These carers will be considered as reinstated the day after the publication of the decree, scheduled for May 14, according to a principle of “reassignment to an equivalent job” in the same establishment.
Calendar, role of heads of hospitals or nursing homes, job to which the caregiver will be reassigned…: a ministerial instruction dated May 2, which our colleagues from AFP learned about on Wednesday, details the terms of reinstatement non-vaccinated caregivers, a highly flammable subject.
According to the text communicated by the Ministry of Health, suspended caregivers will be considered reinstated “the day after” the publication of the decree, scheduled for May 14, ordering the lifting of the vaccination obligation against Covid.
A period of 2 weeks to contact the caregiver
The heads of public establishments (hospitals, nursing homes, etc.) must “as soon as possible, and if possible within two weeks, contact each suspended professional to notify him of the end of the suspension and if possible indicate the post of ‘assignment and date of return to work’.
In general, the principle is that of “reassignment to an equivalent job” in the same establishment. If the staff refuses the position offered by the employer, they may be subject to expulsion, after formal notice.
To try to iron out the difficulties, a change of assignment may however be proposed in the same establishment, and the national mediation system may be activated. Possibilities of contractual termination also exist.
For employees under private law, the government imposes similar principles, in particular that of offering the same position or an “equivalent” position. In the event of disagreement on the position that the employee can take over, “it will be up to the two parties to find a solution to end the working relationship”.
“The way of the individual conventional rupture could be an adequate mode of rupture”, according to the government instruction.
At the end of 2021, France had imposed a vaccination obligation on 2.7 million people, caregivers but also staff in hospitals and retirement homes, paramedics, home helpers and even firefighters.
A reintegration that has become a political hobbyhorse
A few thousand people were suspended from their duties after refusing this vaccination obligation, a very small proportion in view of the total workforce.
In March, the Ministry of Health estimated for example that “around 0.3%” of hospital workers had been suspended for refusing the vaccination obligation. The reintegration of suspended personnel had become a political battle horse, in particular for the National Rally and La France insoumise.
In a text to be examined Thursday in the National Assembly, the communist group proposes to delete the text of the law which made it possible to impose the vaccination obligation. A suppression that the government does not want, which wants to be able to reorder a suspension of caregivers if the epidemic situation so requires.
