Brazilian House Approves Economic Freedom Measure’s Text

Brazilian house approved Tuesday by 345 votes to 76 a substitute text to the so-called “Economic Freedom PM (Provisional Measure),” allowing work on Sundays and public holidays.

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“The provisional measure contains many unconstitutional points, including work on Sundays regardless of the labor law. The Constitution states that Sundays are rest days and the provisional measure contradicts this point, also preventing family life,” said labor lawyer Tatiana Fernandes, who thinks that the law will end up harming the workers.

Among a set of measures, the text frees up work on Sundays and national holidays for all sectors and professional categories. Sunday as a weekly day of rest will remain a guarantee but only every four weeks, with the worker working three Sundays in a row, only being able to take one break.

The proposal also states that it will be mandatory to input and output records only for work companies with more than 20 employees, the registration is currently required for companies with more than 10 employees.

On the other hand, suing the boss will get harder. Under the current law, when a company does not have enough assets to pay off its debts including salaries, the Court may require its stockholders or the other companies in the same group to pay the loss, if the provisional measure is approved, these assets will not be considered as a guarantee unless the company decides to declare bankruptcy.

The text’s highlights will be voted Wednesday, then the final text will be sent to the Senate, and its approval is required by Aug 27.

Signed on April by Brazilian right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, the provisional measure was initially presented as a proposal to reduce bureaucracy for entrepreneurial activities, and with minimum intervention from the government, stimulate entrepreneurship, however, if approved by the Senate, it will change considerable parts of the labor law, and harm worker's rights, according to labor activists.