House of Representatives approves Bill of Law n. 2.058/2021, which provides the return to on-site work for pregnant employees after immunization

In brief 

The Bill of Law n. 2.058/2021, approved on October 6, 2021 by the House of Representatives, changes significantly the Law n. 14.151/2021, currently in effect, to provide the mandatory return to on-site work of pregnant employees vaccinated against COVID-19 and aims to provide measures to deal with the legal gaps brought by the legislation in force.

More details

Among the innovations, the Bill of Law provides for the (i) mandatory return to on-site work for immunized pregnant employees, regardless of the end of the current public health emergency situation; (ii) possibility of temporary suspension of the employment agreement with receipt of the Emergency Employment and Income Maintenance Benefit (BEm), when the role performed by the employee is not compatible with telework, remote work or other form of work at a distance – with the possibility, in these cases, of the renegotiation of collective bargaining agreements executed before the suspension of the contract.

As the Bill of Law was presented on June 7, 2021, the article 1th-A mentions that for the pregnant employees who are not working on-site and while the period of maternity leave has not started, will be subject to the Executive Orders 1.045/2021 and 1.046/2021. However, during the analysis of the Bill, the Executive Orders n. 1.045/21 lost its validity and the 1.046/2021 was rejected by the Senate.

For the next steps, the Bill of Law n. 2.058/2021 will be remitted to the Senate’s analysis.