From Monday, staff in contact with the public will have to show a Covid health pass on entering their workplace or risk being suspended without pay.
The controversial health passport showing either proof of full vaccination against Covid-19, a recent negative test or recovery from the virus has become compulsory for some 1.8 million employees in France.
This includes employees in contact with the public such as public sector workers, temporary workers, trainees, apprecentices and subcontractors.
People working in restaurants, cinemas, museums and on long-distance trains, where it was already required for customers, are also concerned.
It also applies to volunteers working in all "places, establishments, services or events" listed by the Ministry of Labour, including bars, theatres, inter-regional buses or planes, amusement parks, zoos, fairs, casinos, discotheques, seminars, trade shows and some shopping centres.
There are a number of exceptions however such as canteens, company restaurants, take-away sales, truck stops, room service and breakfast provided in hotels.
For shopping centres of more than 20,000m2, the decision over whether or not to demand health passes falls to the prefect.
A week of flexibility
It will be up to managers of the premises concerned to check their employees' QR code.
Failure to do so will result in sanctions: initially a warning, then formal notice, then a seven-day administrative closure, the government spokesman Gabriel Attal announced on Sunday.
A fine of €9,000 can be levied in the event of a repeat offence.
Employees who do not have the necessary QR code can take time off work, work from home, or may be assigned to a post where there is no contact with the public. Otherwise they are suspended without pay.
"There will be a week of flexibility, of pedagogy, of running in," government spokesman Gabriel Attal announced on Sunday.
But "there will obviously be sanctions afterwards," he warned.
Ongoing opposition
Some 170,000 people demonstrated against the health pass in towns across the country on Saturday, for the seventh consecutive week.
The restaurant and café sector, already badly hit by successive lockdowns and restrictions, is struggling to get back onto its feet. Many businesses have noticed a drop in clientele.
"Even I haven't had my second jab yet," Olivier, a restaurant owner in Paris's 19th district, told RFI.
"It takes time. And it's not my job to check my customers or my staff," he said. "Being able to put someone out of a job or suspend them without pay because they're not vaccinated is incredible, unheard of."
Longer deadlines
Healthcare workers and caregivers in contact with vulnerable people such as in hospitals and elderly people's homes have until 15 October to show they are fully vaccinated.
Employees under the age of 18, meanwhile, are not concerned by the health pass until 30 September.
French parliament approved the use of the health pass through to 15 November, though the health minister said on Friday that it may need to be prolonged "if Covid doesn't disappear from our lives".
More than 43 million people in France (64.6 percent) have received a full course of vaccination against Covid-19, according to the latest health authority figures.
