Decisive crackdown vowed on employment discrimination against recovered COVID patients

An urgent notice jointly issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the National Health Commission on Monday vows a decisive crackdown on job discrimination against recovered COVID- 19 patients amid a public outcry for equal rights of employment for those with an infection history.

The notice stressed the prohibition on employers and human resource service providers from refusing to recruit or hire recovered COVID- 19 patients with the excuse that they had once tested positive for the COVID- 19.

The latest notice pointed out that mobile apps, such as health codes, have been improperly used by some recruiters and employers in some places as tools to check job applicants’ history of COVID- 19 infection, and discrimination against the recovered patients has severely violated workers’ rights and interests to equal employment.

The authorities also stipulated that the relevant results for nucleic acid tests shall not be queried illegally without authorization by any company or individual, apart from the need for epidemic prevention and control. It vowed to investigate and expose job discrimination and further smooth channels for complaints and reports.

A migrant worker surnamed Ren who was once left jobless and homeless and had to live at the Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station for over one month due to his history of infection told the Global Times on Monday that he had just found a job in his hometown in Nanjing, East China’s Jiangsu Province. Upon arrival in Nanjing, Ren has been required to take nucleic acid tests regularly according to the local epidemic prevention and control policy. Nobody has queried his history of infection during his job- hunting.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang stressed equal rights of employment and called for punishment of those who discriminate against recovered COVID- 19 patients.