This year various labor provisions that have forced employers to be in constant adaptation, testing their resilience capacity to face the challenges that the pandemic continues to generate.
This is what Alissa Del Pino, associate at Miranda & Amado and specialist in labor law, points out. And, taking into account that there is still total uncertainty regarding what 2022 brings us, with the appearance even of a new variant, the lawyer considers that companies should prepare to make important decisions such as whether or not to return to face-to-face work, better implementation of remote work or even telecommuting application.
“Communication and dialogue between workers and employers, as well as the prevention of the latter in the face of new scenarios that arise, are recommended tools to face the next year and achieve labor and business objectives”, He specifies.
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The specialist mentions that this 2021 had as its main axis the health situation and, therefore, labor issues were not exempt from the vaccination process in the country.
Remember that after the uncertainty of the treatment that would be given to unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated workers, through Supreme Decree No. 179-2021-PCM, the obligation to have the complete scheme was established as of December 10 of vaccination for the effective return to face-to-face work.
In line with this, it was also established that in case a worker does not have said complete vaccination scheme, he will not be able to attend to work in person, having to continue carrying out his work remotely or, if this is not possible due to the nature of his activities, the perfect suspension of the employment contract will be applied, unless there is a different agreement between the employer and the worker.
“At the moment there has only been a temporary exception until January 14, 2022 for those workers whose job is classified as low risk of exposure and who, in addition, perform face-to-face work outdoors throughout the work day”, He reports.
Digital disconnect
Another point that marked the labor agenda has been the regulation of the right to digital disconnection, of computer, telecommunications or similar means that are used for the provision of their services, says Del Pino.
It stands out that this right was recognized in November 2020 (Emergency Decree 127-2020), but the regulatory norms were published in March (Supreme Decree 004-2021), through which differentiated treatments were defined among the personnel audited and not audited; Likewise, infractions were established in the event that employers demand some type of task from workers during their disconnection time.
“Companies have devised issues to ensure compliance with this right, although the different business needs and profiles are often complicated and challenging.”, It indicates.
Return to face-to-face
The lawyer also comments that, during the course of 2021, the return to face-to-face, total or mixed work increased, considering that the emergency regulations were made more flexible in terms of allowed economic activities, alert levels and social immobilization schedules.
These plans, he maintains, will continue in 2022, with the challenge of opting for a face-to-face option in its entirety or flexibility in favor of workers with a mixed option and, furthermore, considering that the context of sanitary restrictions will continue to be uncertain, due to the threats of the new variants or the new increases in contagion levels.
Additionally, it specifies that the provisions are still in force so that the return is in a safe way and with the least exposure to avoid contagion within the workplace; For this reason, the surveillance, control and prevention plans against COVID 19 are still in force. “However, this month Ministerial Resolution No. 1275-2021-MINSA was approved, which contains the current guidelines,” he says.
Finally, Del Pino details that among its main provisions are: (i) verify that workers have the full dose of vaccination; (ii) the natural ventilation of the work centers must be ensured in a natural and mechanical way; (iii) disinfection or hand washing points must be established within the workplace; (iv) the employer must carry out information and orientation activities that sensitize workers to the prevention of contagion in the workplace; among other.
