See worker’s rights on the last national long holiday of the semester

The Tiradentes national holiday, this Thursday (21), brings the possibility for companies to amend the day off and release employees also this Friday (22), creating the last extended national holiday of the semester. The next amended holiday will not be until November 15th, at the Proclamation of the Republic. In June, Corpus Christi will also fall on a Thursday, but the date is not a national holiday, but an optional point.

The federal government decreed, in publication in the Official Gazette of the Union this Tuesday (19), that Friday (22) will be an optional point for federal servers. In this case, each body or head can decide whether or not the team works on the date.

The schedule of days off and the scales on long holidays raise doubts about the rights and duties of workers and employers. Can the company discount the holiday amendment? How should hours be compensated? What is the rule for those who need to work on holiday? See below the main questions, answered with the help of lawyer Larissa Salgado, partner in the labor area of ​​Silveiro Advogados.

Day off is a right and should not cause damage to the worker

All Brazilians are entitled to paid time off on the day of the holiday, which is only Thursday (21), not Friday. That is, the holiday time off cannot generate a discount in remuneration or in the bank of hours.

And in the case of those who work on the holiday (21)?

However, exceptions may be necessary: ​​those who work on the farm must negotiate with the boss if they will receive time off in another situation or if they will receive double day pay. One option excludes the other.

The legislation provides that the right to time off applies only to the 21st. “Only Thursday is a holiday, Friday is a normal working day”, reinforces Larissa.

Some activities are authorized to operate normally on Sundays and holidays, as they are considered essential. Among them are transport services, health and supermarkets.

In such cases, the employee may be called upon to work during the holiday, but must be compensated. The form of compensation depends on what is provided for in the collective agreement (specific for employees of a certain company) or in the collective agreement (valid for the entire category).

What are the conditions of the day off on Friday (22)?

If the company chooses to extend the holiday to Friday, it is up to the company to decide whether the time off will be paid. The company may or may not require employees who were laid off on Friday to make up for hours worked. Replacement can be done by working on dates that would be off; working additional overtime hours, which must not exceed two hours a day or a ten-hour workday; or deducting from the hour bank, if any.

Larissa reinforces that some professional categories have specific norms and collective agreements, which allow or prohibit certain types of compensation. It is always important to analyze the norms of each category on the territorial basis.”

The employee cannot be punished if the time off is arranged with the boss. That is, there can be no discount on payments or benefits related to the Friday recess. But if the worker is scheduled to work on Friday and is absent without justification, he may suffer administrative measures, because the absence is equivalent to an ordinary day.

Facultative point

In the case of the optional point, the employer is not obliged to release its employees and can decide whether or not to work. If there is no time, there is no penalty or discount. The opposite also applies: if there is work, the hours are counted normally, without generating additional ones.

The modification in Ordinance No. 14,817, published in the DOU this Tuesday (19), adds April 22 to the list of optional points for 2022 for federal servers. With this, federal civil servants will have nine holidays and six optional points in the year.

Carnival in Tiradentes holiday

Many workers worked normally during Carnival week this year, as the parties had been postponed due to the pandemic. Some cities, like São Paulo and Rio, are preparing to celebrate Carnival now, on Tiradentes holiday. However, this does not generate any further change in workers’ time off.

Carnival is not an official national holiday. Companies can release employees if they want, just as states and municipalities can create local holidays, as is the case in Rio. “If the municipality did not provide for this Carnival holiday and now it is happening together with Tiradentes, even though there seems to be a loss for the employee, because he is having two holidays in one, that is what the legislation provides”, explains Larissa.