Last week, the (Superior Court of Justice) created a bonus that will give a 15% bonus to commissioned court employees who carry out activities considered “highly complex”.
The measure goes against the rule of the (Supreme Federal Court) that was intended to contain the increase in expenses and benefits in the Judiciary and the Public Ministry, but which was aimed at the magistrates, prosecutors and attorneys themselves, and not at other civil servants.
Called GAACTA (Gratuity for Highly Complex, Technical and Administrative Performance in Courts and Superior Councils), the benefit will be calculated on the salary of office employees who receive 4,500 new cases per year and those who work in areas directly linked to the presidency and vice-presidency of the court.
The STJ’s resolution states that the 15% bonus will not be applied to magistrates assigned to the court who are subject to the rules established by the Supreme Court’s thesis that, at the end of March, for judges, judges and prosecutors.
For Vera Monteiro, professor of administrative law at FGV (Fundação Getulio Vargas), despite not being paid to magistrates, in practice, the benefit goes in the opposite direction of the STF’s attempt to limit the compensation amounts allowed, which do not include additional payments for overwork.
“This is in line with what the Supreme Court is saying. Basically, it is not possible to say that the decision was not complied with, but it is clearly a movement contrary to what the Supreme Court is trying to do when organizing the issue of payment of remuneration installments”, he said.
The 15% bonus was authorized by a resolution signed by the president of the court, minister Herman Benjamin, on May 14th and will have financial effects from June 1st of this year.
STJ employees linked to the national inspector of justice (currently Mauro Campbell), the office of the minister director of the STJ Magazine (currently Sebastião Reis Júnior), Enfam (National School of Training and Improvement of Magistrates) and the court ombudsman’s office will also benefit.
This list includes commissioned positions that work, for example, with specialized legal advice, as well as secretaries, heads of cabinet, coordinators and advisors in administrative areas.
In the document, the president of the STJ justifies the creation of the pendant by mentioning that the court reached 534 thousand cases in 2025, with a projection of more than 562 thousand new cases in 2026, and gave 781 thousand decisions in the last year, but that the staff would not have kept up with this pace.
“Considering that the number of active employees of the Superior Court of Justice did not grow in the same proportion as its collection, being, since 2014, reinforced with only 95 employees, going from 3,009 to 3,104 in 2026”, says an excerpt from the resolution.
According to the document, the bonus is compensatory in nature and will not be part of the remuneration – which leaves room for exceeding the constitutional ceiling of R$ 46,366.19 – or will form the calculation basis for social security purposes or for the calculation of any additional payments.
The resolution also says that legal absences and licenses do not prevent the bonus.
A Sheet He contacted the STJ press office via email and WhatsApp message to ask how many employees will receive the bonus and what the financial impact will be in paying for the measure, in addition to asking for a position on the creation of the penduricalho. There was no response until the publication of this report.
The (National Council of Justice) and the STF were also contacted by email to comment on the resolution. There was no response.
STF TRYING TO LIMIT HANDLINGS
The STF’s decision on the payment of penduricalhos was regulated by the CNJ and the CNMP (National Council of ) in April.
A joint resolution of the bodies classified as amounts of an indemnity nature, that is, outside the constitutional ceiling, bonuses to magistrates and prosecutors for working in a place that is difficult to provide; due to accumulation of duties; and protection of early childhood and motherhood, among other additional measures.
On May 6, the ministers of the STF , , and , in a coordinated movement, stated that the creation and payment of benefits that were not expressly authorized by the March decision taken by the court are “absolutely prohibited”.
Dino also mentions that non-compliance can lead to liability for court presidents and other heads of justice institutions.
