The Chamber of Deputies approved this Tuesday (2) a provisional measure that seeks to reduce INSS queues by opening the way for the granting of temporary incapacity benefit without medical expertise of the institute. It will only be necessary to present a medical certificate or certificate.
The provisional measure also expands the “fine comb” list, by including accident assistance among the benefits that will undergo periodic reassessments.
The basic text was approved by 381 to 8. The deputies rejected proposed amendments. The provisional measure now goes to the Senate. It expires on August 30th.
The provisional measure provides that an act of the Minister of Labor and Welfare may establish the conditions under which it will not be necessary to obtain a conclusive opinion of the federal medical expert on the incapacity for work.
The granting of the benefit, in this case, will be done through medical certificates or reports analyzed by the INSS.
The text of the provisional measure also changes the current legislation to add accident assistance to the list of INSS benefits that will be subject to periodic evaluations and reviews.
Accident assistance is intended for workers who suffer accidents and have permanent sequelae that affect their work capacity, which can also occur due to occupational diseases. The benefit works as a kind of indemnity, as it does not prevent the person from continuing to work.
The MP provides that insured persons who receive aid for temporary incapacity, accident aid or disability retirement and invalid pensioners, whose benefits were granted judicially or administratively, are subject to evaluation. If they miss these assessments, they may miss out on benefits.
Assessments may include medical examinations carried out by the INSS, a professional rehabilitation process prescribed and paid for by Social Security, and treatments offered free of charge, with the exception of surgeries and blood transfusions, which are optional.
The text of the provisional measure also applies to these cases the rules that exams can be carried out remotely or also by analysis of medical reports and certificates. An act by the Minister of Labor and Welfare will define the chances of replacing face-to-face expertise with remote exams, as well as the conditions and limitations for their performance.
The MP also authorizes the INSS to enter into partnerships with other institutions to carry out social assessments for the granting of the BPC (Continued Provision Benefit). This benefit is granted to the elderly and people with disabilities are entitled to the benefit if the income per person in the family (per capita) is up to a quarter of the minimum wage.
In recent months, the size of the INSS queue and the difficulty of scheduling expert examinations has become a major obstacle for workers seeking benefits.
Sick or injured workers who need to undergo INSS expertise to obtain the benefit may need to wait until 2023 to be served. This is the deadline that many policyholders find when making an appointment at Meu INSS or by calling 135.
Such as Sheet released, in May, the queue of medical expertise of the INSS exceeded more than 1 million appointments, according to information from the Ministry of Labor and Welfare. In all, 1,008,112 policyholders are waiting to be seen by a doctor.​
The MP also adds provisions to the law dealing with the organization of Social Assistance with regard to inclusion assistance. It will not be possible to accumulate the benefit with the BPC.
The text also makes changes to the law that provides for fishermen’s colonies and federations. The MP allows colonies to organize into more than one state federation and more than one national confederation.
If there is more than one state federation or national confederation, what is determined by law will apply equally to all federations and confederations, provided that they have a minimum representation of 20%, respectively, of the existing ones.
There is also a change in the law dealing with the management of Union properties. If there is a non-economic destination to the properties that constitute the real estate assets of the Fund of the General Social Security Regime, the Federal Government must recompose the fund according to the market value assessment carried out in the previous 12 months, extendable for the same period. This can be done by transferring to the fund the resources provided for in the Annual Budget Law or investment fund quotas.
The text also allows these properties to be used for the payment of quotas in investment funds at the initiative of the INSS or the Secretariat for the Coordination and Governance of Union Heritage.
Finally, the MP amends the law of the fine-tooth comb of benefits to provide for analysis of processes that show signs of irregularity or potential risk of undue expenditure in the granting, appeal or review of administered benefits.
The review program must contain the follow-up by an expert doctor of lawsuits for disability benefits and the on-site medical examination carried out in the Social Security service units whose maximum period for scheduling medical expertise is greater than 45 days.
The appeals of proceedings related to the financial compensation of the Social Security and the supervision and inspection of the own social security systems will be judged by the Social Security Appeals Council after the implementation of the units responsible for their judgment and after the definition, in the internal regulations of the Council, of the procedures to be observed in its process.
Earlier, the deputies approved a provisional measure authorizing the government to adopt alternative labor measures and apply the Emergency Employment and Income Maintenance Program to contain the social and economic consequences of a state of public calamity.
Among the measures are the facilitation of the telework regime, anticipation of vacations, the use and anticipation of holidays and the advance withdrawal of benefits.
The basic text was approved by 249 votes to 111. The deputies rejected suggestions for modifying the text, which now goes to the Senate.
Managers will be able to use measures provided for in the Emergency Employment and Income Maintenance Program, such as a proportional reduction in working hours and salary or temporary suspension of the employment contract upon agreement with payment of the Good (Emergency Benefit).
The text provides that the company can change the face-to-face work regime to telework or remote work, in addition to determining the return to the face-to-face work regime, regardless of the existence of individual or collective agreements, without prior registration of the change in the individual work contract. .
The change will be notified to the employee with at least 48 hours, in writing or electronically.
The company must inform the worker about the anticipation of the vacation at least 48 hours in advance, also in writing or electronically, indicating the period to be taken by the employee.
In addition, the conversion of a third of the vacation into a cash allowance will depend on the employer’s consent.
Another provision says that the company may grant collective vacations to all employees or sectors of the company and must notify the group of affected employees, in writing or electronically, at least 48 hours in advance.
It will also be possible for the employer to anticipate federal, state and municipal holidays, including religious ones. The decision must be notified to the benefited workers at least 48 hours in advance.
The text authorizes the interruption of activities by the employer and the constitution of a special working hours compensation regime, through an hour bank, in favor of the employer or employee, established by means of a written individual or collective agreement, for compensation within the up to 18 months.
An act of the Ministry of Labor and Welfare may suspend the requirement for FGTS collections of up to four competencies, related to employers’ establishments located in municipalities affected by a state of public calamity recognized by the Federal Executive Power.
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