Please note that the legal situation with regard to the Corona pandemic is subject to constant change. Therefore the following information only reflects the above-mentioned status. Thus it is urgently advisable to check the information for any changes in the legal situation.
What is the coronavirus warning app?
The purpose of the coronavirus warning app is to warn its users when they have been near someone infected with SARS-CoV-2. This works in a decentralised way, in that the app generates random codes every ten minutes and transmits them via Bluetooth to other smartphones in the immediate vicinity on which the app is also installed. This is conditional on the criteria for distancing and time defined by the Robert Koch Institute – which publishes and operates the app – being met. The random codes are then stored locally for a limited time in the apps that received them. At no time do the random codes allow conclusions to be drawn about the identity of users or their location.
If one of the app users is diagnosed with a coronavirus infection, they can voluntarily store this information in their app, which then sends it to a central T-Systems server in Germany. The central server distributes these random codes to all installed coronavirus warning apps, but does not store them beyond that. All installed coronavirus warning apps then check locally whether there has been an encounter and inform their respective users accordingly. This only happens at relatively long intervals, so it is not possible to be informed in real time about encounters with infected persons.
Since only random codes and no actual names are used, none of the parties involved knows who has had contact with whom or who could be infected. Employers are not connected to the app and therefore only receive information if their employees tell them.
More questions and answers that we are pleased to share with you in these FAQ:
- Can employers insist that employees install the coronavirus warning app on their business smartphones?
- Can employers instruct employees to install the coronavirus warning app on their private smartphones?
- Must the works council be involved?
- Does the employee have to report a justified suspicion of infection and is the employer allowed to ask about it?
- Are employees allowed to stay at home if they receive a warning from the app or do employers have to send them home to protect the other staff? What is the situation with regard to entitlement to remuneration?
- What happens to the employee data collected on the basis of the right to ask questions and the reporting obligation?
Detailed information about the Corona App can be found here as PDF.
More FAQs about the effects of Coronavirus on the German employment law
For the latest information about COVID-19, please visit our Corona Center. If you have any questions about dealing with the current situation and its impact on your company, our CMS Response Team will be happy to help.
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