Social partners discuss new labour laws

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Over the first half of 1998, the Portuguese Government submitted a set of draft bills to be discussed by the social partners within the framework of the Standing Committee for Social Concertation. The proposals would introduce changes in some particularly sensitive areas, such as part-time work and the legal concept of remuneration, and opposition has arisen on these points, notably from the CGTP trade union confederation.

The government has submitted a set of draft bills over the first half of 1998 to the Economic and Social Council (Conselho Económico e Social, CES) to be discussed within the framework of the Council's Standing Committee for Social Concertation (Comissão Permanente de Concertação Social). The consultation process with the social partners on these issues is in accordance with measures outlined in the 1996-9 tripartite Strategic Concertation Pact (Acordo de Concertação Estratégica, ACE).

The draft bills - as previous reported in EIROnline- deal with matters such as part-time work (PT9806181F), revision of the legal concept of remuneration (), updating the system of penalties for violation of labour regulations (PT9802168N), changes in the lay-offs and short-time work system (PT9806182N), and a special system of flexible working time arrangements for workers in certain situations (women who are pregnant, nursing or have recently given birth, minors, and workers with disabilities). The package of measures also takes on the transposition of the EU Directives regarding European Works Councils and young workers (PT9807185F).

Key proposals

Among the various draft bills are some that are especially innovative in the context of Portuguese labour law. These are the bills that deal with part-time work and revision of the legal concept of remuneration.

In the bill that has now been submitted to the social partners, part-time work is defined in relation to full-time work, and it is obvious that the legislator is concerned with bringing the part-time worker's situation more in line with that of the full-time worker. Pay is to be calculated in proportion to the hours worked and based on the standard of a full-time worker in the same position in the same company or sector. The consent of a worker is required for any switch to part-time status or for a return to full-time status. In addition, the bill would leave open the possibility for collective bargaining to determine the status of part-time work. Lastly, various incentives are established for hiring workers for shared job posts.

The draft bill to change the legal concept of remuneration (retribuição) - for purposes such as the calculation of social security contributions - expressly excludes from the definition pay bonuses, based on collective agreements or internal works rules, that are dependent on factors linked to the professional behaviour of the worker (such as job performance, productivity, or attendance), when verification of these during the period in question is not guaranteed beforehand.

The most notable of the proposed changes to the laws governing lay-off and short-time procedures are an increase in the state's portion of the unemployment benefit paid to the workers concerned and the elimination of the current preference for short-time working over lay-offs.

Social partners' reactions

The first public reactions to this set of draft bills came, for the most part, from the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses, CGTP) - which did not sign the Social Concertation Pact - and its affiliated trade unions. These took the form of public statements, meetings and street demonstrations. The CGTP challenged, in particular, the proposed system of part-time work and the rules regarding the legal concept of remuneration. It is also concerned about a procedural issue - the Constitution and the law require that workers have an opportunity to be heard in advance on these issues, through the trade unions and the workers' commission s. This could end up taking place during the summer of 1998 - in other words, at a time when the majority of workers are on holiday.

The reactions of the other union confederation, the General Workers' Union (União Geral de Trabalhadores, UGT), which did sign the Social Concertation Pact, have not been of complete and total disagreement with the proposals. Rather, UGT is in favour of improving the draft bills.

Organisations representing employers have also expressed some displeasure with the bills because they believe that they do not completely fulfil the commitments set out in the Social Concertation Pact. They have expressed their dissatisfaction particularly with regard to the penalties for non-compliance with labour laws, which they feel are too harsh, especially for small companies.

Commentary

With this set of draft bills, the Government has made yet another of its periodic interventions in labour legislation, adding to an already quite tangled web of regulations. In addition, the proposed measures correspond only in part to the commitments made in the Social Concertation Pact because they diverge, at times, from the terms of that agreement and do not address all the issues dealt with in it. The measures also continue to promote collective bargaining as a means to put the legislative measures into action. Although this principle is, in itself, admirable, it is at odds with the lack of dynamic energy in collective bargaining, which has only rarely taken advantage of the potential that has been made available.

Some of the draft bills deal with practical matters of great importance, and for which there is an urgent need for legislation. This is particularly so in the case of part-time work and in the labour law violation penalty system.

Current legal regulations governing part-time work are few and are very inadequate. Nevertheless, this type of work has seen extraordinary growth over the last few years (PT9803170F). It affects mostly young people just entering the job market, and the lack of legislation, combined with the inertia of collective bargaining and the decline in union membership, leads to practices that are potentially detrimental to the interests of these workers. Thus, further regulation, in conjunction with employment policy, has become urgent. The priority that the Government is giving to the matter in launching the debate among the social partners is understandable.

Revision of the system of penalties for non-compliance with labour laws has also become urgent. Despite increases in the number of penalties for labour law infringements for many of the laws currently in force, most of the fines are so low that, in practice, they do not have the desired deterrent effect. Revisions must be made, though they need to be balanced and adapted to the way business is structured and operates. (António Nunes de Carvalho)