MEPs today approved a BE proposal that would end the ability for workers to waive credits owed to them, such as holiday or Christmas subsidies, when they are made redundant or their contract expires.
BE’s proposal was approved with the favorable votes of the proponent, the PS and the PCP and with the abstention of the PSD in the working group of the Commission for Labour, Social Security and Inclusion on changes in the labor market in the context of the Decent Work Calendar.
Under the blockers’ proposal, the employee’s assets arising from the contract of employment, its breach or termination “are not subject to extinction by remission.”
BE representative José Soeiro explained that with this new measure, employees can no longer waive rights that are legally inalienable, such as holiday and Christmas subsidies or overtime pay, once the contract is terminated.
According to José Soeiro, the standard should contradict a practice of “employer abuse” that has become commonplace, whereby companies include a clause at the termination of the contract in which the employee declares “at a time of vulnerability” that all credits due, leave to be able to claim after other calculated amounts.
“Often employees sign this clause because they prefer to receive something when the contract expires, and waive other credits that are owed to them,” the deputy said.
“This figure called abdicative remission or the statement in which the employee refrains from receiving credits that may arise from these mandatory rights is very problematic and has become a normal phenomenon in industrial relations,” added José Soeiro.
The deputy said the rule is in line with a recently handed down Supreme Court decision.
The government’s proposal to change labor legislation, in the context of the Decent Work Agenda, was widely approved in July and the start of the discussion on the specialty began on November 29, with the entry into force of the new labor rules scheduled for the early this year.
Source: DN
