Monique Vieira Lessa
Lawyer at Marcos Martins Advogados
The First Panel of the 21st Regional Labor Court validated the individual agreements signed with the employees of the company Arituba Empreendimento Turístico Ltda -EPP, which temporarily suspended the payment of the food allowance, due to what is prescribed by Law no. 14.020, of 07/06/20, and the pandemic related to the new Coronavirus (COVID 19).
The Court’s decision ratified the decision handed down by the 02nd Labor Court of the District of Natal, in the Collective Action filed by the Union of Employees in the Hotel and Similar Trade in the State of Rio Grande do Norte against the company.
According to the Court, several sectors of the economy have been hit by the serious economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the hotel industry, of which the company is a part. Thus, in view of the exceptional circumstances caused by the pandemic, it was necessary to adopt emergency measures in order to guarantee the permanence of the employment relationship.
Considering this scenario, the Court held that the conclusion of individual agreements with the company’s employees was supported by Law 14.020/20, which established the Emergency Program for Maintaining Employment and Income.
It also pointed out that the fact that the law allows for the adoption of other forms of adjustment – such as the establishment of a bank of hours, home office work, contractual reduction and suspension, bringing forward vacations, payment in installments of FGTS and social security contributions – does not make the company’s initiative regarding the temporary suspension of the benefit invalid, not least because the agreements signed between the employees and the company guarantee not only the resumption of payment of the provisionally suspended amount, but also the increase in the benefit when payments resume.
