Supreme Court Confirms New Outsourcing Regulations
Businesses will be allowed to outsource their main activities
The Brazilian Supreme Court decided yesterday (30th), by seven votes against four, that the outsourcing of any work activity or occupation is within Brazil's constitution.
The decision was a result of two different lawsuits. It also will remove the last obstacles to a part of the new Brazilian labor law, which allows for unrestricted outsourcing. The lawsuits were part of a group of motions that questioned the law's constitutionality.
Until now, jurisprudence forbids a business from outsourcing its main activities, only support ones, such as cleaning, security, and courier services. But business owners complained that the lines between the two categories were becoming blurry, which brought them judicial problems.
Justices Cármen Lúcia, Celso de Mello, Gilmar Mendes, Alexandre de Moraes, Dias Toffoli, Luís Roberto Barroso and Luiz Fux all voted for unrestricted outsourcing.
Justices Marco Aurélio, Edson Fachin, Rosa Weber and Ricardo Lewandowski voted against.
The discussion among them went beyond rule of law; the justices also considered how the outsourcing would improve Brazil's economy, currently in a recession.
"By forbidden outsourcing, we could see less job creation," said Supreme Court president Cármen Lúcia.
Justice Weber disagreed. According to her, outsourcing doesn't create new jobs; only economic development can do that, she said.
However, the Supreme Court decision says that the company will be responsible for paying for fringe benefits and social security for all outsourced labor, in case the workforce supplier fails to do so.
This Supreme Court decision ends a legal deadlock created by nearly 4,000 lawsuits questioning the new outsourcing regulations brought about by the labor reform.
Labor attorneys say that the decision brings more security to businesses, while unions alert that it could increase sub-employment numbers.
Translated by NATASHA MADOV