Miguel A. Lopes / Lusa
The Minister of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security, Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho
Although the minister guaranteed that the proposal would be balanced between employers and workers, the diploma provides exceptions only for the employer, who can demand additional work without 3 days’ notice.
The proposal to amend the Labor Code and reintroduce the individual time bank goes against the Government’s promise that workers and employers will have balanced powers in managing working time.
The diploma restores the hour bank model by individual agreement between worker and company, similar to what was in force during the troika period and which was revoked in 2019. The system will allow increase normal hours up to two hours per daywith a maximum limit of 50 hours per week and 150 hours per year.
The Minister of Labor, Rosário Palma Ramalho, stated that the new model would be “very balanced” and which could be used “in exactly the same way by the employer and the worker”, providing for both parties a minimum three days notice for changes to the schedule.
However, jurists consider that the wording of the proposal does not guarantee this parity. THE text provides exceptions only for the employerwhich may require additional work without the minimum notice in situations of force majeure. In these cases, communication should be made “as soon as possible”.
According to lawyer Inês Arruda, a specialist in labor law, there is a difference between the powers attributed to the two parties. While the employer can “communicate” the worker the need to work two more hours, which worker can only “request” the equivalent reduction in hours, depending on the company’s acceptance.
“One informs, the other asks. It seems to me that the employer can refuse”, summarizes the jurist to .
The proposal includes some safeguards for workers that did not exist in the previous model. If there is a balance of hours in favor of the employee at the end of the reference period, he or she may choose between taking this time off until the end of the following month or receive accumulated hours with a 25% increase.
The labor package will now go to debate and vote in Parliament.
