Virus infection no excuse for denying job

Editor’s note: There have been increasing reports about job discrimination cases against people who have recovered from COVID-19. Two experts share their views on the issue with China Daily’s Yao Yuxin. Excerpts follow:

Discrimination victims can seek compensation

Article 16 of the Law on Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases stipulates that:“The State and the community shall show concern about and help the infectious disease patients, pathogen carriers and suspected infectious disease patients and make it possible for them to receive timely medical treatment. No units or individuals shall discriminate against infectious disease patients, pathogen carriers and suspected infectious disease patients. ”

Based on Article 3 and 26 of the Employment Promotion Law, job seekers or employees should not be discriminated against due to differences, for example, in ethnicity, race, gender and religion.

So any discrimination against people who have recovered from COVID-19 violates these laws.

In March 2020, the General Office of the State Council issued a document saying: Maintain equal employment opportunity and resolutely correct job discrimination against workers from hard-hit areas. And on July 13, the executive meeting of the State Council, China’s Cabinet, reiterated that discrimination against people who had recovered from COVID-19 is strictly prohibited and such discrimination would be taken seriously.

Any discrimination against people due to their medical history is an infringement of their equal right to employment, and exactly takes an economic and emotional toll on them. There cannot be any reason for forcing them to go through the physical and mental trauma all over again. To seek redressal for violation of their rights, victims can file a civil lawsuit, and complain to the labor watchdog.

Job discrimination against people who have recovered from COVID-19 not only violates their employment rights and prevents them from leading a normal life but also hinders the resumption of economic activities, undermining economic recovery. The first thing to do to end such discrimination is raise the public awareness about the pandemic by using more scientific information and stop stigmatizing COVID-19 patients and recuperated people.

Second, companies that ask applicants about their medical history but do not recruit them in the end on flimsy medical/health grounds should be presumed to be discriminating against recovered people and made to prove otherwise. In addition, employers don’t have the right to accuse workers of “fraud” if they conceal their novel coronavirus infection.

And third, greater efforts should be made to protect the privacy of people with infectious diseases and those who have recovered from such diseases, and prevent their medical history from being publicly displayed.

Shen Jianfeng, head of the Law School, China University of Labor Relations.

Job seekers need policy help for equal treatment

It is illegal for companies and individuals to refuse employment to people who have recuperated from COVID-19. According to China’s Labor Law, the Law on Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, and the Employment Promotion Law, people have equal right to employment.

Governments at all levels should introduce policies to safeguard labor rights during the pandemic. Denying employment to people who have recovered from COVID-19 is job discrimination, which the laws forbid.

If the victims are refused during recruitment because of their COVID-19 infection history, and they have documentary or other evidence against such discriminatory practices, they can file a civil lawsuit, requiring potential employers to compensate them, pay for their economic loss and apologize for their actions. They can also report such cases to relevant government departments.

Besides, employees who are fired just because they contracted the novel coronavirus can seek administrative intervention for a negotiated solution, or seek arbitration to force their employer to abide by the labor contract or pay compensation for illegally terminating the labor contract. And they can resort to civil lawsuits if neither negotiation nor arbitration can resolve their problems.

Balancing pandemic prevention and control measures and economic activities to maintain healthy growth is a top priority of the government. Job discrimination could increase unemployment, slow down growth, or even bring bigger social troubles if the number of those affected keeps rising.

To end the prejudice against recovered people, it is important to plug the flow of misinformation. Also, the authorities should offer incentives to employers for hiring and not firing recovered people, because the main cause of such job discrimination is the high cost many employers have to pay to fulfill their social responsibility.

There is also a need to build higher firewalls to the protect people who have recovered from COVID-19 by restricting employers from asking employees or potential recruits to furnish their medical records, because recovered people need to be treated equally.

Yue Shenshan, a lawyer at Beijing Yuecheng Law Firm.

The views don’t necessarily represent those of China Daily.