Coronavirus update - France’s minister of economy calls for a bonus for employees who go to work despite confinement

France’s minister of economy calls for a bonus for employees who go to work despite confinement - France’s Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, has called for companies to pay a tax-free bonus of 1,000 euros to all employees who go to their workplace, despite confinement against the coronavirus. 

The declaration led to the secretary general of Force Ouvrière Yves Veyrier, saying that he "hoped it wasn’t a bonus in exchange for a health risk" adding "we are not able to do everything necessary to protect the health and safety of employees".

He added that "We realize today that there are essential trades that are poorly paid". The boss of Force Ouvrière evokes supermarket employees "who are in contact with many customers all day long. These are jobs which are often on fixed-term contracts, paid by the minimum wage and which are poorly regarded ".

Concluding that following the announcement, "we may finally realize that we must reconsider them, remunerate them much better than they are until now, but in a long term way". The secretary general of Force Ouvrière believes that the priority "is first to protect" employees.