In the last month of July, after a brief processing in Brazilian
Congress, the reform to the Brazilian Labor legislation was
approved, pursuant Law n. 13.467/2017. More than 100 sections of
the current Labor Law ("CLT") were amended.
Within such amendments, it is important to highlight those
regarding the content of individual employee contracts, such as
working hours and outsourcing of services, which aims to let it
more flexible to employers. Moreover, there were also relevant
amendment in rules of procedures and processing of labor lawsuits
in the court of law.
One of the new provision introduced by law 13.467/2017 was the
prevalence of group negotiation between the employee's union
and employers over the law, i.e., the new law intends to add more
value to group negotiation as a new model of regulate labor
relations in Brazil.
Notwithstanding the apparently flexibility provided, it is
important to point out that key individual labor rights, such as
severance funds, 13th salary, health and security regulation,
whatsoever, may not be reduced.
The new law – which shall enter in force in November 11th
– is still subject to debates, being criticized among judges,
public attorneys and lawyers. There is a lot of grey areas in
relation to the future of the new law, taking into account that the
fast processing by the Brazilian Congress did not provided the
possibility of deep discussions of some matters. The practice and
application of the new law is, therefore, awaited with several
expectations.
In this sense, the advisory and litigation team from Siqueira
Castro - Advogados are preparing legal opinion and presentation to
its clients in relation to the changes, opportunities and risks of
the application of the new rules.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.