Government gives in and negotiates transition rule for the end of the 6×1 scale

The government is convinced that it will have to negotiate with the National Congress to be able to approve the proposal that ends with a 6×1 scale. Therefore, according to interlocutors at Palácio do Planalto, the Executive is already discussing a transition rule to reduce the current working hours from 44 hours a week to 40 hours — which will mean, in practice, five days of work and two days of paid rest.

The deadline for this transition has not yet been defined, but it could be up to three years, with two hours less in the first year of the PEC’s validity and one hour in the following two. Negotiations are ugly with the president of the Chamber, Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB).

Furthermore, to avoid a salary cut, the hours cut and not worked would be paid, but without affecting other labor funds, such as vacations, 13th salary, FGTS, for example. The idea is defended by the rapporteur and could be another concession to be made by the government, said a technician familiar with the discussions

The expectation is that the PEC report will be presented by deputy Leo Prates (Republicanos-BA) next Monday, but the text still depends on negotiations, which should take place, including over the weekend.

The gavel will be struck by President Lula and the President of the Chamber of Deputies, after conversations with the Ministers of Labor, Luiz Marinho, Finance, Dario Durigan and the Minister of the Civil House, Miriam Belchior.

The rapporteur defended this Wednesday that workers who earn more than R$16,000 should be excluded from the new working hours limit, under the argument of taking to the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT), people hired as legal entities, without the same rights as other workers.

However, the measure does not have support from the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE). According to department technicians, there is no guarantee that the measure will reduce the so-called pejotização.

The government argues that the report maintains the 12×36 scale, used by health workers and other scale schemes. The strategy is that these regimes can be negotiated in agreements and collective conventions with the unions of the categories.

In addition to the PEC that deals with the end of the 6×1 scale, there is a project in Congress sent by the Executive to the Legislature with similar content. But privately, members of the Executive assess that the project has lost priority because the PEC is at a more advanced stage.