Collective moral damage in the workplace: employer accountability for lack of restrooms and minimal assistance

Abstract

The general objective of this article is to reflect upon the configuration of collective moral damage arising from the lack of restroom facilities and minimum working conditions for employees engaged in external activities. This constitutes a violation of Regulatory Norm No. 24 of the Ministry of Labor and Employment, which seeks to ensure adequate sanitary conditions and comfort in the workplace environment. With this purpose in mind, the intention is to establish a connection between Labor Law and human dignity, as well as to explore the individual and collective moral damages resulting from the infringement of workers' fundamental rights. Furthermore, the aim is to examine how jurisprudence addresses the feasibility of collective moral damage when an employer fails to provide appropriate and minimal sanitary conditions for those engaged in activities outside the employer's premises.  Methodologically, the study is classified as deductive, descriptive, and bibliographical. It is evident that the non-compliance with norms ensuring access to suitable restrooms and minimal assistance to create a healthy work environment leads to damages of a non-material nature that transcend the individual sphere. Thus, Brazilian courts have been acknowledging that the violation of Regulatory Norm No. 24 results in collective damages, as the failure to provide proper sanitary conditions and minimum working conditions to employees, especially those engaged in external activities, violates the worker's dignity and affects the entire collective.