MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil's Labour Ministry bans sacking of unvaccinated workers

Lorenzoni's ordinance classifies as “discriminatory practice” the dismissal of an employee who refuses to submit proof of vaccination against COVID-19

Brazil's Labour Minister Onyx Lorenzoni has signed a resolution banning the dismissal of workers because they are not vaccinated against COVID-19. The ministerial document also labels such a requirement on the part of employers as “discriminatory.”

Lorenzoni's decision, published Monday in an extra issue of the Official Gazette, states that companies may not demand proof of vaccination when hiring new employees, nor can they dismiss members of their current staff for lacking such proof.

Lorenzoni's guidelines would clash with local Labor Court rulings. In São Paulo, the Regional Labor Court (TRT) upheld the dismissal of a hospital employee who did not want to be vaccinated.

The federal Superior Labor Court (TST) has not ruled yet on the matter but it does require vaccination from its workers.

Legal experts quoted by Brazilian media have said the ministerial resolution may neither restrict nor create any rights, but merely regulate what the law provides. And there is no law on the subject.

Lorenzoni's ordinance classifies as “discriminatory practice” the dismissal of an employee who refuses to submit proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or the requirement of such a document as a condition for hiring. The bylaw also equates the vaccination requirement with discriminatory practices related to sex, race, colour, age and disability, which employers are banned by law from adopting.

The ministerial ordinance also establishes penalties for employers, ranging from the reinstatement of the dismissed worker with full pay to clearing the way for said workers to seek additional compensation for moral damages.

The Ministry also allows employers to offer COVID-19 testing to their workers, who in that case may not refuse to undergo the procedure. Those with proof of vaccination, are exempt from this requirement.

“In order to ensure the preservation of sanitary conditions in the work environment, employers may offer their workers periodic testing to prove non-contamination by Covid-19, in which caseworkers are required to carry out testing or presentation of vaccination card,” the ministerial ordinance states.

“The employer must establish and disseminate guidelines or protocols indicating the necessary measures to prevent, control and mitigate the risks of transmission of Covid-19 in the workplace,” it goes on.

Companies may also “establish incentive policies to the vaccination of its workers,” according to the Labor Ministry.

Other legal experts believed the ordinance would have been co-signed by the Health Ministry, which is ultimately responsible for measures against the spreading of the disease.