In statements to Lusa, Socialist Party (PS) deputy Miguel Cabrita expressed concerns over two “significant and worrying” changes in the draft labor reform proposed by the Government. The changes include extending the duration of fixed-term contracts from two to three years and allowing companies to hire workers on fixed-term contracts simply because they never had an indefinite contract.
“These changes are significant, negative, and go against the 2018 concertation agreement aimed precisely at shortening the duration of fixed-term contracts and removing from the law the widely used possibility for companies to hire young people in search of their first job on a fixed term, simply because they are young,” he stated.
Miguel Cabrita emphasized the need to understand the basis and rationale behind these proposed changes, highlighting that the labor market had “internalized the new balance” established in 2018, which led to “historic highs” in employment and a reduction in fixed-term and other precarious contracts.
The PS deputy voiced apprehension over an interview with Jornal de Notícias, where Labor Minister Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho cited an alleged “abusive and excessive” use of the probation period by companies as the reason for the changes.
“According to the Minister in the interview, within the current legislation framework, employers have begun hiring young people seeking their first job and long-term unemployed individuals ‘indefinitely, but with a trial period of six months,’ and ‘at the end of five months and twenty-nine days, the contract ended, which during the trial period can be terminated without any reason and without any compensation, unlike the fixed-term contract,'” the PS quoted in their query to the minister.
Miguel Cabrita expressed a desire to understand the basis for this “perception,” stressing that the PS has no information that supports the notion that the practice cited by the minister is widespread. He feared this case might resemble the minister’s statements on breastfeeding, where abuses were claimed without data from the Government.
“Our concern is that, under the cover of a perception of companies misusing this trial period, there is, as in the breastfeeding case, no real basis for this claim, and we might be reverting several years of efforts to combat precariousness based merely on a perception,” he warned.
Miguel Cabrita highlighted that these proposed changes by the Government would be detrimental to workers, particularly the youth, as “it’s not indifferent to have a fixed-term or indefinite contract,” especially concerning “medium and long-term decisions on individual and family life,” such as having children or accessing housing loans.
The PS is thus questioning Mário do Rosário Palma Ramalho on the basis for asserting that companies tend to terminate contracts “after five months and twenty-nine days” and how many complaints the Authority for Working Conditions (ACT) registered regarding these situations, as well as how many inspections were conducted.
“Did the ministry commission any study on this matter?” they further inquired.
