Employee sick leave with Covid drops to ten days

The federal government formalized this Tuesday (25) the reduction in the period of removal of workers with Covid-19.

The leave time for contamination by the coronavirus becomes ten days, counted from the first day of symptoms or the test. The leave may drop to seven days if the worker has been without a fever for more than 24 hours, without the use of antipyretic drugs, and has had improvement in respiratory symptoms.

The previous deadline, set by ordinances 19 and 20, of June 2020, was 14 days. This Tuesday, the ministries of Health, Labor and Welfare and Agriculture, Livestock and Supply updated the annexes of these standards, which detail the parameters for prevention, control and mitigation of transmission risks.

The change had been expected since early January, when the Ministry of Health reduced isolation intervals for people with Covid-19. The quarantine of asymptomatic infected people, for whom the recommendation to withdraw from activities and contacts was ten days, was now five.

For workers, another change brought by the new annexes is the isolation time for those who had contact with contaminated people and also the interval for this worker to be considered at risk.

In the previous publication, the government established as contacts those who were with someone infected between two before and 14 days after the onset of symptoms or laboratory confirmation. As of this Tuesday, this interval drops to between two before and ten days later.

Suspected cases, for having contact with someone infected, still need to be removed from face-to-face work, but the period of isolation also drops from 14 to ten days. These workers can also return to face-to-face activities sooner.

The ordinance provides that the return can occur on the 8th day from contact with the contaminated person, provided that the company sends the employee for testing from the 5th day onwards.

The worker on leave because he has Covid-19, because he has suspicious flu-like symptoms or because he has had contact with someone infected is entitled to the maintenance of his remuneration during the leave – this guarantee is maintained in the update of the ordinances.

In the opinion of lawyer Luiz Guilherme Migliora, partner in the labor area of ​​Veirano Advogados, the new wording of the recommendations equates the understanding of suspected and confirmed cases. What changes is that, for those who have only been close to contaminated people, the rules published this Tuesday authorize the early return.

“The change is meeting a demand from everyone, since there are more cases and less serious. Remembering that you can always leave for more or less time depending on what the medical report recommends”, he says.

The rule updated this Tuesday by the government provides that workers aged 60 or over or who present clinical conditions at risk for developing complications from Covid-19 should receive special attention, and telework or remote work can be adopted at the employer’s discretion.

In the previous standard, from 2020, the recommendation was to give priority to their permanence in remote work or in a place that reduces contact with other workers and the public, when possible.

Another change brought by the Jair Bolsonaro government (PL) in this Tuesday’s publications was the replacement interval for protective masks, which rose from three to four hours. The ministries were contacted to explain the modification, but have not yet responded.

In a note, they said the changes were updated by a working group and are in line with version four of the Ministry of Health’s epidemiological surveillance guide.

The use of protective masks is considered one of the central measures for protection. The update of the ordinances maintains the understanding that disposable and fabric masks are not considered personal protective equipment (PPE), but does not change the recommendation regarding the type of mask to be provided to workers.

With the significant increase in cases of Covid-19 from the dispersion of the omicron variant, health experts have reinforced the recommendation for the use of PFF2 masks, especially in closed or poorly ventilated places.

Also identified by the code N95, these protective equipment are considered more effective than fabric or disposable ones, and block 99% of aerosol particles.

The easing of isolation measures for workers was expected by entrepreneurs who, from December, saw the volume of sick leaves grow. In addition to the Covid cases, Brazil has also experienced an influenza epidemic caused by a new virus that results in stronger flu.

Combined, the two waves embezzled companies. Intensive sectors in labor and movement of people, such as supermarkets, public transport, bars and restaurants, already felt, in the first days of the year, the increase in absences.

In civil aviation, hundreds of flights were canceled due to lack of crew, which led Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency) to relax a rule that defined a minimum number of flight attendants. In malls, shopkeepers even asked for a reduction in opening hours due to lack of staff.