The leading associations of the German economy appeal to companies to offer their employees self-tests and, where possible, rapid tests in order to detect infections at an early stage.
Declaration of the German business community on the extension of the test offer to employees
Berlin, 9 March 2021: The Corona pandemic is the greatest test since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany. German companies are fully committed to their responsibility to society as a whole and want to continue to make an important contribution to combating the pandemic and protecting the population.
Companies have invested heavily in hygiene measures and business infrastructure to protect their workforces, enable mobile working and maintain economic life and thus social cohesion. With functioning hygiene concepts and pandemic plans, companies ensure on a daily basis that the workplace is a comparatively safe place. At the same time, industry has made a comprehensive offer to involve company doctors in the vaccination strategy. We see vaccination as the central element of pandemic control.
Until all citizens can be offered vaccination, we want to support the testing strategy of the federal government and the states with all our strength. Increased testing is an effective bridge that will be necessary at least until June. During this time, we want to realize our overall social responsibility through a temporary substantial expansion of testing. Many companies are already testing their employees within their means. We see that this commitment has been steadily expanded in recent weeks.
For this reason, the leading associations of the German economy appeal to companies to offer their employees self-tests and, where possible, rapid tests in order to detect infections at an early stage.
The associations making the call represent companies with more than 90 percent of the 30 million employees in the private sector who are subject to social insurance contributions. We will do everything we can to ensure that companies respond to this call and thus make a decisive contribution to expanding testing in Germany. This can detect infections earlier and reduce contagions.
We take responsibility and are determined to support the testing strategy.
BDA, BDI, DIHK and ZDH will advise companies - in parallel to this call - in a rapid and extensive information campaign about possibilities for testing. We will inform the public continuously and from the beginning about our activities and the number of participating companies.
