Changes to the Decent Work Agenda take effect today

Changes to labor laws under the Decent Work Agenda come into effect this Monday, Labor Day, after a long discussion in Parliament and without reaching agreement in the Social Dialogue.

The law was published in Diário da República on 3 April after it was approved by Parliament on 10 February in a final global vote, with PS voting in favour, PSD, Chega, PAN and Livre abstaining and BE, PCP voting against. and IL.

The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, promulgated the Decree Law on March 22, but expressed doubts about the consequences of some of the decisions, which, he said, “may have the opposite effect on the labor market as intended.”

Employers’ confederations say the diploma is unconstitutional, while trade union centers say the measures are not enough to guarantee workers’ rights.

According to the government, the Decent Work Agenda is based on combating precariousness, valuing young people in the labor market, promoting the reconciliation of professional, personal and family life, and encouraging collective bargaining.

Among the main measures:

Extending remote work

The right to work remotely applies to parents of children with disabilities, chronic diseases or cancer, regardless of age.

According to the new Article 166-A of the Labor Code, “an employee who has a child under the age of three or, regardless of age, with a disability, chronic disease or oncological disease, who lives with him in a common table and room, has the right to carry out activities on the basis of a remote work, when it is compatible with the activity performed and the employer has the resources and means for this purpose.

Costs for remote work set out in the contract

The diploma now provides for the establishment of the amount of additional costs in contracts for the provision of remote work services.

“When concluding an agreement on providing remote work, an individual labor contract and a collective labor contract must establish the amount of compensation due to the employee for additional expenses,” the law defines.

The tax and contribution exemption limit for telecommuting expenses has not yet been determined by government regulation.

Reset requests up to three days via SNS24

Vacations of up to three days can now be taken through the National Health Service digital service (SNS24) by self-declaration of sickness, but no more than twice a year.

“A confirmation of an employee’s illness is a certificate from a hospital, or a polyclinic, or an electronic service of the National Health Service, or a digital service of regional health services of autonomous regions, or a medical certificate,” the Labor Code defines.

The declaration “is made by self-declaration of illness under oath, which can only be issued if the employee’s illness does not exceed three consecutive days, but not more than twice a year.”

Refusal to pay wages only in court

With the entry into force of the legislation, the possibility for employees to refuse payroll at the end of the contract will be possible only in court.

The loan, which expires a year after the termination of the employment contract, “is not subject to cancellation by abdication, except by judicial agreement,” sets a new rule.

Increase in severance pay

The amount of compensation for collective dismissal and dismissal from work will increase from the current 12 days of base salary and seniority per year to 14 days per year in accordance with the new legislation.

The increase in compensation will only apply to contracts concluded after the entry into force of the law, without retroactive effect.

In the case of fixed-term contracts, compensation is now 24 days (instead of 18 days) of base salary and seniority allowances for each full year of service.

Discounts to the compensation fund at the end of employment

Companies no longer contribute about 1% of the wages of workers hired since 2013 to the Labor Compensation Fund (FCT), a fund set up at the time to pay part of the severance pay.

The FCT has accumulated more than 600 million euros, and how this amount is mobilized is still being discussed in the Social Concert, with the aim of training and supporting housing construction.

Companies must provide information about algorithms

Companies will need to start providing information to work councils about algorithm-based solutions, namely job access and retention.

The Works Council now has the right to information about “the parameters, criteria, rules and instructions on which algorithms or other artificial intelligence systems are based that influence decisions on access and retention of employment, as well as on working conditions, including profiling and monitoring of professional activity” .

Overtime cost increases from 100 hours per year

The cost of overtime hours, starting from 100 hours per year, increases from 25% to 50% for the first hour or part thereof, from 37.5% to 75% for an hour or its subsequent part on a working day, and from 50% to 100 hours. % for each hour or part of it on a mandatory or additional weekly day off or holiday.

This rule comes into force today, but employers and trade unions have a transitional period until January 1, 2024 to amend collective agreements.

Companies that quit prevented ‘outsourcing’ during the year

Companies are prohibited from “outsourcing” (outsourced contracts) for 12 months following collective or redundancy layoffs.

“It is not allowed to resort to the purchase of external services from a third party to meet the needs that were provided by an employee whose contract ended in the previous 12 months due to collective dismissal or dismissal due to the disappearance of the workplace,” the law establishes.

Temporary contracts limited to four renewals

With the entry into force of the law, the maximum number of extensions of fixed-term temporary employment contracts has been increased from the current six to four.

The law also provides that after four years of temporary employment by temporary employment companies or other companies of the same group, these companies are required to integrate workers into the state.

Father’s parental leave becomes 28 consecutive or intermediate days.

Mandatory parental leave is being increased from the current 20 working days to 28 consecutive or intermediate days, which some lawyers say could lead to a reduction in the number of days off in some cases.

“The father is obliged to use parental leave of 28 days, consecutive or intermediate, within 42 days after the birth of the child, five of which are taken consecutively immediately after that,” establishes the norm.

Presumption of contract on digital platforms

The labor amendments provide for the presumption of an employment contract between operators and digital platforms such as Uber or Glovo, which will apply to the sector of individual and paid passenger transportation in non-characteristic vehicles (TVDE).

An employment contract is assumed “when certain” characteristics are verified in the relationship between the activity provider and the digital platform, with reference to intermediary operators no longer being expressed.

However, the law defines that “a digital platform may also claim that the activity is carried out before a natural or legal person who acts as an intermediary of the digital platform”, and in these situations the contract presumption “it is at the discretion of the court” applies. determine who is the employer.

Unclaimed work can be a crime

The law provides for the criminalization of employers who fail to apply for employees in the social security system within six months of the commencement of the contract, and this rule may include work as a domestic worker.

We are talking about an article that will be included in the General Regime of Tax Offenses, which provides that “employers who do not report to the social security authorities about the admission of workers under the conditions established by paragraphs 1-3 of Article 29 of the Code of Accumulative Schemes of the Social Security System (… ) within six months after the expiration of the statutory period shall be punished by the sanctions provided for in paragraph 1 of Article 105″.

That is, these companies can be sentenced to imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to 360 days.