The proposal is notably supported by the head of the Association of Physicians of Public Health Services. He received the support of the Minister of Health.
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Will the Germans soon have the right to take a nap at midday? The proposal, currently being debated across the Rhine, is very serious, while the country has been plagued by peaks of heat for a few days. The mercury, for example, reached 38°C in Bavaria and 35°C.
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The subject is not necessarily as hot as in many Mediterranean countries, but the idea is, in any case, launched. Its main defender is Johannes Niessen, the head of the Association of Physicians of Public Health Services: “It’s not about napping for hours… We want to draw attention to the fact that at noon it’s very hot and that in very hot weather the human body is at limit of its capabilities. So you have to protect yourself.”
Case-by-case solutions?
The proposal for “Siesta”, according to the term used in Germany, received the approval of the Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach. This break is considered sensible for many professions. Without completely opposing the idea, Anja Piel of the Confederation of German Trade Unions, on the other hand, recommend other solutions, on a case-by-case basis. “There’s a difference between working in an office, delivering packages or working on a rooftop when the temperatures are high. For some, we can shift the working hours towards the early hours of the morning when it is less hot”, she explains.
In addition, the union is proposing other measures: moving away from printers and photocopiers, sources of heat, relaxing the dress code and making cold drinks available to employees.