Reduction in working hours should not come by law, but by agreements, says expert

The PEC (proposed constitutional amendment) and the bill that deal with the reduction of working hours in Brazil are "in a very wrong direction in technical terms".

The assessment is by José Pastore, from the FecomercioSP Employment and Labor Relations Council, in an interview with CNN Money.

According to Pastore, the correct way to promote reductions in working hours is through collective negotiations between employees and employers, or through unions.

"In negotiation, you can adjust the issue of working hours and scale to the specific characteristics of the work, of work activities, which the law cannot do, because the law is a very general, very generic solution", he stated.

The ongoing process between the proposals in Congress is already causing insecurity, according to Pastore.

"This creates great insecurity, firstly, for the employees themselves, who don't know what will happen, and secondly, for the companies themselves", he said.

For him, if the measures are approved, companies will need to hire more people to maintain the same level of activity, which becomes a challenge given a "very tight" labor market and a low unemployment rate. "It's very difficult to recruit", he summarized.

Productivity challenge
Pastore also warned that Brazil still does not meet the productivity conditions necessary to implement the change.

He explained that, in developed countries, the reduction in working hours occurs after efficiency gains: "For every improvement in productivity, they reduce the working hours a little."

In Brazil, however, productivity is "stagnant at a very low level."

While workers in advanced countries earn between US$60 and US$80 per hour, in Brazil the average is US$17.

For Pastore, productivity depends not only on the worker, but also on the companies' technology, the competence of businesspeople and the country's infrastructure.

Another point highlighted by Pastore is the risk of growth in informality. He explained that, although unregistered hiring is rare in large companies, it is common in small ones.

With the job market booming and the difficulty of recruiting formally, small companies may choose to hire informally to cover weekend shifts.

"Informality already affects 40% of the Brazilian workforce", he warned.

For him, a measure imposed by law or the Constitution could worsen this situation, harming both workers, who are left without protection, and Social Security, which stops receiving contributions.

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Source: CNN