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Last Thursday António Costa announced the measures that will come into force as of this Tuesday during the state of contingency. One of the measures consists of the lag in companies in the metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto, with different entry and exit times, as well as breaks and meals.
The measure is part of the proposed decree-law that the Government sent to the social partners and who are asked to send their opinion at the end of next Wednesday, before the diploma is approved by the Council of Ministers.
The proposal, to which the Lusa agency had access, determines that “The employer can change the working hours, unless said change causes serious harm to the worker, by prior consultation with the workers involved and the workers committee. or, failing that, to the union or inter-union commission or union delegates, publishing the new hours in the company at least five days before the start of the request ”.
In addition to situations in which the worker claims serious injuries, the proposal establishes that Workers “under the age of 12 in charge will not be able to accept” the change in schedule. Also workers with reduced work capacity, disability or chronic illness, as well as pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women are “exempt” from working according to the new schedule set by the employer, when “it may harm their health or safety in the job”. job”.
The Prime Minister justified this measure by the fact that it allows avoid agglomerations in the company, as well as the “reduction of trips”, to avoid the concentration of people at rush hour, mainly in public transport.
According to the document, The creation of different schedules should be observed in the entrances and exits, breaks or shift changes in the workplaces, “including common areas, support facilities and access areas” in which 50 or more jobs are carried out simultaneously. more workers.
Companies must organize the time difference between the different teams or departments with a minimum interval of 30 minutes between them up to the limit of one hour.
The diploma also provides for the creation of stable work teams to ensure that contact only occurs between workers of the same team or to resort to teleworking whenever the activity allows it.
Failure to follow these rules is subject to an administrative violation.The Working Conditions Authority being the entity that will have the competence to carry out the necessary inspections.
UGT denounces “pressure on workers”
The sending of the document without tripartite discussion in the Social Agreement concerns the general secretary of the General Union of Workers (UGT), Carlos Silva, who understands that The diploma leaves “open ground” for “pressure on workers” to be exerted, which, according to him, will have little room for rejection and will invoke serious damage.
Carlos Silva also warned about the fragility of prior consultation provided for in the document in cases where there are no union and worker structures in the companies and criticized the fact that the Government is about to approve the diploma without first discussing it with the social partners, asking only for their opinion.
“It is one thing to raise concerns in a tripartite environment, it is another to send opinions in writing,” he said, noting that this is not the consultation with the social partners “foreseen in the social dialogue.”
The contingency situation came into effect throughout the country from 00:00 hours this Tuesday until September 30. The objective is to control the spread of Covid-19 in a period marked by the return to school and the workplace.
c / The day after tomorrow
