Mariana Saroa de Souza
Lawyer at Marcos Martins Advogados
On Tuesday, November 17, 2020, the Labor Secretariat of the Ministry of Economy released a technical note establishing the guidelines and parameters that employers must observe when calculating the payment of the 13th salary to workers who had their employment contracts suspended, or their working hours reduced during the pandemic, as the issue generated doubts.
According to the government, workers who have had their working hours reduced as a result of joining the Emergency Program to Maintain Employment and Income (BEm) should receive their 13th salary based on their full pay, and this rule should also be observed for reductions still in effect in December.
As for employees whose employment contracts have been suspended, the periods of suspension should not be counted as length of service when calculating 13th salary and vacation pay. However, there is an exception in the notice, which applies to employees who have provided services for more than 15 days in the month. In these cases, the corresponding portion must be computed when calculating the 13th salary. Therefore, in order to calculate the amount due as 13th salary, the calculation must be carried out on a month-by-month basis, considering as a full month the work done for no less than 15 days within the month of calculation.
