The Government is preparing to introduce significant changes to working hours as part of the revision of the Labor Code. Among the measures under analysis is a proposal that could allow workers to leave their jobs earlier, changing the way break time is counted.
Measure based on the recovery of the continuous journey
According to the website specializing in business and economics, Executive Digest, the Minister of Labor, Rosário Palma Ramalho, explained that the idea involves recovering the so-called continuous journey, a regime that already exists in the Public Administration that the Executive now intends to extend to the private sector.
Continuous working hours could reach the private sector
The proposal foresees that the lunch break will now last half an hour, with this period being counted as working time. This change would allow daily departures to be brought forward by up to one hour, without a salary reduction.
The exact configuration of the model has not yet been defined, namely whether it will depend on an agreement between worker and employer.
Rosário Palma Ramalho highlighted that the proposal covers male and female workers, avoiding the unequal effects that, in the past, fell mainly on women in situations of exemption for breastfeeding.
Labor reform with well-defined limits
The minister ruled out the possibility of major concessions in other areas of the reform, particularly parenting. He underlined that the Executive’s objective is to reinforce the balance between flexibility and labor protection, without giving up the central lines of the draft.
The legislative package under discussion also includes changes to the rules on illegal dismissals, the expansion of the causes of dismissal and changes to the vacation regime. The Government is collecting contributions from employers’ associations and trade unions, but has already made it known that the text will be proposed as a law as is if there is no consensus on social consultation.
In the case of dismissals, Rosário Palma Ramalho clarified that automatic reinstatement will not be eliminated, but will be limited to micro, small and medium-sized companies, with the courts making the final decision in each situation.
According to , the proposed revision of the Labor Code, which covers nine legal diplomas and hundreds of articles, will now be debated with the social partners.
The Government considers that the introduction of continuous working hours represents a relevant step in modernizing labor relations and improving the balance between work and personal life.
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