Law to Protect App Deliverypeople During Covid-19 Comes into Effect

On January 6, 2022, Law nº 14.297/2022 came into force, providing for measures to safeguard deliverypeople who render services through delivery apps during the public health emergency declared by the Brazilian government due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Law nº 14.297/2022 classifies the deliverypeople as the workers who pick up and deliver products and services via delivery app platforms and the delivery app companies as those whose core business is the intermediation between clients and products/services suppliers via electronic platforms.

The main protection measures established by Law nº 14.297/2022 to deliverypeople:

• Delivery app companies are responsible for providing deliverypeople with:
  
  (i) accident insurance without a deductible,
  (ii) financial assistance to deliverypeople who are on leave due to Covid-19 and
  (iii) information about Covid-19-related risks and the necessary preventive care.
  
  
• Measures that products/services supply companies are responsible for providing deliverypeople with:
  
  (i) sanitary facilities and
  (ii) access to clean water.

Law nº 14.297/2022 also establishes that delivery app companies and products/services supply companies must prioritize making the internet as the main form of payment.

Regarding necessary contractual provisions, the contract and/or registration instruments signed by the parties must provide for the ability to block, suspend and/or delete the deliveryperson’s profile from the electronic platform.

The noncompliance of any provision established by Law nº 14.297/2022 subjects the delivery app companies and the products/services supply companies to a formal warning and, in case of recidivism , the payment of an administrative fine equivalent to BRL 5,000 per infraction.

The provisions of Law nº 14.297/2022 cannot substantiate the legal nature of the relationship established between the deliveryperson and the delivery app company.