On 05/13/2021, Law 14.151/2021 was published, which determines the absence from work of pregnant workers during the covid-19 pandemic, without prejudice to their remuneration.
According to this law, pregnant workers will be at the disposal of their employers to perform their activities at home, by means of telecommuting, remote work, or any other form of remote work.
Despite the importance of this determination, since pregnant women, since April 2020, are considered by the Ministry of Health to be a risk group for COVID-19, it is certain that the law is too simplistic, creating some distortions and leaving many situations untreated.
For activities that cannot be performed remotely (as is the case of domestic help, supermarket cashiers, industrial operators, among many others that do not allow remote work), the law simply transfers to the employer the burden of maintaining the full salary of the professional who will not be able to provide services, and who will need to be replaced by another employee, also at his own expense, without any support from the Government. Even the obligation to pay INSS charges – which cannot be accessed to cover the remuneration for the period – is suspended in this situation.
Furthermore, the law gives no weight to the efforts of companies that can be proven to comply with all the safety protocols stipulated by the government and competent authorities.
And that’s not all. The law was passed at a time when vaccination of pregnant and lactating women had already begun in most of the country. However, Law 14.151/2021 does not allow pregnant employees who have already been vaccinated to resume their in-person activities.
Thus, despite the laudable objective of Law 14.151/2021, it is certain that it needs to be complemented, since it leaves the employer fully responsible for maintaining the wages of pregnant employees, until the beginning of the maternity leave, even if they are not able to provide services remotely.
Finally, it is not too much to point out that this burden is attributed to employers without any distinction of size or activity, whether large economic conglomerates, multinational companies, small businesses, and even domestic employers, which doesn’t seem to make sense, especially considering the delicate economic moment our companies are going through, and in which more financial support from the Government would be needed.
The above text is not exhaustive and does not represent or replace a specific recommendation from an analysis of the case. DDSA Advogados will be available to guide its clients regarding the application of Law 14.151/2021.