Post office will have to remove those who were with worker with Covid-19

Labor judge Francisco Alberto Giordani, vice president of TRT-15 (Regional Labor Court of the 15th Region), ordered the Post Office to remove all workers who had contact with contaminated colleagues and also those belonging to risk groups from face-to-face activities. .

Previous decision of the court already forced the removal of all those who were contaminated. The leave must be from seven to ten days, as provided for in ordinance 20 of the Ministries of Labor and Welfare and Health.

The decision, taken on Thursday (27), is a provisional guardianship and is valid only for workers in the region of Campinas (SP) – the action was initiated by the union of workers in the region.

“The Ministry of Labor ordinance extends the right to leave for these cases [os contatantes], which are now considered suspects. In my opinion, these people also have to be protected”, said the judge to leaf.

The EBCT (Brazilian Post and Telegraph Company) stated, in a note, that it only manifests itself in court on the processes to which it is a party. He also said that since March 2020, when the pandemic began, he has maintained sanitization routines at the agencies and monitored the health situation of his employees.

“The state company follows the guidelines of the Ministry of Health and other state and municipal health bodies with regard to confirmed and suspected cases,” he said.

For the vice-president of the TRT-15, the right to leave must also apply to workers who are part of risk groups and to those who live with people considered more susceptible in the event of contamination. In all cases, wrote the judge, the Post Office may designate remote work or telework.

The decision also provides for the obligation of the Post Office to keep the remuneration of all those away, even those who cannot continue working remotely.

In addition to ordinances 19 and 20, from the ministries of Labor and Welfare and Health, the vice president of TRT-15 also considered the principles of prevention and precaution, according to which there is an obligation to protect integrity and life.

“Nothing in this decision came out of the design of the existing legal system,” said Giordani.

other cases

This is not the first decision in which the Labor Court determines the removal of those considered suspected of contamination in the Post Office. The postal workers’ unions have already obtained other sentences and injunctions in the Labor Court to suspend face-to-face work in treatment and distribution centers.

In Santo André (ABC), Sintect-SP (Sindicato dos Trabalhadores dos Correios de São Paulo, Grande SP and Sorocaba) obtained an injunction to remove all workers for 15 days whenever there is a confirmed case of contamination at the CTC (Centre for of Letters) of the municipality.

The public company was also required to carry out tests on employees before they return to work. The public civil action that determined the adoption of the measures took place in judicial secrecy and has now been definitively closed.

In another case, the union obtained an injunction to determine the release of face-to-face work, for a period of 15 days, of all those who had a positive diagnosis at the CTO (Center for Operational Transport) Jaguaré (west zone of the capital of São Paulo), and the test on all other employees. The case is being processed by the 2nd Labor Court in São Paulo, and a hearing scheduled for June this year will seek an agreement between the public company and the union.

According to Sintect-SP lawyer Fabrício Máximo, there are currently 22 Correios operating units in Greater São Paulo with injunctions and sentences providing for the removal of all workers whenever there is a positive diagnosis of one of the employees, with the possibility of maintaining the activity through telework.