Ten civil society organizations sent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva a request for full vetoes on two bills, already approved by Congress, that create compensatory leave for employees of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.
According to the associations, the institutionalization of this benefit — the so-called “penduricalho” — will lead to the payment of extra-ceiling amounts, with an increase in public spending and a possible cascade effect on public administration.
The compensation leave mechanism allows, if implemented, to grant Chamber employees leave of up to one day for every three worked, limited to ten days per month. In the case of the Senate, the proportion varies from one day for every ten to one for every three days of exercise.
According to the approved project, unused days can be paid in cash and without the need for income tax or social security contributions.
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This Thursday (5), the minister of the Superior Federal Court (STF) Flávio Dino published a decision that suspends the payment of compensation funds without express provision in law. According to the entities, the veto request they made to Lula gains even greater importance following the minister’s request, since sanctioning these projects would make the scope of the STF member’s decision unfeasible.
For civil associations, the sanction of the law would be a step backwards and would bring back practices already abolished in the past, such as bonus leave for attendance, for example.
Also according to civil organizations, bodies of the Judiciary and the Public Ministry, through internal resolutions, have this type of benefit. According to a survey carried out by Transparência Brasil and República.org, the Judiciary paid, in 2024, R$1.2 billion in compensatory licenses to 10,700 magistrates.
The coalition of entities that asked Lula for a veto is made up of República.org, Transparência Brasil, Associação Ficam Sabendo, Centro de Liderança Pública, Livres, Movimento Brasil Competitivo, Movimento Orçamento Bem Gasto, Movimento Pessoas à Frente, Plataforma Justa and Transparência Internacional – Brasil.
