Corona virus - NRW must compensate companies in the meat industry
Another acquittal for the meat industry," says Dr. Heike Harstick, General Manager of the Association of the Meat Industry Judgment by the Münster Administrative Court on wage compensation for employees in the meat industry. "Now it has been confirmed for the second time that the meat industry has not handled the corona situation negligently," Harstick continued. The court found that the circulating air cooling that is customary in cutting plants and required for hygienic reasons played a key role in the spread of the corona virus via aerosols. However, no one was aware of this at the time of the outbreaks.
The state of North Rhine-Westphalia now has to pay for the officially ordered shutdowns and the quarantine of numerous employees in the meat industry in 2020. The background to the lawsuit is that employees had to go into quarantine in spring and summer 2020 due to the pandemic. In such cases, the Infection Protection Act provides that the employer continues to pay the employees, but receives compensation from the state treasury.
On the order of the state labor minister, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia refused to pay the meat companies compensation. Like the Minden district court before it, the Münster district court now saw this as illegal. According to the court, it must be clear that the employer alone is to blame for the ordered quarantine or closure of the business. However, when the coronavirus broke out in the affected companies in spring 2020, there were a number of circumstances that had a negative impact on what was happening. Therefore, there is no negligence on the part of the employer. The judgments of both courts are not yet final.
