Brazil is one of the most complex countries to do business and part of the problem stems from Brazilian labor legislation, composed mainly of the Brazilian Labor Law (CLT) and thousands of infralegal regulations that must be observed by companies.

The CLT, from 1943, only underwent substantial legislative changes in 2017, with the Labor Reform. The other updates implemented over the last decades have mostly been due to decrees, ordinances and normative instructions, generating a huge and complex tangle of norms.

Over the years, labor legislation has become unfunctional, with regulations often contradictory to each other. This creates legal uncertainty and high cost to employers, with a direct impact on business competitiveness and economic growth.

In order to provide a better business environment in Brazil, the federal government published, on November 10, Decree No. 10,854/21, which deals with the consolidation of the Infralegal Labor Regulatory Framework.

The intention is to make labor legislation more accessible and transparent, providing greater legal certainty to economic agents.

About 1,000 decrees, ordinances and normative instructions were revised and consolidated in 15 acts, generating great impact on labor relations. The decree addresses regulations involving the following main themes:

  • Permanent Program for Consolidation, Simplification and Debureaucratization of Infralegal Labor Standards;
  • Electronic Work Inspection Book - eLIT;
  • Supervision of standards of protection to work and safety and health at work;
  • Guidelines for the elaboration and revision of regulatory standards for safety and health at work;
  • Certificate of approval of personal protective equipment;
  • Electronic journey control record;
  • Mediation of collective labor conflicts;
  • Companies providing services to third parties;
  • Temporary work;
  • Thirteenth salary (Christmas Bonus);
  • Individual and collective relations of rural work;
  • Transportation vouchers;
  • Citizen Company Program;
  • Situation of workers hired or transferred abroad;
  • Paid weekly rest and salary payment on holidays;
  • Annual List of Social Information - Rais; and
  • Worker's Food Program - PAT.

One of the most important aspects of the decree is the establishment of the Permanent Program for the Consolidation, Simplification and Debureaucratization of Infralegal Labor Standards, which aims at:

  • promoting the reconciliation of labour standards and the right to decent work;
  • seeking the simplification and debureaucratization of labor standards and the reduction of compliance costs of companies;
  • promoting legal certainty;
  • modernizing standards by achieving clear, simple and concise concepts;
  • improving the business environment; and
  • competitiveness and efficiency of the public sector.

The decree enters into force, for the most part, 30 days after its publication, that is, on December 11, 2021, with the exception of provisions on the Worker's Food Program, which enter into force within 18 months.

Ordinances regulating provisions of the decree have also been issued.

In the coming weeks, we will launch articles with the objective of exploring, in a simple and practical way, the main changes brought by the decree and its ordinances, and clarify the main impacts for companies.

If you want a specific topic to be covered throughout the series, send your suggestion by clicking here.

All articles released will be available on the Legal Intelligence portal and in this publication, below: