The month of May, dedicated to the worker, raises the question of how to reconcile the generation of jobs with the reduction of maintenance costs and also the creation of new jobs. “This is a very big challenge that can be seen all over the world, of how to make jobs viable by exempting companies, that is, improving the tax and legal situation of companies”, he told the Brazil Agency professor at the Fundação Getulio Vargas School of Law in Rio de Janeiro (FGV Rio) Paulo Renato Fernandes.
According to the professor, the labor reform brought a more favorable scenario, or adapted, to this situation. “Today, you have new ways of hiring, new types of contract, of legal management of companies, which allow you to have greater savings and, therefore, you can hire more workers,” he explained.
In this context, there are important questions, according to Fernandes. The first refers to the reduction of bureaucracy in labor relations in Brazil. The second aspect concerns the exemption of the sheet. “Because when you encumber the payroll, you are directly generating an economic cost for the company”, he said.
In terms of legal measures that can be adopted, the professor at the FGV Rio Law School highlighted that there is the possibility of adopting the bank of hours; the various cases in which the legislation admits outsourcing; the new forms of less expensive remuneration for the employer, in addition to new forms of hiring.
telework
Teacher considers teleworking a good opportunity – Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil
He also considers the home office (work from home) a good opportunity, but not only work done at home, but also remote work or telecommuting as a whole. “You decentralize the workplace to other more economically interesting regions,” she said.
According to the professor, in Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo, for example, the company pays more Urban Property and Territorial Tax (IPTU) and rent, with more expensive labor. “The most expensive cost of living reproduces itself in production. You can have this same productive base working, for example, in the countryside of Piauí or in Minas Gerais, through telework, in a cheaper way”, he defends.
For Fernandes, the reduction of working hours is something very important, due to robotics. “The problem is that, looking at the salary today, if you reduce working hours, you will have to hire more employees, and there is a cost of this hiring”. Therefore, he understands that the reduction of working hours can escape the objective that is to generate jobs and reduce costs for the employer. “As a business policy, it will only encumber the cost of the company”.
On the other hand, profit sharing (PLR), according to the professor, is interesting for employees and employers, because it does not have a remunerative nature. “In other words, you don’t pay taxes on it. You can get rid of the payroll. Labor reform played a big part in this. The company can relieve the payroll by adopting new policies or forms of remuneration”.
He also recalled that decisions of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) provide legal certainty for outsourcing. And he also highlighted the hiring of work cooperatives, where labor is cheaper for companies.
remote work
For the president of the Labor and Union Business Council of the Federation of Industries of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Firjan), Luiz Carlos Renaux, remote work is a good example of how it is possible to reconcile workers’ claims with cost reduction and job maintenance. .
“The adoption of this work model is positive for the employee, as it eliminates travel time and allows him to be more available for his family. For companies, there are also benefits, such as cost cutting. Many have reduced rent expenses because they no longer need as much space, which benefits both parties. Likewise, less energy is spent on transportation assistance. There is also a reduction in accidents. We understand that remote work is a point of convergence between employers and employees,” said Renaux.
Economic growth
In a note, the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) stated that it has always reinforced that the creation of jobs results from the growth of the economy, and not from legislation per se, whatever it may be.
Regarding outsourcing, the entity clarified that, as established by Law 13,429/2017, it is a form of organization and management of companies’ production processes, whereby a company contracts from another company to provide services or stages of specialized production processes that are not carried out by the borrower’s structure. “It is not, therefore, a matter of direct hiring of labor, with the reduction or suppression of rights”, he explained.
According to the CNI, outsourcing should not be confused with labor intermediation, whereby the supplier company transfers the employee’s subordination for a determined period of time. For the entity, the outsourcing regulation brought a set of obligations for companies and protections for the worker in the relationship between the contracting company and the contracted company.
As for teleworking, a modality that home office one of its possibilities, the CNI recalled that it is regulated by the labor reform. “A company may or may not adopt telework. If adopted, it may be applicable for some functions and not for others. This is a management choice. By law, the company’s obligation, when deciding to adopt telework, is to include a specific clause in its employee’s individual contract, establishing the agreed rules and routines”.
agreements
Anamatra says many of the jobs in Brazil are outdated – Rovena Rosa/Agência Brasil
Asked whether reducing working hours and encouraging employees to share in profits and results could be viable alternatives in the Brazilian labor market, CNI explained that the reduction in working hours does not translate into job creation, which is directly linked to to economic growth. He noted, however, that companies and workers can agree on the reduction of working hours and wages, as provided for in the Constitution.
“The collective agreement and convention are instruments of the world of work, present not only in Brazilian legislation, to which companies and workers’ representations resort, in common agreement and for a determined time, in extraordinary situations of crisis on the labor market, as occurred during the most acute period of the pandemic”, said the CNI.
The entity recalled that 2020 data show that the use of this instrument was of great importance for the country, as it allowed jobs to be preserved while companies went through times of strong revenue reduction.
The CNI also said that profit sharing is also provided for in labor legislation as an instrument to encourage productivity. “Its adoption is the result of negotiation between the company and its workers or union”, he said.
anamatra
Also in a note, the president of the National Association of Labor Justice Magistrates (Anamatra), Luiz Colussi, stated that one of the problems faced in Brazil in relation to the generation of new jobs is the fact that many of the jobs are outdated, undergoing partial or full replacement processes. “And this is exacerbated by the crises we are experiencing. But the worker cannot simply be the culprit and pay for it, and see the responsibility for the balance of the economy weigh on their shoulders, while some increase their profits. The country cannot give up developing public policies to seek full employment”, argues Colussi.
The president of Anamatra said that it is necessary to protect the worker, making him evolve to the next jobs. “It is necessary to prepare the population so that it is able to take on new forms of work”, he said.
According to Luiz Colussi, Brazil needs to create these new jobs, with a strong dose of knowledge and transformation, that produce local wealth and relevant value-added deliveries, and not just import solutions, services and products that drain resources from one place to another. “Furthermore, one cannot give up the protection of workers involved in new forms of work”, he stressed.
In the judge’s assessment, outsourcing and home office “they must not and cannot promote precariousness in working relationships, be used in an unrestricted way, leading the worker to exhaustion and exposure to all sorts of risks”. He said that this also applies to other changes, such as the reduction of working hours, the right to disconnection and profit sharing, which can be good innovations, as long as they are not introduced as a way to precarious the work relationship, harming both workers and employers and society.
