Heloisa de Alencar Santos
Lawyer at Marcos Martins Advogados
Through the “Garimpo Project”, the General Inspectorate of Labor Courts has identified the equivalent of R$ 3 billion reais forgotten in active judicial accounts associated with labor lawsuits that have already been filed. These amounts should have been withdrawn by the winning party after the case became final and unappealable.
The project was implemented in 2019 by the Internal Affairs Department and by February 2020 had already tracked down around R$2 billion by the 24 Regional Labor Courts, which are now seeking to find the legitimate beneficiaries of these amounts, making it possible for them to be released.
The vast majority of the amount located by the Office of the Ombudsman is a residue in accounts due to monetary correction and interest on appeal deposits and not only benefits workers who win labor lawsuits, but mainly employers who, due to a lack of knowledge, end up losing differences in appeal deposit balances that have already been withdrawn.
It is important to note that the recovery of these credits involves no risk for the company and even benefits those that are in judicial reorganization.
With the entry into force of the Labor Reform in November 2017, a company undergoing judicial reorganization no longer needs to provide proof of payment of the appeal deposit in order to file appeals (art. 899, § 10, of the CLT).
Therefore, with regard to appeal deposits collected before the entry into force of Law 13467/2017, which included article 899, paragraph 10, of the CLT, they can be withdrawn by the company undergoing reorganization or made available in a judicial account linked to the Judicial Reorganization process, and both the Courts of Justice, Labor Courts and the Superior Court of Justice have already established an understanding to this effect.
To this end, it is highly recommended that companies seek legal advice in order to be fully aware of any new legislation that may benefit them, which Marcos Martins Advogados is able and prepared to offer.
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