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Two Government Organs: Crackdown on Employment Discrimination Against People Who Recover from COVID-19!

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People’s Republic of China and the National Health Commission issued the "Urgent Notice on Resolutely Combating Employment Discrimination Against People Who Have Recovered from COVID-19" on August 1, strictly prohibiting employers and human resources service agencies from refusing people who were positive in the nucleic acid testing but have recovered from the disease. It is strictly forbidden for employers to discriminate against people who once suffered from COVID-19 in the process of entry and employment. It is strictly forbidden for employers to illegally fire recovered people at will.

The Notice pointed out that recently, some places abused the "health code" and other testing and query tools to implement employment discrimination against people once suffering from COVID-19, which seriously infringed upon workers' equal employment rights and interests and aroused strong social protest. To guarantee the equal employment rights and interests of those people according to laws, the Notice requires that inquiring about the result of nucleic acid testing should be standardized. Except when epidemic prevention and control demands the result of nucleic acid testing in a scientific and reasonable inquiry period, no unit or individual is allowed to illegally ask about it without authorization. It is strictly forbidden for employers to release or entrust the release of recruitment information containing discriminatory content, e.g. a historical positive nucleic acid test.

The Notice requires strengthening investigation and inspection. Suppose employers, human resources service agencies, or other units and individuals illegally inquire about nucleic acid test results, set an inquiry period beyond a reasonable time limit, or apply employment discrimination against people having recovered from the disease. In that case, they must be quickly investigated and handled according to the division of responsibilities and through effective measures such as administrative interviews, notification exposure, administrative handling, and administrative penalties. If the recruitment information contains relevant discriminatory content, the labor security supervisor shall deal with the case by heavy punishment in accordance with laws and regulations. Those concerning other employment discrimination or illegal use of nucleic acid testing information should be held accountable in line with relevant laws and regulations.

The Notice also emphasizes the need to reinforce supervision, guidance, and inspection. Any malpractice should be corrected within a time limit. Holding relevant units and responsible persons accountable in accordance with laws and regulations is also necessary. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the National Health Commission will investigate the implementation of various regulations in all regions openly and secretly as applicable to promote the process.

Copyright by Zhengzhou Municipal Tourism Administration