At the end of 2023, the Brazilian Ministry of Health published Ordinance No. 1999, which updated the List of Work-related Diseases (LDRT) in the country. In summary, 165 new pathologies were recognized as Work-related Diseases, which will have a significant impact on labor relations and labor lawsuits in the country.
Upon analysis of the Ordinance, it is observed that the Ministry of Health listed pathologies related to professional burnout, mental disorders, use of legal and illegal drugs, among others arising from work conditions, issues that have also been the subject of attention and discussion around the world, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic.
For example, Burnout Exhaustion was duly recognized. In the aforementioned Ordinance, such pathology is described as ‘Psychosocial factors related to: organizational management; and/or work organization context; and/or characteristics of social relations at work; and/or content of work tasks; and/or workplace conditions; and/or person-task interaction; and/or work schedule; and/or violence and moral/sexual harassment at work; and/or discrimination at work and/or risk of death and trauma at work.’
Furthermore, the classification of disorders related to the individual’s psyche has been expanded and reviewed, with attention to generalized anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, intentionally self-inflicted injuries, and even considerations of pathologies related to the use of legal or illegal substances, due to work conditions.
Certainly, the current Ordinance of the Brazilian Ministry of Health is based on the increase in complaints regarding these diseases and consequent requests for the granting of social security benefits, which are said to have been caused by the current dynamics of work conditions. The update of the List of Work-related Diseases protects the work of labor inspectors and provides a more accurate basis for granting social security benefits to workers.
Currently, it is a fact that the dynamics of human relations, including work, are very different from those existing years ago, including the extinction of old professions and the emergence of new types of work. It is extremely important to broadly update the law so that we can try to regulate the constant social evolution. In Brazil, labor legislation is already more protective than in other countries, which reinforces the care that companies based in the country must have.