The Chamber of Deputies approved this Wednesday (1st) the bill that establishes protection measures for application deliverers during the Covid-19 pandemic. The text provides, among other measures, that companies offer financial aid for 15 days to workers on leave because of the disease.
The bill, which goes to the Senate, was presented by Deputy Ivan Valente (PSOL-SP) and other opposition lawmakers in April last year, right after the start of the pandemic. In July, delivery drivers protested asking for fairer rates for app companies and help with basic protection items during the coronavirus pandemic.
The proposal sets out measures that should be in effect until the end of the public health emergency caused by Covid-19.
According to the text, the delivery application company must contract accident insurance, without deductible, for the delivery person registered with it, exclusively for accidents that occur during the period of withdrawal and delivery of products. The insurance must cover, necessarily, personal accidents, permanent or temporary disability and death.
If the delivery person provides services for more than one company, the indemnity, in the event of an accident, will be paid by the insurance contracted by the company for which the delivery person provided the service at the time of the accident.
The bill says that the application company must ensure the delivery person removed by Covid-19 has financial assistance for a period of 15 days, extended for two more periods of 15 days, upon presentation of proof or medical report.
Financial assistance will be calculated according to the average of the last three monthly payments received by the delivery person.
The help is subject to the presentation of proof of positive result for Covid-19, obtained through an RT-PCR test, or a medical report attesting to the absence.
The delivery application company must provide the delivery person with information about the risks of Covid-19 and the necessary precautions to prevent contagion and prevent the spread of the disease.
In addition, you must provide masks and alcohol gel or other sanitizing material to the deliverymen, for personal protection during deliveries. The project allows the company to comply with this rule through the transfer or reimbursement of expenses made by the delivery person.
The application company will be able to provide food to the delivery person through the worker feeding programs.
The supplier of the product or service must take the necessary measures to avoid contact between the delivery person and other people during the collection and delivery of products and services, and allow the delivery person to use the sanitary facilities of his establishment. It must also ensure that the employee has access to drinking water.
The text also says that the company providing the product or service must adopt measures so that the delivery person does not have contact with the final consumer.
Until the end of the public health emergency, the application delivery company and the supplier of the product or service must adopt the internet payment method as a matter of priority. If it is necessary to use an electronic device or other means of payment, the supplier of the product or service must take every care to ensure minimum contact between the delivery person and the final consumer.
In addition, the contract or registration agreement entered into between the application company and the delivery person must expressly state the cases of blocking, suspension or exclusion of the delivery person from the digital platform.
The application of account exclusion will be preceded by prior notice, with at least three working days, and will be accompanied by the reasons that motivated the decision, which must be substantiated, preserving the security and privacy of the platform user.
This period will not be applied in case of threat to the security and integrity of the platform, restaurants and consumers, due to suspected criminal offenses provided for in current legislation.
If the application company or the one that uses delivery services does not comply with the law, a warning will be applied and, in case of recurrence, the payment of an administrative fine in the amount of R$ 5 thousand per offense committed.
According to the text, the benefits provided will not serve as a basis for characterizing the legal nature of the relationship between delivery agents and application companies.
In a speech, deputy Ivan Valente thanked for the approval of the project. “It’s not a personal victory, it’s a victory for the Chamber of Deputies, because the Chamber of Deputies has an obligation to serve essential workers who have become app deliverers,” he said.
“These people, in the pandemic, became fundamental, at a time of closure without vaccine, without anything, they were on the streets every day,” he said. Ivan Valente stated that the report should have been voted “a long time ago to reach the height of the pandemic”, so that there could be an “immediate response and so that we could show solidarity in Brazil”.
According to the approved text, the application company must:
- hire accident insurance, without deductible, for the registered delivery person
- ensure financial assistance for the delivery person removed by Covid-19 for a period of 15 days, extendable
- provide the delivery person with information about the risks of Covid-19
- provide masks and gel alcohol or other sanitizing material to deliverymen
- adopt the internet payment method as a matter of priority.
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