Covid-19: Can gardeners continue to work?
My husband and I are registered gardeners and work alone. Are we allowed to work or is it deemed non-essential?
It is difficult to find a definitive answer as there are no sets of rules or guidelines covering every job.
However, it does seem that non-essential work can still be carried out if there is no risk of infection in the workplace.
Speaking on Radio France Inter, on March 22, Works Minister, Muriel Pénicaud, stated clearly that “If there is no danger you can go to work.”
She was answering a question from a yacht sail maker in the Morbihan who wanted to know whether her boss could require her to work.
She said: “There are situations where there is no danger. Everything depends on work conditions, I do not know how you make sails but if you work in close quarters it is not the same as if you are working far apart in open spaces. If there is no danger you can go and work.”
Connexion spoke to one company who runs a home gardening service who said, that gardeners were still working.
However, the Union Nationale des Entreprises du Paysage, which represents 29,550 landscape gardening businesses, has advised its businesses to cease work and has asked the government for clarification as to how and under what conditions they can start up again.
The French Golf Federation has said that gardeners can go into work to keep the greens mown.
