New Infection Protection Act 3G rule in the workplace and working from home

The new Infection Protection Act means that extensive measures to reduce contact in the workplace will once again apply in Germany from 24th, November 2021. For example, compliance with the so-called 3G regulations (i.e. employees must be fully vaccinated, recovered from or tested negative for Covid-19) will be verified and documented. If possible, employees should work from home.

At RUB, this is what it means:

• Employees should work from home as long as there is no valid reason why they need to be at their workplace / on campus. For courses (seminars, lecture etc) the home office rule does not apply.
• Employees whose jobs require them to work on campus must always carry proof of the 3G status (i.e. proof of full Covid-19 vaccination, recovery or certified negative test result, such as the so-called Bürgertest, which can’t be more than 24 hours old).
• Compliance with 3G regulations must be verified and documented in the respective areas.
• The respective senior manager is responsible for  checking the3G status within each organisational unit. He or she may delegate the task of checking the 3G status to other persons. Employees who don’t provide any 3G proof are not allowed to enter the workplaceThis is reported to the Human Resources Department.
• The vaccination or recovery status is checked once, for example by using the “CovPassCheck” app..
• Employees who prove their 3G status by providing negative test results send their test results to their senior manager or the person in charge from their RUB email address before coming in to work at RUB. If this is not possible, they can show their test results in person before starting work.
• The Human Resources Department provides advice and support if there are any questions when implementing the rules.
• The documentation is stored in accordance with data protection regulations.
• If third parties are invited to the campus, the person in charge of the invitation is responsible for the checking the 3G status. Legal regulations also exist for third-party contractors.

The detailed regulations for 3G implementation at RUB and sample templates for the documentation of the 3G status at the workplace are available on the RUB service portal.

“By implementing these regulations, we are doing our part to reduce contacts in the workplace in order to help slow down the number of infections,” says Chancellor Dr. Christina Reinhardt. “We are sure that our hygiene concept is working: Checking the 3G status works very well in lectures and so on; the 3G rule plus the mandate of wearing face masks means our staff are well-equipped to deal with all this. The most important thing, however, is that everyone who can be vaccinated but isn’t yet should get the vaccination now – and that people get their booster shots. We will only overcome the pandemic in the long run if as many people as possible are fully vaccinated.”