The corona virus in conflict with labor law

In principle, there is no entitlement to a home office. The employer must agree to work in the home office. If the employee stays away from the actual place of work without the consent of the employer, there is a breach of duty, which can result in a warning or termination of the employment relationship. So if you stay at home for fear of being infected, you will not only lose your right to wages, but you may also lose your job.

Basically yes, because employees who are exempt from the employer (unless otherwise agreed) retain their right to remuneration (so-called delayed acceptance wages). This applies in particular if the employer stops or reduces the business due to a lack of demand and for this reason sends its employees home.

It depends on whether according to § 31 IfSG official Employment ban has been ordered against you as an employee. If there is one, the employee receives his salary, regardless of whether there is an actual infection or just a suspected case. A official Ordered quarantine also represents a ban on employment.

Unfortunately, these cases cannot be assessed as a whole. Whether the employee receives his salary depends on the so-called "operational risk theory". So far, it has not been decided in the case law of the labor courts whether official closings due to an epidemic are at the expense of employers (“operational risk”) or at the expense of employees. In individual cases it will depend on the type of business.

In this case, a claim to the salary would only be considered if the period of prevention was not significant (Section 616 BGB). However, a non-significant time should be understood to mean a maximum of a few days. If the prevention exists for several weeks, § 616 BGB does not intervene - not even for a few days - and the employee receives no wages. In addition, it should be noted that a claim to wages is also ruled out because childcare - for example due to age - is not necessary or other options for childcare are available.