Published on 17/12/2021, the law [re]creates the Ministry of Labor and Welfare, which until then had been unified with the Ministry of Economy. Created in 1930, the ministry was abolished on 01/01/2019 and absorbed by the Special Secretariat for Welfare and Labor, subordinate to the Ministry of Economy. On July 27, 2021, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security was recreated through Provisional Measure (MP) 1,058/2021, converted into Law 14261-2021, published in the DOU of December 17, 2021, which also brings important changes to Laws 7,998/90 (Unemployment Insurance and Wage Allowance Law) and 8,036/90 (Severance Indemnity Fund Law).
Among other points dealt with by Law 14. 261/21, the Ministry of Labor was assigned the task of (i) defining the hypotheses for replacing an in-person expert examination with a remote examination and the conditions and limitations for carrying it out; (ii) overseeing the granting of professional qualification scholarships by companies; (iii) redistributing to the ministry the civil servants assigned to the Social Security Appeals Board; (iv) amending the CLT to establish the Electronic Labor Domicile, which allows electronic summonses to be issued to employers in administrative labor inspection processes; and (v) amending Law 7998/90 to assign the Ministry of Labor and Social Security the task of overseeing compliance with the Unemployment Insurance Program, funded by the Workers’ Support Fund.
In addition to recreating the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the main novelty of Law No. 14.216/2021 is the amendment to article 628-A of the CLT, which establishes the Electronic Labor Domicile aimed at (i) informing the employer of any administrative acts, tax actions, subpoenas and notices in general; and (ii) receiving, from the employer, electronic documentation required in the course of tax actions or the presentation of defense and appeal within the scope of administrative proceedings.
According to the new wording of article 628-A, electronic communications made through the Labor Electronic Domicile do not need to be published in the Federal Official Gazette or sent by post and are considered personal for all legal purposes and are intended to facilitate communication between the employer and the competent bodies and reduce bureaucracy in the administrative and inspection process.
Awareness of the MTP’s actions through the electronic communication system, using digital certification or an access code, will have validity requirements that are yet to be regulated by the Ministry.
To find out more about the electronic labor domicile and what will change with the re-creation of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the Marcos Martins labor team is available to assist you.
