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RJ's Labor Court determines that an offshore company pays overtime to a worker who is quarantined in a hotel before boarding. Case could become a precedent for Petrobras, third parties and other oil companies to do the same

Written by Paulo Nogueira
Published 20/08/2021 ร s 08:23
Petrobras Labor Court Offshore Hotel shipment

One of the most frequent doubts that Nogueira Advogados has received is about the obligation to quarantine in a hotel before boarding platforms and support vessels. Learn how a new TRT/RJ determination in August 2021 can benefit oil tankers from now on


With the advent of the pandemic, the Petrobras and the companies of offshore operation determined for their employees a confinement regime of 7 to 10 days in the hotel before boarding.

In confinement, there is initially a COVID test and isolation prior to boarding, where the worker is monitored in isolation in his room, without social interaction, especially with his family, without any payment for this.

In evaluating the Nogueira Lawyers, these hotels do not have the structure or support for any treatment of symptoms, even exposing the other guests, who are not even aware of such practices.

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Thus, the worker who was supposed to comply with a shift, either 14/21 or 21/21, had illegally and harmfully altered his physical and, mainly, psychological rest, in addition to his family life being cut off.

Some operators, even under the protection of the law, have extended their scales to 28/28, jeopardizing the health and physical integrity of offshore workers, whether or not they are employees of Petrobras and other third parties.

TRT/RJ decision may be precedent for other similar cases

The TRT/RJ (Rio de Janeiro Labor Court) understands that the physical and mental health of these oil workers is not negotiable. As if the exhausting journey on the high seas were not enough, the offshore worker is now forced to be confined without any payment of values, around 10 days in the hotel.

For this reason, many workers have their physical and psychological problems aggravated, and thus have been filing labor lawsuits to have their rights recognized by the courts.

The extraordinary news is that the titular judge of the 56th Labor Court of the capital of Rio de Janeiro condemned the COMPANY to pay the said days as overtime with the due legal consequences. The judgment can still be appealed to higher courts.

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Paulo Nogueira

With a technical background, I worked in the offshore oil and gas market for a few years. Today, my team and I are dedicated to bringing information from the Brazilian energy sector and the world, always with credible and up-to-date sources.

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