Bill 3261/26 creates temporary measures to compensate for the economic impact of reducing working hours from 44 to 40 hours per week. The proposal is under review in the Chamber of Deputies.
The benefits will be allocated to individual micro-entrepreneurs (MEIs) with employees, small businesses, small companies, employers, rural producers and family farmers, rural production cooperatives with employees, and other intensive labor employers defined by the Executive Branch.
To receive them, the employer must prove the adoption of the new working hours without a reduction in salary, the maintenance or expansion of formal jobs, and a significant economic impact caused by the change. Regularity in tax, social security, and labor matters will also be required.
Tax Relief
The proposal initially provides for five years during which employers will not pay social security contributions on the salaries of employees maintained or hired during the adaptation to the 40-hour work week.
The benefit may be extended for up to five more years, but will depend on a specific law and evaluation of the economic, fiscal, social security, and social impacts. The maintenance of the tax relief will also be conditioned on the preservation of formal jobs or an increase in productivity.
Taxes and Credit
The project stipulates that the federal government must submit a proposal for a complementary law to Congress within 180 days of the law's entry into force, containing tax measures for micro and small businesses and self-employed individuals affected by the reduction in working hours.
Among the measures planned are the temporary reduction of at least 50% of Corporate Income Tax (IRPJ) and theSocial Contribution on Net Profit(CSLL), in addition to improving tax benefits for micro and small businesses.
The text also creates special lines of subsidized credit for working capital, technological modernization, automation, increased productivity, reorganization of companies, and professional training.
The loans will have interest rates equivalent to the basic interest rate of the savings account, a minimum grace period of 24 months, and a repayment term of up to 15 years.
Countermeasures
To prevent benefits from being used without a link to reduced working hours, the project requires the maintenance of formal jobs and prohibits fraud, simulation, or artificial reduction of the workforce.
The federal government will be responsible for regulating the criteria for receiving the benefits and preparing an annual report with information on jobs preserved and created, sectors benefited, formalization of work, and effects on productivity.
Increased costs
In justification, the author, Deputy Luiz Carlos Hauly (Pode-PR), stated that reducing working hours could increase the costs of companies that are heavily dependent on labor, especially small businesses.
"The reduction in the weekly work schedule, although socially desirable, may result in an immediate increase in operational labor costs, the need for a reorganization of production, the expansion of the workforce, investments in automation, logistical restructuring, and adaptation of business models," the deputy emphasized.
The reduction in working hours is provided for in PEC 221/19, approved by the Chamber in May. The text establishes a maximum weekly working time of 40 hours, distributed over five days, with two days of rest, without a reduction in wages. The proposal is under review in the Senate.
Next steps
The project will be reviewed, ina conclusive mannerBy the commissions of Social Security, Social Assistance, Childhood, Adolescence and Family; Finance and Taxation; and Constitution, Justice and Citizenship.
To become law, it must be approved by the Chamber and the Senate.