See what changes for the worker with the end of the Covid-19 emergency

The end of the public health emergency announced on Sunday (18) by Minister Marcelo Queiroga, of Health, will also affect the lives of workers who, since March 2020, have been subject to temporary changes in rules and obligations.

The repeal of the state to deal with the health crisis will definitively end the obligation for companies to require the use of masks, to automatically remove workers with flu symptoms and to give priority to teleworking for those over 60 years old. You can also anticipate the end of remote work for pregnant women. Even the requirement for delivery apps such as iFood, Rappi and Loggi to be required to take out accident insurance will be revoked.

The number of ordinances from the Ministry of Health that will be affected by the repeal of the state of emergency has passed 170, which deal from rules for purchases of inputs, but also affect regulations for work environments.

In a press conference on Monday (18), Queiroga said that an ordinance published by the end of this week will formalize the end of the state of emergency in health.

This publication will be accompanied by a technical note that will create, according to Queiroga, a transition to norms and laws linked to the emergency situation. “A legal system of its own was created and some federal laws would lose their effect,” said the Minister of Health. “It is necessary for them to have a transition.”

According to Rodrigo Cruz, executive secretary of the Ministry of Health, the interministerial decree 17, of March 22 this year, which dispensed with the use of masks, was already a possible flexibility based on the available epidemiological data, the same parameter used in the decision to end the state of emergency.

The emergency declaration was made through ordinance 188, of February 3, 2020, just over a month before the WHO (World Health Organization) classified contamination by the coronavirus as a pandemic.

As long as the measure is not published, all ordinances or laws linked to the state of health emergency continue to apply.

Here’s what to change:

Will I be forced to return to face-to-face work?

The options for remote work, home office or face-to-face activity are decisions of the company and are not affected by the state of emergency. Although work outside the company’s premises has been adopted by more companies since the beginning of the pandemic, it was not mandatory.

Companies that have adopted teleworking or hybrid work models will now need to formalize the option in a contractual amendment, as, in the opinion of lawyer Maria Lucia Benhame, there will no longer be any justification for the model to remain unregulated.

What changes about the use of masks?

The interministerial decree 17, of March 22, had already ended the obligation for companies to demand and provide disposable or fabric masks to employees. The obligation was maintained only in relation to employees with risky clinical conditions or aged 60 or over.

The rules of this ordinance are conditioned to the state of public health emergency and, unless the technical note provided by the Ministry of Health defines other parameters, all its articles will lose their validity.

Labor law professor Ricardo Calcini says he understands that, regardless of the end of the ordinance’s effectiveness, the requirement to wear masks indoors is a prerogative of the employer.

Without the ordinance and without the state of emergency, however, he believes that the tendency is for organizations to also dispense with the obligation, since the imposition also loses the purpose.

I’m pregnant and away from face-to-face work. Will I be forced to return to the company?

Yes, the company can demand the return. The mandatory removal of pregnant women was provided for in a recently amended law, which maintained the home office or telework only for those who were not yet fully vaccinated.

In the opinion of lawyer Maria Lucia Benhame, with the end of the state of emergency in public health, pregnant women will have to return to work, vaccinated or not.

If I have flu or cold symptoms, do I no longer need to stay away?

No, unless the Ministry of Health’s technical note brings some new rule on the removal of workers with symptoms or who have had contact with contaminated people. Ricardo Calcini says that companies will be able to foresee parameters in their safety and health plans.

It is more likely, however, that the general rules for sick leave will apply, according to which it is necessary to undergo medical attention and, at the discretion of the doctor, to stay away or not. Without a medical certificate, the absence is considered an unexcused absence.

Will any laws cease to apply with the end of the emergency?

Yes, all those whose effectiveness was linked to the public health emergency, such as pregnant women. It is also the situation of Law 14,297, which forced delivery platforms to take out insurance and provide financial assistance to motorcycle couriers who work through them, in case of removal.