A survey by the Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies (Dieese) shows that 76% of intermittent employment contracts in 2023 had monthly remuneration below the minimum wage or no remuneration at all. 
According to the data, the average monthly remuneration of intermittent workers was R$762, or 58% of the minimum wage (R$1,320 in 2023). Among women and young people, the average monthly salary was even lower, at R$661.
The creation of the intermittent employment contract occurred in 2017 in the so-called labor reform, by the Michel Temer government. In this type of contract, the worker is at the employer’s disposal, waiting, without remuneration, to be called. The employee only receives when called up. Income is proportional to the hours actually worked.
According to Dieese, only a quarter (24%) of intermittent jobs active in December 2023 recorded an average remuneration of at least one minimum wage. Only 6% received, on average, two minimum wages or more.
The entity highlights that, if the months in which intermittent contracts were in force but did not generate activity are included in the average, the average monthly remuneration received by workers drops to R$542. Among women, it is reduced to R$483.
Working time
The Dieese survey also shows that, of the stock of active intermittents at the end of 2023, 41.5% had not recorded any income throughout the year. In the construction sector, more than half of the contracts were stopped all year. According to the data, the number of months in which the contracts did not result in work was greater than the number of months worked.
According to Dieese, when considering contracts ending in 2023, the average duration of contracts was four and a half months. There was remuneration, on average, in 44% of the contracted months. In other words, in more than half of the months in which intermittent contracts were in force, there was no effective work.
“Available data indicates that, in practice, intermittent work translates into little effective working time and pay below the minimum wage. Two in every five contracts of this type did not come to fruition in 2023. On average, those terminated in 2023 spent more time waiting to be called than actually working”, says the text of the survey.
Dieese also highlights that there is no evidence that intermittent work has contributed to the massive entry of people into the formal job market, “since 76% of those who had these active contracts on 12/31/2023 already had another type of employment between 2018 and 2022. In other words, only a quarter of intermittent workers were outside the formal market in the previous five years”.
Dieese’s complete survey can be read at website of the entity.
