From 15 January, any person who is not vaccinated or recovered, will have to be tested daily in order to be present at their workplace. In light of the rise in infections the government announced the introduction of these new restrictions, aiming to encourage vaccination.

However, according to the federation of craftsmen, the Fédération des Artisans, companies might be the ones who end up being the victims. Employees in some companies have openly informed their employers that they will go on sick leave as soon as the regulations take effect on 15 January, the group said. This was confirmed during a meeting of the federation, attended by 300 companies.

“If six-week sickness certificates are granted for the sole purpose of allowing those concerned to escape the obligation to present a certified antigen test every day, the government's strategy to increase the vaccination rate by these means is seriously questioned,” stated the federation of craftsmen.

The 3G CovidCheck is set to be in place until mid-February in a first phase but the measure could be extended.

Measures which raise awareness while preventing abuse is the right way to go for to the federation which considers that the 3G regulations will be an additional burden for companies.

Any employee who indeed has a health problem during the period of application of the 3G scheme should nevertheless be issued a sickness certificate, says the federation.