“The role exercised by the worker represents the core of their professional activity. The general rule stemming from labor legislation is that the worker should, in principle, perform the duties corresponding to the activity for which they were hired. The contracted activity includes functions that are akin or functionally linked, as long as the worker has adequate qualifications and it does not lead to professional devaluation.
However, if the company’s interest requires it, the employer can temporarily assign other functions to the worker, provided that this does not imply a substantial modification of their position as a worker.
It should also be considered that the employment contract between employer and worker may result in the restriction or extension of the general rule mentioned above, determining the contract, for instance, the possibility of changing the worker’s functions, even if it implies a modification of their position. However, such an agreement expires after two years if it has not been applied.
Regarding the possibility of altering the working hours by the employer, it is important to note that the working hours define the normal daily and weekly working periods.
The working hours are determined by the employer, respecting the legal limits and also the demands for protecting the worker’s safety and health and reconciling professional activities with family life.
In this respect, before proceeding with a change in working hours, the employer must consult the employees involved and the workers’ committee, in order to comply with legal requirements.
The employer must also announce the change in working hours seven days in advance or three days in advance in the case of a microenterprise.
Thus, assigning the setting of working hours to the employer, they can only change the schedule if it has not been expressly agreed with the worker, if the alteration’s submission was agreed upon for the worker’s consent, if the worker has been expressly hired for a specific type of schedule, or if it can be demonstrated that the contract was only signed due to a certain schedule.”
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Dantas Rodrigues has been a lawyer since 1993 and a partner at Dantas Rodrigues & Associados. He has also been a professor of Law at Polytechnic Higher Education since 1995.
