Salzburg Chamber of Labor, it is expected that the flood of complaints WILL not stop in the next few days. “Hundreds of calls came in on Monday,” wrote Heimo Typplt, head of the AK legal department, on Tuesday. Those affected stated that they did not receive the test results in time, and that the PCR tests and antigen tests were in some cases not available.
The homepage “Salzburg gurgelt” (sbg-gurgelt.at) collapsed several times yesterday, said Typplt. Workers also reported that antigen tests were no longer available in some pharmacies. The result was that those affected were “sent home and had to take vacation or time off,” said Typplt. However, this is not covered by law because the law stipulates that leave is to be agreed between the employee and the employer. “But in these times employees do not revolt and accept it grudgingly,” said the legal expert, describing his perception.
Typplt assumes that there will be a lot of feedback from disgruntled employees again today. He estimates that it will be a few more days before the situation improves and there is sufficient testing capacity. “I hope this works as soon as possible.” Salzburg Chamber of Labor President Peter Eder calls for an extension of the transition period, FFP2 masks in companies if there is no 3G proof, and a longer validity of antigen tests.
The President of the Salzburg Chamber of Commerce, Peter Buchmüller, also advocates an extension of the transition period until the time when sufficient test capacities are available and the test results can be evaluated in good time. The fact that an employee does not receive any payment if he or she does not get the test result on time and is therefore sent home because otherwise there is a risk of a fine is a question of labor law. He himself has such a case in his company and has a solution for it: The person can later make up for those hours that they have not been at work until the test results are received. This avoids a loss of wages.
When asked whether companies in Salzburg have already been checked, Buchmüller said: “We have not yet received any feedback.” According to the Chamber of Commerce, the control is a matter for the authorities, the trading companies are inevitably overwhelmed.
In order to prevent the hamstering of PCR gargle tests, new restrictions have been in effect since Monday in the form of online registration for dispensing in Spar supermarkets in Lower Austria and Salzburg. The primary target group of the offer are non-immunized people who need these tests as proof for legal reasons, it was announced in mailings last weekend. The supply in the next few weeks will remain tense, according to the Novogenia Laboratory in Salzburg, which is responsible for handling these tests. A company spokesman said on Tuesday that there were IT problems on the “Salzburg gurgelt” homepage on Monday. “We assume that the system will be stable in a day or two.”
The test roads of the Red Cross in all districts works, however, said the state’s spokesman, Franz Wieser, on Tuesday. “The PCR tests are evaluated within 24 hours. We have the support of a laboratory from Vienna.”