Background information

All workers have the right to withhold performance in case the employer violates the obligation to take care for the occupational health and safety (OSH) of the worker.

In industrial cleaning, workers are particularly individualised, precarious and vulnerable. They are therefore prone to face violations of OSH regulation. This situation became more pressing with the COVID-19 situation, as cleaners were simultaneously of essential importance for the protection of other (office) workers from the virus, and more exposed to the pandemic risk.

Content of measure

Members complain about violations of OSH regulation by employers, according to IG BAU, the Trade Union for Building, Forestry, Agriculture and the Environment, which also organizes industrial cleaners.

The trade union IG BAU released legal information for industrial cleaners on their right to withhold their work in case the employer does not provide COVID-19 protective clothing. Since March 2020, the union provides draft complaint letters for members to use, in order to better support them in protecting themselves against violations of OSH regulations related to the COVID-19 pandemic. We do not have data on how many members have used the provided legal advice and draft complaint letters.

Use of measure

No data.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Applies to all workers	Does not apply to businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
Trade unions	No special funding required

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative	No involvement
Form	Any other form of consultation, institutionalised (as stable working groups or committees) or informal	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Only trade unions
• Main level of involvement: Sectoral or branch level

Involvement

The initiative lay outside the sectoral collective bargaining structures. In collaboration with workers, the trade union IG BAU started an information campaign about workers' health and safety rights during the pandemic. Employers or employer organisations were not involved. This is a low-cost measure for worker protection, exclusively funded by the union.

Views and reactions

No data.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not sector-specific.

Sources

• 20 March 2020: IG BAU hand out for workers (igbau.de)