President Jair Bolsonaro sanctioned a bill that changes the rules for the removal of pregnant employees, including domestic workers, from work activities during the pandemic period. The text determines the face-to-face return of pregnant workers after the completion of the vaccine scheme against covid-19, with two doses or a single dose (in the case of the Janssen vaccine).
The measure was definitively approved by the National Congress in February, modifying a law that had been in force since last year, and that guarantee to pregnant women the absence of face-to-face work without prejudice to salary.
The new law, which will be published in the Official Gazette on Thursday (10), establishes the cases in which the return to the face-to-face regime is mandatory for pregnant women: end of the state of emergency; after vaccination (from the day the Ministry of Health considers immunization complete); if she refuses to be vaccinated against the new coronavirus, with a disclaimer; or if there is a miscarriage with receipt of maternity pay during the two weeks of leave guaranteed by the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT).
The absence from face-to-face work is only maintained for women who have not yet completed the vaccination cycle.
The text considers that the option not to be vaccinated is an “expression of the fundamental right to freedom of individual self-determination”. According to the measure, if you decide not to be immunized, the pregnant woman must sign a term of responsibility and free consent for the exercise of face-to-face work.
For cases in which the worker’s face-to-face activities cannot be carried out remotely, even if her functions are changed, respecting her skills and personal conditions, the situation must be considered as a high-risk pregnancy until the pregnant woman completes the immunization and can return to work. in person.
During this period, she must receive the maternity allowance from the beginning of the leave until 120 days after giving birth or, if the company is part of the Empresa Cidadã program to extend the leave, for 180 days. However, there can be no retroactive payment to the date of publication of the law.
*The article was corrected at 18:13 to change the information passed on by the Presidency of the Republic. Unlike published, the standard is not yet in force. The new law will be published in the Official Gazette on Thursday (10/03).
