By Judgment of 22.12.2022 in Case C-392/21, Following a request for a preliminary ruling from the Court of Appeal in Cluj, Romania, the Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU") ruled that where the type of work performed by a worker involves the use of display screen equipment, shall be incumbent upon the employer an obligation to:

• provide prescription glasses; or

• reimburse the worker for expenses incurred to correct and prevent visual impairments - these costs may be covered by a national health care system, if provided.

The question was raised in connection with the interpretation of Article 9(3) and (4) of
Council Directive 90/270/EEC of 29 May 1990
on minimum safety and health requirements for work with display screen equipment, after Romania's General Inspectorate of Immigration rejected a request for reimbursement of expenses for the purchase of glasses from an employee of that entity, who claimed "strong deterioration" of vision caused by working in front of a computer.

According to this Directive, workers must:

- Before work with the viewfinder begins: have a proper eye and eye examination carried out by a qualified person;

- Periodically: when visual disturbances arise that may have resulted from working with visors, benefit, if necessary, from an ophthalmological medical examination, and, consequently, special correction devices, designed for their type of work, paid for by the employer.

The CJEU held that there will be a need for the employer to provide or pay for special corrective devices (e.g. graduate glasses) where:

1. The type of work performed involves the use of displays;

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2. A visual disturbance arises or is aggravated as a result, regardless of whether the worker's use of the same object is not confined to the workplace itself.

However, to claim payment, workers will have to demonstrate that, because of the work they do, they need specific glasses, contact lenses, or other corrective equipment, and this demonstration will have to be made either through examinations during periodic occupational medicine consultations or through a decision awarding an occupational disease.

In Portugal, this Directive was transposed by Decree-Law no. 349/93, of October 1, and this national diploma establishes that "where the results of medical examinations so require and where normal corrective appliances cannot be used, special corrective appliances designed for the type of work performed must be made available to workers".

It should be noted that, in preliminary reference proceedings, the Judgments handed down by the CJEU are binding not only on the national court where the issue was raised (in this case in Romania), but also on all courts of the other member states of the European Union. This is to say that if a similar issue arises in Portugal, the employer will be subject to the obligations set out here.

References:

Judgment of 22.12.2022 in Case C-392/21 - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/PT/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A62021CJ0392

Council Directive 90/270/EEC of 29 May 1990 - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/PT/TXT/?uri=celex%3A31990L0270

Decree Law No. 349/93, October 1 - https://dre.pt/dre/detalhe/decreto-lei/349-1993-646299