The Chamber of Deputies approved this Wednesday (3) the basic text of the Provisional Measure (MP) that offers the possibility for workers to withdraw food stamps after 60 days. There were 248 votes in favor and 159 against.
The rapporteur, deputy Paulinho da Força (Solidariedade-SP), had the intention of allowing the payment of the benefit in cash immediately, but retreated on Tuesday after a meeting of party leaders with the president of the House, Arthur Lira (PP -AL), as anticipated by Broadcast Político, Grupo Estado’s real-time news system.
The deputies will still analyze highlights – suggestions for changes – and then the text will go to the Senate.
The government tried to stop the measure, but had no force in the plenary. Behind the scenes, after the presentation of the rapporteur’s opinion on Tuesday, allies of the Planalto Palace already admitted defeat.
The text approved by the deputies also allows the employee to carry out the free portability of the service, that is, the exchange of the card’s flag. It also determines that the benefit can only be used to pay for meals in restaurants or similar establishments, in addition to food purchased in stores.
The Brazilian Association of Bars and Restaurants (Abrasel) took a stand against converting food stamps into cash, even with a period of 60 days.
The entity acted in Congress to prevent the MP from being approved with this measure, but it was not able to change the position of the deputies.
Last week, Paulinho da Força had announced the unions’ support for the immediate payment of food stamps in cash.
“Trade unions across the country have just declared their support for our proposal to pay the food stamps directly into the worker’s account. It is necessary to guarantee more freedom and money in the pocket of the Brazilian people!”, wrote the deputy, on Twitter, last Thursday (28).
The MP sent by the government, in addition to changing the rules of food stamps, also regulates remote work, to increase the legal certainty of this modality.
Teleworking has grown in recent years, during the covid-19 pandemic, due to the population’s need for social isolation. At this point, the rapporteur kept the original government text.
Remote work is defined in the MP as the provision of services outside the employer’s premises, with the use of information and communication technologies, which is not configured as an external activity.
The eventual trip of the employee to the company to perform specific functions does not detract from teleworking.
trade union centers
Paulinho also included in the MP the possibility that the residual balance of former union contributions can be paid to these entities without the need for the government to issue an ordinance.
The mandatory union tax was abolished in the 2017 labor reform, but the funds collected were not fully passed on to the centrals.
Source: CNN Brasil
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