Part-time work legislation debated

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A process of social dialogue over legislation on part-time employment in Portugal led to the presentation of a new preliminary draft bill in mid-1998. This feature presents the main features of the new proposals and the positions of the social partners.

Encouraging part-time employment was one of the measures for reorganising the labour market laid down in the current 1996-9 medium-term tripartite Strategic Concertation Pact (Acordo de Concertação Estratégica, ACE), between the Government, the General Workers' Union (União Geral de Trabalhadores, UGT) and the three employers' confederations - the Confederation of Portuguese Farmers (Confederação dos Agricultores de Portugal, CAP), the Confederation of Portuguese Industry (Confederação da Indústria Portuguesa, CIP) and the Confederation of Portuguese Commerce (Confederação do Comércio e Serviços de Portugal, CCP).

In order to enact these provisions, in early 1997, the Government drew up an initial draft bill on part-time work. A number of alterations were introduced to the bill following negotiations with the social partners. As a result of this concertation process, a new draft bill was submitted in mid-1998 for the scrutiny of the social partners on the Standing Committee for Social Concertation (Comissão Permanente de Concertação Social) of the Economic and Social Council (Conselho Económico e Social, CES). The new draft bill is expected to serve as the basis of a law on part-time employment to be approved by the Portuguese parliament.

So far, there is no specific legislation on this matter and collective bargaining on the subject has been limited (PT9803170F). However, this has not prevented the use of this type of employment, in practice, through free individual bargaining between employees and employers. Generally speaking, ordinary labour law is applied, and a pro rata rule on working time can be used if necessary.

Main features of the new draft bill

The following features are the most important points in the new draft bill:

• concept of part-time employment. Part-time employment is work for a shorter period of time than that occupied by full-time employees in comparable circumstances. For this purpose, the normal period of work may be calculated on the basis of an average using a period of four months as a reference, or any other period established in a collective agreement. Part-time employment may mean working on all or only some of the days of week;

• applicable regulations. The draft provides for the application of ordinary labour laws and the relevant collective agreements, and guarantees that part-time employees will not receive less favourable treatment than full-time employees in comparable circumstances

• change in form of employment. The draft bill allows for employees to change from full-time to part-time employment and vice-versa on a permanent or temporary basis. For this purpose, the employer and employee must sign a written agreement;

• employee's right to return to full-time employment. If an employee's change from full-time to part-time employment has been agreed for a period of no more than three years, the employee is entitled to return to full-time employment;

• remuneration. The draft enacts the right of a part-time employee to a basic salary and other payments provided for by law or in applicable collective agreements pro rata to the time she or he has worked and provided that the payments in question do not presuppose full-time employment;

• incentives for encouraging part-time employment. The draft bill establishes a number of financial incentives to encourage the use of this type of employment. On one hand, it reduces the employee's social security contributions if she or he goes from full-time to part-time employment. On the other hand, it introduces a temporary reduction in, or exemption from, contributions payable by the employer, provided that another employee is hired to share the job previously held full time or if new part-time jobs are created;

• creation of part-time unemployment benefit. Under certain conditions, the bill establishes the right for unemployed people who hold part-time jobs to receive a partial unemployment benefit; and

• elimination of collectively agreed restrictions. The draft bill revokes any provisions forbidding part-time employment in collective agreements in force on the date the law is published.

Positions of the social partners

The two trade union confederations have differing opinions on the proposed legislation.

The General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses, CGTP) is opposed to the government's draft bill. It considers that it makes job security more tenuous and allows employers to avoid claims for fewer working hours without any reduction in pay. The confederation is particularly opposed to the adoption of an extremely broad concept of part-time employment which, it feels, makes it possible to grant unjustified benefits to employers. For the CGTP, the law on part-time employment should limit itself to enacting some general principles that could be used as a reference for collective bargaining.

The UGT has adopted a less critical position. It points out some positive features, particularly the adoption of certain incentives benefiting employees, like the creation of a partial unemployment benefit. However, the association claims that there is a need for the draft bill to be altered in order to comply with some of the measures laid down in the Strategic Concertation Pact, especially the guarantee that employees who have opted for part-time employment will be able to return to full-time employment. On the other hand, the UGT is concerned about the possible repercussions of this legislation on the labour market, as it may discourage the hiring of full-time employees.

The main position of the employers' confederations on this issue is that the new legislation cannot mean the adoption of a more restrictive system than the one already followed through individual negotiation. They believe that the Government should concentrate on adopting support and incentives encouraging this form of employment. In this field, the employers are more in favour of the Government's new proposal, especially when it is compared to the initial versions of the bill.

After having severely criticised the Government's first drafts, CIP now considers the current proposal to be generally acceptable.

CCP also points out that the latest draft offers more incentives encouraging part-time employment, although the confederation feels that the measures it envisages are not entirely satisfactory, particularly because it establishes a system which is much less favourable to temporary employment contracts.

Commentary

Part-time employment contracts are not very common in Portugal. Low pay combined with the lack of incentives for companies seem to be the main factors limiting greater use of this kind of employment.

The developments in the government proposals seem to indicate that the Government has moved closer to the employers' positions. However, the trade union confederations are very worried about the effects that the new legislation may have on the labour market, especially because it adopts a definition of part-time employment which they feel is too broad. (Pedro Furtado Martins)