The Federal Supreme Court (STF) decided this Wednesday (25) to limit the payment of so-called penduricalhos to members of the Judiciary and Public Ministry across the country. Penduricalhos are benefits granted to public servants and which, added to the salary, do not meet the constitutional salary ceiling of R$46,300.
According to the decision, additional compensation, bonuses and assistance must be limited to 35% of the salary of STF ministers, which has the ceiling as a reference. The limitation is equivalent to R$16.2 thousand.
Among the benefits that may be paid are advantages such as length of service, daily allowances, compensation for untaken vacations, accumulation of jurisdiction, among others.
Because they are provided for by law and are considered compensation funds, the benefits are not included in the calculation of the ceiling. In practice, judges and prosecutors will continue to receive payments above the ceiling.
If they are entitled to trinkets, the earnings of judges and prosecutors must reach at least R$62,500 per month.
According to the Court, the limitation should generate annual savings of R$7.3 billion for public coffers.
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Votes
Unanimously, the rules were defined in the trial in which the plenary confirmed that only payments provided for by law can be paid. The rule also applies to employees of the Executive and Legislative branches.
Given the complexity of the issue, the Supreme Court decided to produce a single vote on the issue, which was read by the Dean of the Court, Minister Gilmar Mendes.
During his demonstration, Mendes defended the end of penduricalhos and cited a case of granting compensatory leave of up to 34 days for days off that were worked.
“We spent more time at home than working,” he commented.
Minister Alexandre de Moraes said there were abuses and “proliferation” in the payment of benefits. Moraes stated that, from now on, all courts and branches of the Public Ministry must have standardized payments.
“There are more than 1,000 items of funds and benefits, there ended up being abuses, whether due to state laws or administrative laws,” he said.
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Flávio Dino said that the judicial career has “ups and downs” and defended possible “modulations” in the STF’s collegiate decisions. “There are no dictators here, contrary to what they say. One controls the other and no one imposes their will”, he said.
The president of the STF, Edson Fachin, defended transitional rules so that Congress can define which compensation payments are legal.
“This collegiate was faced with a problem that has persisted for approximately 30 years. Therefore, it had the challenge of finding a formula capable of establishing transitional rules until federal law of a national nature comes into force.”
