The Chamber of Deputies approved on Wednesday night (27), by 461 to 19, in the second round, the PEC report that reduces the working day to 40 hours per week and foresees the end of the 6×1 scale. The text also establishes two days off per week, one of which is preferably on Sundays, without a salary reduction.
Voting in the 1st round had 472 votes in favor compared to 22 against. To be approved in the 2nd round, the text needed at least 308 votes in favor.
With approval, the proposal will go to the Federal Senate for analysis. In the Upper House, the PEC will first have to be approved by the Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ) before being voted on in plenary.
The text was approved despite an attempt by the opposition to the government to postpone the votes with a request for a broad discussion on the topic, which in practice could make voting in the same session unfeasible, but the request was defeated by the majority.
The PEC, authored by deputy Reginaldo Lopes (PT-MG), initially provided for a reduction in the weekly working hours to 36 hours, with three days off, but the rapporteur by deputy Leo Prates (Republicanos-BA), also approved this Wednesday, streamlined the proposal. The text was structured into nine articles that regulate the PEC and consolidate central points provided for in the original version.
Rapporteur predicts gradual transition
The approved report that guides the PEC also creates a transition period of up to 12 months for the adoption of the new scale. Sixty days after enactment, there will be an initial reduction of two hours in weekly working hours, and employers will have up to ten months to reach the new limit of 40 hours, completing the one-year period for adjustment.
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The text presented by Prates also provides that employees of companies with contracts with municipal, state and federal governments will not immediately be included in the new journey. In this case, the rules will only come into force after the contractual amendment, which must occur within 12 months after the promulgation of the amendment.
Exceptions for public employees
The text presented by Prates also provides that employees of companies with contracts with municipal, state and federal governments will not immediately be included in the new journey. In this case, the rules will only come into force after the contractual amendment, which must occur within 12 months after the promulgation of the amendment.
The report also establishes specific rules for uninterrupted activities, carried out in shifts, essential services and sectors whose seasonality affects the provision of services.
“Super employee”
The approved text also determines that the rules regarding duration and control of working hours will not apply to private sector workers with higher education who receive above two and a half benefit ceilings from the National Social Security Institute (INSS), currently equivalent to R$ 21,188.87.
The rule allows the imposition of the hour limit only upon provision in an agreement or collective labor convention, respecting the new limit of two days of paid weekly rest.
In practice, workers not covered by collective agreements will be able to work 40 hours established by the PEC, as long as they fit them within the five-day work period.
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Prates defended that the measure is important to “modernize the labor relations of hypersufficient professionals, directly combating the phenomenon of “pejotização””. For the rapporteur, the change encourages high-cost employees for companies to be hired under the CLT regime.
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The report also predicts that a separate law will address the flexibility of hiring by MEIs and the updating of the revenue ceiling for individual microentrepreneurs, currently set at R$81 thousand.
Although the topic is not directly part of the PEC, the readjustment of the MEI ceiling was agreed between Motta and Lula this Monday (25), to meet a long-standing demand from the sector and consider the potential increase in the number of self-employed professionals.
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