A representative of AEP responded to criticisms that the government’s draft labor reform project promotes flexibility in individual dismissals and complicates the reinstatement of dismissed workers.
“Dismissing employees is not the priority for employers in this context,” he clarified during his participation in the panel “Dismissals: to facilitate or to balance?” at a labor reform conference organized by the newspaper Eco.
The AEP president considered the possibility of hiring through outsourcing, after company layoffs, a positive measure for labor market flexibility.
“If the employee is valuable, the company does not dismiss them. It reallocates them. When we are in full employment, we need everyone,” he stated.
Filipe Marques, an executive commission member of CGTP, criticized the three main measures announced by the government facilitating dismissals, including the removal of the requirement for prior hearing of employees in disciplinary processes, the difficulty in reinstating unjustly dismissed workers, and the possibility for companies to use outsourcing after workforce reductions.
“The effect of this labor package will be to allow dismissals today and hiring tomorrow,” the unionist remarked.
He pointed out that by July, there were 332 collective dismissals in Portugal, indicating that “it is not difficult to dismiss in Portugal.”
If the government’s labor package progresses, “workers will face more precarious conditions and wages will decrease,” he added.
Gonçalo Delicado, partner in the labor law sector at Abreu Advogados, participated in the same panel, saying, “the most important thing is stability in labor legislation for both workers and employers over a prolonged period.”
The main changes proposed by the government to labor law include extending the duration of fixed-term contracts, reintroducing individual time banks, lifting restrictions on external hiring after dismissals, revising parental leave policies, and strengthening mandatory minimum services during strikes.
