Covid-19 absence of up to ten days does not require a medical certificate

The worker with symptoms of Covid, with a diagnosis confirmed by testing or who had contact with someone infected has the right to leave work in person for up to ten days without having to present a medical certificate.

The guarantee is not expressed in ordinance 20, which deals with measures to control and prevent transmission in the work environment, but the understanding was confirmed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.

“For the removal provided for in the ordinance, you do not need a certificate. However, if the worker needs to stay away for longer (beyond ten days), the certificate is necessary”, said the folder.

The ordinance practically equals the classification of confirmed cases, suspected cases and the so-called contacts, which are those who have had contact with someone infected. Everyone can stay out of face-to-face activities for a period between seven and ten days.

This contact may have been at home, when someone from the same family unit catches the virus, or at work, when the two people – the one with Covid and the one with a suspicion – were in the same environment for more than 15 minutes, less than a meter away. away, without a mask or with inadequate protection, had direct physical contact, or shared the same transport.

By equating the three situations, the government ordinance guarantees everyone the same treatment, which is the right to leave without the obligation to have a certificate. In the case of a diagnosis confirmed by testing, lawyers have been recommending that companies protect themselves and only allow the employee to continue working if he/she expresses this will. The employer cannot demand continuity of work.

On Thursday (27), labor judge Francisco Alberto Giordani, vice president of the TRT-15 (Regional Labor Court of the 15th Region), ordered the Post Office in the Campinas region to remove workers who had contact with contaminated colleagues for a period of time. from seven to ten days.

AT leaf, he stated that the dismissal of face-to-face work must occur from the proof of contact with the contaminated, and highlighted that the medical certificate is not feasible for the contacts. Without symptoms, there would be nothing to be certified by the medical services.

Whether in the case of Post Office employees, who managed to obtain the injunction, or for the other workers, when remote work was not feasible, the employee will be away without working, and will not be able to have the discount of the days.

Understand the deadlines

–> Covid Diagnosis

• The test serves as initial proof of contamination
• It was already being considered equivalent to the certificate
• The ten-day leave begins to be counted on the day following the test.

if you have attested

• The number of days indicated by the doctor is valid, whether it is longer or shorter than ten days.

early return

• The employee can return to face-to-face work on the 8th day of absence
• The return will depend on whether he does not have a fever for 24 hours straight, without the use of antipyretics
• Respiratory symptoms also need to be milder than in the first few days

working or not

• The ordinance provides for removal from face-to-face work
• Anyone who can continue working remotely continues to work
• This does not apply to more serious cases, which require medical care and guidance.

–> Symptoms of Covid

It is considered a worker with flu syndrome who has at least two symptoms:

• fever (even when measured at home)
• cough
• breathing difficulty
• olfactory and taste disorders
• chills
• sore throat and headache
• corisa
• diarrhea

removal

• The worker with these symptoms has the right to stay away for ten days
• The period starts the day after the symptoms appear.
• If he doesn’t go to the doctor, the leave can be reduced to seven days
• The return on the eighth day will depend on whether he does not have a fever for 24 hours straight, without the use of antipyretics
• Respiratory symptoms also need to be milder than in the first few days

Contact with someone infected

The ordinance provides some criteria for those who have had contact with a person with Covid:

• had contact for more than 15 minutes, less than one meter away, with a confirmed case, without a face mask or with the mask used incorrectly
• had direct physical contact, such as shaking hands, hugging, or other types of contact with a confirmed case
• stayed less than a meter away during transport for more than 15 minutes
• shared the same home environment with a confirmed case, including dormitories and housing

contact interval

• Contacts occurring between two days before and ten days after the symptoms of a colleague or family member are suspected
• These people, even if they do not have symptoms, are considered suspects of contamination.

removal

• It must be ten days from the last contact with the infected person
• Leave can be reduced to seven days
• For this, the company must pay for a Covid test from the fifth day of leave
• If the test is negative, the worker can return on the eighth day to face-to-face work