Brazil: government sends pregnant women back to work

The working conditions for pregnant women have been overhauled by Law 14.311, which was passed by Brazil’s chamber of deputies in February before being validated by President Jair Bolsonaro, of the far-right Liberal Party, on 10 March. Since May last year, pregnant women in Brazil have been entitled to keep their salary, even if their work cannot be done remotely. However, if this law is validated by the Senate, they will have to return to work and adhere to social distancing guidelines to protect themselves from Covid-19. This measure also applies to pregnant women who have refused to be vaccinated, as the law considers that they are exercising their “fundamental rights and individual freedom” by not being vaccinated. At the end of December, only 21% of the 3 million pregnant women in Brazil had received their second dose of the vaccine, despite representing an at-risk group. The mistrust of vaccines and women returning to work because of the end of this salary preservation measure could endanger the health of female employees and their unborn child in the event they catch the virus. Companies will nevertheless be able to opt to keep pregnant employees working from home despite this law. The Brazilian president’s decision responds to concerns expressed by the country’s economy ministry, which warned that the “granting of the benefit jeopardises the sustainability of the social security system”. According to government officials, keeping the measure in place would cost public coffers about 40 million reals a month (€7 million), or about 400 million reals (€70 million) by the end of the year.