Senate approves MP that makes work regime more flexible for mothers and fathers of young children

The Senate approved this Wednesday (31) a provisional measure that creates a program to increase the employability of women and young people, with measures such as flexibilization of the work regime for fathers and mothers with children up to six years old, creation of credit lines for entrepreneurs and reimbursement for day care and babysitting expenses.

On the other hand, the text removes the obligation of companies to maintain places for the babies of their employees who are still breastfeeding.

The proposal was symbolically approved by the senators. As had already been processed by the Chamber of Deputies, it goes straight to the sanction of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

The senators also voted separately for a highlight of the Workers’ Party to exclude from the text precisely the end of the mandatory installation of nurseries in companies. After a great mobilization by the government, which called senators to register votes, the highlight ended up defeated by 32 votes to 30.

The provisional measure approved by parliamentarians establishes the Employ + Women and Youth program, to insert and maintain these people in the job market.

The initiative faced great resistance from Congress, because the text sent by the federal government provided for changes in the rules for young apprentices. The vote was only possible after the rapporteur of the proposal in the Chamber, Celina Leão (PP-DF), removed all the passages referring to this matter.

The senators approved the text coming from the House without any changes.

One of the measures foreseen in the program is the authorization for the creation of a daycare reimbursement. The text states that these resources to be reimbursed can be spent on the payment of daycare or preschool and also on babysitters, as long as the service is proven. The values ​​will still need to be regulated by an act of the federal government.

On the other hand, companies with more than 30 employees and that adopt this daycare reimbursement benefit will no longer need to install appropriate places, such as nurseries, to assist the children of their employees during the breastfeeding period.

The availability of these places was foreseen in the CLT (Consolidation of Labor Laws).

The implementation of daycare reimbursement depends on the formalization of individual or collective agreements or collective work agreements.

There are ordinances issued by the Ministry of Labor on the benefit. With the provisional measure, it becomes provided for by law.

Male and female employees may apply for the benefit if they have children under the age of six. It will be up to employers to inform and explain the existence of benefits to their employees.

The provision that exempts companies from keeping space for breastfeeding babies provoked a reaction from opposition senators, who asked that the item be voted on separately.

“Women in this country took years to get an adequate space to breastfeed, and the sole paragraph of article 5 exempts employers from making this space available for mothers to breastfeed. This is very serious, people, because the World Health Organization itself says that the ideal is for the child to be breastfed until the sixth month. As maternity leave is only for four months, this space is vacant between the fourth and sixth month”, said Zenaide Maia (PROS-RN).

In the same vein, minority leader Jean Paul Prates (PT-RN) stated that the granting of daycare reimbursement is not enough to compensate for the extinction of places for babies in companies.

“The impression it gives is that, because the benefit of daycare reimbursement is extended, it would be unnecessary to have a place to be with your child for breastfeeding. But this is not exactly at the same time because the child goes to daycare, but, during the first six months, for example, it’s natural, it’s recommended and it’s exclusively the case of breastfeeding”, he said.

The governing senators, in turn, argued that changes could not be made, because this would result in the provisional measure being returned to the Chamber of Deputies and there would not be enough time for a new vote. The provisional measure would lose its effectiveness on September 14.

“The concern that this amendment will return to the Chamber, this MP will return to the Chamber for amendments is real and can happen, so I think we must approve it as it is, because otherwise it will be a loss for us women and a loss for the nation”, stated Margareth Buzetti (PP-MT).

Eduardo Girão (Podemos-CE) argued that the measure could cause women to become unemployed.

The provisional measure is one of the government’s bets to signal to the female electorate, where president and reelection candidate Jair Bolsonaro still faces resistance.

The text of the provisional measure also allows S System entities to maintain early childhood education institutions for the children of workers who are linked to the economic activity of companies in the system. Sesi (industry), Sesc (trade) and Sest (transport) can join these actions.

PRIORITY IN REMOTE WORK TO MOTHERS AND PARENTS

The MP text also provides for a series of cases of flexibilization of the work regime for fathers and mothers, in an attempt to make it possible for women to return to the labor market after maternity leave and to maintain their jobs. Employers will, for example, need to prioritize fathers and mothers with child custody and stepchildren up to six years old when they decide to allocate part of the workforce to special work regimes, such as telecommuting, remote or distance work.

The same priority should be given to parents of children with disabilities, of any age.

Employers will also need to prioritize fathers or mothers with children of the same age when adopting part-time work, compensation for working hours through an hour bank, 12-hour workday for 36 uninterrupted hours of rest, anticipation of individual vacations and flexible entry and exit times.

The text of the provisional measure brings new cases for the suspension of the employment contract, in addition to those provided for in the CLT. These cases should have as their motive the monitoring of the children’s development. Employees with a child whose mother has recently ended her maternity leave may apply.

This suspension should aim to provide care and establish bonds with the children, monitor their development and support the return to work of your partner.

The text also provides for the suspension at the request of employed women to carry out courses or professional qualification programs offered by employers.

On another front, the provisional measure seeks to increase credit for women entrepreneurs. The text provides for differentiated conditions in the credit operations of the SIM Digital program (Program for the Simplification of Digital Microcredit for Entrepreneurs) for women who carry out productive or service activities — both urban and rural — and individual micro-entrepreneurs within the scope of the National Microcredit Program .

Self-employed women will be entitled to a credit line of up to R$2,000, while individual micro-entrepreneurs may receive up to R$5,000. The maximum interest rate will be 85% of that allowed by the CMN (National Monetary Council) for microcredit operations and the payment term of up to 30 months (two and a half years).

See what the Employs + Women Program provides

• Payment of daycare reimbursement or reimbursement of expenses with babysitters, provided they are proven
• Benefit may be granted to maids or employees who have children up to 5 years and 11 months of age.
• It exempts companies with more than 30 employees that adopt the daycare reimbursement benefit from installing an appropriate place for babies
• Priority in teleworking, part-time work, special workday compensation regime through a bank of hours for fathers and mothers with children up to 6 years old
• Authorizes anticipation of individual vacations for fathers and mothers with children up to 6 years old
• Sets flexible check-in and check-out times for parents with children up to 6 years old
• The same priorities should be given to parents of children with disabilities – in this case, there is no age restriction.
• Self-employed women will be entitled to a credit line of up to R$2,000, while individual micro-entrepreneurs may receive up to R$5,000
• Measures to combat sexual harassment, such as the inclusion of rules of conduct regarding harassment and other forms of violence in the company’s internal rules