Minister Luís Roberto Barroso, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), decided, this Friday (12), to suspend parts of the Ministry of Labor and Welfare’s ordinance that determined that companies could not demand proof of vaccination against Covid-19 dos employees. The decision will be taken to the STF’s virtual plenary, but no date has yet been set.
The minister makes an exception for people who have express medical contraindication to vaccination, and these people must undergo periodic testing.
“MTPS Ordinance No. 620/2021 prohibits the employer from requiring documents proving vaccination for
hiring or maintaining the employment relationship, equating the measure with discriminatory practices based on sex, origin, race, among others. However, the requirement of vaccination is not comparable to the aforementioned practices, as it is aimed at protecting the health and life of other employees and the general public”, says Barroso in his decision.
The Ministry of Labor published an ordinance in an extra edition in the Official Gazette on November 1st, prohibiting companies from requiring proof of vaccination when hiring or maintaining a worker’s job.
The ordinance cites article 7 of the Federal Constitution, which prohibits any discriminatory practice in the act of hiring for reasons of “sex, origin, race, color, marital status, family status, disability, professional rehabilitation, age, among others”, considering that the request for a vaccination certificate, as well as dismissal for just cause motivated by the refusal, are also “segregationists”.
“Furthermore, the applicants also observe that the requirement of proof of vaccination for the purposes of employment contract is a measure determined by art. 5, §5, of Ordinance No. 597/2004, of the Ministry of Health, in force, therefore, for 17 (seventeen) years”, stated Barroso.
Reference: CNN Brasil
