Federal Supreme Court suspends the effectiveness of two points of Provisional Measure 927/2020

In a session concluded yesterday (April 29, 2020), the Federal Supreme Court (STF), in a plenary session, by majority vote, suspended two parts of Provisional Measure No. 927/2020 (which authorizes employers to adopt exceptional measures in relation to the employment contract during the pandemic of covid-19).

By majority, the ministers maintained the validity of the main points of the referred measure, but suspended article 29, which establishes that the coronavirus is not an occupational disease, and article 31, which flexibilizes labor authorities’ work. Such dispositions set forth the following:

“Article 29. Cases of contamination by the coronavirus (covid-19) will not be considered occupational, except upon proving of the causal connection.

Article 31. During the period of one hundred and eighty days, counted from the date of entry into force of this Provisional Measure, the Labor Auditors of the Ministry of Economy will act in a guiding manner (…) “

Accordingly, these articles remain suspended until the Provisional Measure is voted by the two Houses of National Congress.

As the suspension of article 29 of PM 927/2020 brings new questions, by the companies, about how the contamination can be judged by the Labor Court, it is recommended that employers reinforce, for all purposes and effects, the adoption of measures that prove that all precautions to prevent the spread of the virus in the workplace have been duly taken.

Our Labor Team remains at your disposal to clarify any doubts.