“According to the principle of irreducibility of remuneration, enshrined in article 129, number 1, paragraph d of the Labor Code, it is forbidden for the employer to unilaterally reduce wages, as it constitutes an unlawful change of contractual conditions.
However, there are legally provided exceptions, dependent on very specific requirements, which typically require agreement or extraordinary legal framework.
One of these is when there is an agreement between the employer and the employee, allowing them to adjust the salary, for example, in situations of reduced hours or contractual renegotiation.
Additionally, there are situations of:
a) ‘Layoff’ (suspension or reduction of activity), also provided for in the Labor Code, specifically in articles 298 to 310, and widely used during the recently surpassed pandemic period;
b) Court-approved plans in special revitalization processes, insolvency, or business recovery;
c) Specific situations provided for in collective labor regulation instruments.
However, the employer’s unilateral initiative is always prohibited.
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Dantas Rodrigues has been a lawyer since 1993 and is a partner at Dantas Rodrigues & Associados. He has also been a professor of Law at Polytechnic Higher Education since 1995.
