• 17 April 2020 | Mozambique

    Right to a safe work

Up until now, there was no specific Mozambique legislation on the COVID-19 outbreak.  The government announced precautionary measures covering travel restrictions, suspending gatherings over 50 people, closure of schools and other preventative measures to reduce contamination.

These measures have implications into our daily lives which the Legal portfolio has reviewed. From the Legal standpoint, Labour Law (Law no. 23/2007, of 1 August – “LL”) indicates that the employers need to adopt measures regarding the safety, health and hygiene at work, which includes:

  • Ensuring that employees benefit from the right to perform their work in good hygiene and safe conditions by protecting the integrity of employees and improving working conditions
  • Providing employees good physical, environmental and moral working conditions, inform them of the risks and instruct them on how to comply with the rules on hygiene and safety at work
  • Where necessary, employers must provide protective equipment and appropriate work clothing to prevent accidents or detrimental effects to the health of employees.

Needless to say that all need to rigorously comply with the legal and regulatory rules, as well as the directives and instructions of authorities on matters of hygiene and safety at work.With such background and in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak, members should consider:

  • Being alert of COVID-19 symptoms and implement measures to prevent the spread especially related to good hygiene and providing equipment to comply such as hand sanitizers and masks
  • Increase routine cleanings, particularly in high-footprint areas, creating spaces between workstations, increasing remote-work capabilities and restricting visitor policies
  • Maintaining isolation rooms in the facilities where practical and possible
  • Creating measures or procedures to inform health authorities and employee’s families on measures to take to allow public health actions to be complied with
  • Request employees to inform whether they travelled to infected areas or countries and, should that be the case, instruct them to remain at home for 14-days
  • Instructing employees to use alternative contact measures instead of face-to-face meetings where practical or possible.

The Legal portfolio is monitoring current developments and will keep the Jamat informed of regulation updates and implications. Meantime, for legal advice or need for support please contact your legal member.