News
The return of the individual working time bank is once again on the table with the Draft Bill of the Labour Reform – Trabalho XXI, reopening an old debate between flexibility and worker protection.
In an article published in ECO, Sofia Carneiro Silva, Associate in the Labour practice at CCA Law Firm, explains that this measure, despite recalling previous regimes, “is not a simple return to the past: it is a return with brakes”.
The new framework proposes an express and written agreement between employer and worker, eliminating the presumption of consent that generated criticism under the previous regime. The maximum limits remain — up to two additional hours per day, 50 hours per week, and 150 hours per year — but the reference period is reduced from twelve to four months, ensuring greater predictability and faster compensation of accumulated hours.
According to the lawyer, the new model “seeks to correct past imbalances, maintaining the flexibility that companies require, but with safeguards that respond to trade union criticism”.
The debate over the individual working time bank divides opinions: for companies, it is an essential productivity management tool; for trade unions, it represents a potential setback in working conditions. Sofia Carneiro Silva concludes that the success of the measure will depend on how it is implemented, “with transparency, predictability, and respect for the balance between personal and professional life”.
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- RH MAGAZINE