The deputy (PSD-CE), rapporteur in the subcommittee of the Chamber of Deputies of the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) that ends the , maintained in his preliminary opinion the possibility of working for six days a week, but limited the weekly working hours to 40 hours.
Gastão, who is vice-president of the FPE (Parliamentary Entrepreneurship Front), details in the opinion the public hearings held in the subcommittee and includes, at the end, two drafts: one for the PEC and the other for a law, which would amend the CLT (Consolidation of Labor Laws).
The subcommittee, chaired by deputy Erika Hilton (PSOL-SP), focused on the parliamentarian’s PEC, which provided for a maximum working duration of 8 hours per day and 36 hours per week, without any reduction in salary.
In the opinion, Gastão states that approving a PEC that would reduce the working day from 44 hours to 36 hours a week “could lead to serious adverse economic consequences, such as a drop in production, reduced productivity and increased unemployment rates”.
Therefore, he proposes a maximum weekly working day of 40 hours, but with a gradual decrease, so that employers “have enough time to adapt”. Thus, at first the working day would drop to 42 hours, then it would decrease by another hour and reach 40 hours in the third year following the publication of the law.
“This model of staggered reduction — a reduction of 1 (one) hour of work per year — is in line with the guidelines of the International Labor Organization (ILO)”, he argues.
The model proposed by the rapporteur foresees that the working day on Saturdays and Sundays is limited to 6 hours per day, with the provision for payment of 100% of the normal hourly rate for overtime.
Gastão also suggests reducing the tax burden on the payroll of companies whose personnel expenses represent a significant cost of revenue or offsetting income tax.
“In this sense, the proposition seeks to relieve employers whose payroll represents a significant portion of their revenue”, he says. “We believe that granting favorable tax treatment to companies with the greatest impact on the payroll contributes to sharing the burden arising from the appreciation of work and worker dignity, without burdening vulnerable sectors of the market.”
The parliamentarian also defends the possibility of free direct contractual agreement between employee and employer, including for hours worked. “We consider that the proposition of free direct contractual agreement between employee and employer, along the lines of hourly flexibility, is already provided for in the text of the Consolidation of Labor Laws”, he says, citing the intermittent employment contract.
“The way we did it, there will be a lot of progress in reducing working hours and workers will benefit greatly”, says federal deputy Luiz Carlos Motta (PL-SP), member of the subcommittee.
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