Chamber approves MP that creates work program without employment relationship

The plenary of the Chamber of Deputies approved this Wednesday (11) a Provisional Measure (MP) that creates the National Program for the Provision of Voluntary Civil Service.

The MP was edited by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in January of this year and seeks to offer jobs without a formal contract and professional qualification courses for young people between 18 and 29 years old, people over 50 who have no formal employment relationship for more than two years old and people with disabilities.

The initiative is linked to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. The text now goes to the Senate and needs to be approved by Parliament by June 1st so it doesn’t lose its validity.

The courses can be offered face-to-face, blended or remote, and must consider “the main economic and productive activities of the municipality, with a view to increasing the employability and entrepreneurship of the beneficiaries”.

According to the text approved by the Chamber, the maximum working hours for participants will be 22 hours per week within the scope of municipal bodies and entities, limited to 8 hours per week and 12 hours of qualification for every 30 days of stay in the program, with a maximum workload of 100 hours per year. .

The amount of the scholarship is equivalent to the minimum hourly wage –today at R$5.51– and will consider the total hours spent in courses and work within the scope of the program.

Those who are beneficiaries of Auxílio Brasil or belong to a low-income family registered in the Cadastro Único para Programas Sociais (CadÚnico) of the federal government will have priority to join the program.

Participants may not engage in unhealthy, dangerous activities or activities that represent the replacement of civil servants or civil servants in the municipality.

If he finds a job under the terms of the CLT (Consolidation of Labor Laws), takes office in public office, has less than the established minimum attendance or insufficient use, the person is dismissed from the program.

Anyone who receives a social security benefit from the General Social Security Scheme or the Special Social Security Schemes will not be able to participate in the program. This does not apply to the payment of death benefit or accident benefit.

The program will last for two years from the enactment of the law, if the current text is approved by Congress. The original Provisional Measure provided for the program to last until December 31, 2022.

The administrative, financial and budgetary operationalization of the national program will be under the responsibility of the municipalities, which will be able to decide whether or not to join the initiative. Vacancies must be made available through a simplified public selection process.

The municipalities that adhere to the initiative must provide transportation assistance, the amount of which cannot be deducted from the scholarship, and contract personal accident insurance for the participants.

Whenever participation in the program lasts for one year or more, the participant will be entitled to a 30-day recess period. If you stay in the program for less than one year, you will be entitled to a proportional recess.

According to the MP’s rapporteur, deputy Bia Kicis (PL-DF), from Bolsonaro’s base in the Chamber, the Provisional Measure is a “response of the Executive” to the socioeconomic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, ” seeking to contribute to productive inclusion and qualification young people, as well as to reduce the unemployment rate of young people and people over 50 years old”.

Opposition Criticism

Opposition to the Bolsonaro government tried to postpone the vote on the Provisional Measure through the Chamber’s regiment, without success. Deputies critical of the government said that the MP makes labor relations precarious, does not have resources in city halls and can culminate in grants of around R$500, below the minimum wage stipulated in the country – currently at R$1,212.

Federal deputy Erika Kokay (PT-DF) questioned the criteria for hiring interested parties by city halls, because, in her view, the initiative can open space for “electoral cables”.

Federal deputy Henrique Fontana (PT-RS) stated that, even after the Provisional Measure was issued in January of this year, there were no actions by the programs or jobs generated by them, for example.