On the day the Assembly of the Republic approved the Decent Work Agenda as a whole, the Secretary of State stated that it was “very, very ironic that an agenda as progressive as this one did not deserve the vote of the left”. of the hemisphere”.
Speaking to Lusa news agency, the minister said: “I really think the situation is a bit bizarre to say the least, because I think it’s undeniable that this agenda enshrines more rights for workers,” he said when asked. about the criticism of former ‘thingie’ partners.
The labor amendments to the Decent Work Agenda were adopted today in a global final vote with the PS voting in favour, PSD, Chega, PAN and Livre abstaining and BE, PCP and IL voting against.
For Miguel Fontes, the Agenda contains “a series of issues that are clearly issues that historically both the Left Bloc and the PCP have always claimed, such as the fight against uncertainty, for example”.
“At a time when the government is presenting a proposal that will become law through the deputies, enshrining precisely these instruments… it is bizarre, to say the least, that these parties do not have the right to vote,” he stressed.
The minister argued that with regard to platforms, for example, “the idea of the principle of workability and the principle of dual responsibility, or if you prefer, joint responsibility between the platforms themselves and the intermediary employer, is clearly entrenched, when it exists in the case, namely the usual business of the TVDE”.
He also points to the changes to the “limit on extensions of temporary work, the prohibition of ‘outsourcing’ after a collective redundancy process, the prohibition of successive extensions for the same job”, as some of the most emblematic measures.
It is in this sense that he argues that the agenda allows “very significant progress” in several matters related to “valuing the world of work and youth”, through “more than 70 measures”.
“It is a very important day for the progress it represents on a number of issues,” he stressed, adding: “I usually say nothing against flexibility, but everything against uncertainty”.
For Miguel Fontes, “there is no reason to offer a fixed-term contract, namely to a young person, when he is going to perform functions that are clearly not temporary and it is therefore not about” rigidifying the labor market , but on the contrary , “that the different figures we have are precisely intended to frame the different situations that concern, namely, workers and, in this case, young people”.
The Secretary of State also revealed that Portugal today signed a statement at the Conference of Labor Ministers of the Ibero-American Area committing the countries to address some of these issues, namely allowing public policies to promote “decenter work”.
The government’s proposal to amend labor legislation, in the context of the Decent Work Agenda, entered parliament in June without the consent of the Social Concert, after it was generally approved on July 8 with favorable votes from the PS, abstaining from the PSD, Enough, BE, PAN and Livre and against IL and PCP.
The start of the discussion on the specialty started on November 29, 2022 and ended at the beginning of February this year, after the government’s proposal went through amendments, with the inclusion of some party initiatives, with the entry into force of the new employment contract rules scheduled for the beginning of this year.
Among the changes foreseen in the Agenda are the extension of telecommuting to parents with children with a disability, chronic illness or oncological disease, regardless of age, as well as the fixing of a value, in the contract, for additional expenses with this regime, remaining a further tax exemption threshold to be determined for these expenses.
It also provides for the ability to request sick leave of up to three days through the National Health Service (SNS24) digital service, with a limit of two per year, and also that the father’s mandatory parental leave will be extended for the current 20 working days. 28 consecutive or interpolated days.
The new legislation also stipulates that the amount of compensation for collective redundancies and termination of employment will increase from the current 12 days of base salary and seniority per year to 14 days per year, from the entry into force of the law (without retroactive effect) and compensation for termination of fixed-term contracts from the current 18 days to 24 days.
As for digital platforms, the proposal provides for the presumption of workability between the employee and the platform, which will be made directly from the outset with companies, such as Uber, Bolt or Glovo, and not with intermediaries, but leaves the final decision on binding for the courts.
Source: DN
