Opposition pushes forward 17 proposals for labor law reform

The government’s proposal to amend the Labor Act in the so-called Decent Work Agenda dropped a partial replacement of overtime pay, but former contraption partners, Bloco de Esquerda and PCP, jumped at the idea. The re-evaluation of overtime to pre-workout levelstroika it is part of a series of 17 bills already tabled by the opposition for discussion in parliament next month.

Deputies will discuss the government’s bill in general on July 7, while a range of other opposition projects, seeking to go further, are dragged into the debate. Until yesterday there were 17 proposals from Bloco de Esquerda (BE), PCP, Livre and PAN.

Until next month PS Projects, who announced in May their intention to introduce a telecommuting subsidy, as well as those of the PSD, the Liberal Initiative and Chega.

Meanwhile, yesterday within the parliamentary committee on Work, Social Security and Inclusion, the creation of the working group that will assess the government’s proposal began. The group, whose members have yet to be named, will be coordinated by Socialist deputy Fernando José.

If the government can count on the approval of the absolute majority of the PS, the other parties will not give up the law. BE is currently the party with the highest number of amendment proposals, out of a total of eight. The PCP follows with four notes, the PAN with three and the Livre with two.

The proposals bring together BE and PCP to push for an increase in overtime, a measure the government had taken in mid-October during negotiations to make the original 2022 state budget proposal viable, which would eventually be rejected by both parties. Eight months ago, the government agreed to revert payments to prepaid amounts.troika when overtime exceeds 120 hours per year. It eventually came back and referred the discussion to an income and competitiveness agreement with the social partners that should not be concluded until October.

The government has not made it clear whether the proposal will still have the way to pass through parliament and the ex-partners are in any case pushing the debate. They want a supplement of 50% for the first hour and 75% for the following hours, with the wage doubling on rest days and public holidays. BE and PCP also want to reintroduce the compensatory rest rules for additional work (at 25% of the extra hours worked).

Both sides on the left also agree to restore the principle of more favorable treatment in collective bargaining, with the PCP also pushing for the repeal of the rules that allow conventions to expire.

Het Blok also wants to increase the allowances for shift work and night work and predicts increases of 25% to 30% and 30% respectively in these schemes. He wants night work to start at 8 p.m. and for these plans to contribute to early retirement without penalties (a profit of six months per year worked). On this point, it refers to special legislation and to the idea that the measure is paid with an increase in employers’ social security contributions.

BE’s proposals also include the legislation of 25 vacation days for all employees and the increase in severance pay to one month’s pay for each year of work, with the revocation of the presumption that accepting payment is equivalent to accepting the dismissal.

lighten schedules

Wherever there is convergence in opposition the intention is to relax working hours. The 35-hour working week is proposed by Bloco and Livre. In the case of Deputy Rui Tavares’ party, the idea is defended as a “step” towards the four-day or 30-hour work week. BE also adds an obligation for employers to compensate the reduction in working hours with new employees within one year.

The PCP, on the other hand, intends to end the individual adjustment regime and group hour banks, or agreed in collective regulation, and provides for the prohibition of deregulation of hours outside the normal working period with few exceptions (ensuring temporary and duly justified situations).

There are still projects from the opposition that want to continue the extension of parental leave promised by the government. Where the increase in initial parental leave, in the Executive’s plans, is largely dependent on accumulation with work in part time, the PAN defends 183 days with access to the grant and the Livre goes up to 360 days, regardless of the time of previous effective work by the parents. In the father’s exclusive leave, in addition to the mandatory 28 days proposed by the government, the Livre adds another 100 days that can be taken.

The PAN projects include the extension of authorized absences to incapacitating and duly confirmed menstrual pain (three days per month), and the proposal of 20 days of authorized absence in the case of pregnancy loss.

Maria Caetano is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo