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For the president of the Portuguese Confederation of Commerce and Services (CCP), João Vieira Lopes, the issue of non-compliance with telework “involves a lot of interpretation of the law.” Companies that can telecommute people, he says, do. “What can be debated is what companies think of people who may be teleworking and those who may not be,” adds this official, after being questioned by the PUBLIC about whether he had knowledge of cases or complaints of non-compliance with this regime in cases where it is mandatory.
“We have no idea of cases of glaring non-compliance, but we do not put our hands in the fire unless such situations exist,” he said. “We admit that there may be some [situações]And that there are companies that “have not made a total effort” to apply teleworking, added the president of CCP. This employer, however, does not have quantitative data and does not know whether the Working Conditions Authority (ACT) and the Food and Economic Safety Authority (ASAE) have detected many situations or not.
The PUBLIC sent several questions to the Ministry of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security, namely, how many cases of non-compliance had already been detected, where and what sanctions were finally applied, but received no response.
This Saturday, at a press conference to discuss the measures related to the state of emergency, the Prime Minister said that there has been a “major failure” of mandatory telework in municipalities and cases in which it is applicable. “If we look at the data that Google is publishing on commuting, we realize that there are many more people on the move than if teleworking was more respected,” he said. Consequently, it stated that the Ministry of Labor had already given instructions for ACT to proceed with the inspection actions.
CIP against stops on the eve of holidays
CIP – Confederação Empresarial de Portugal, chaired by António Saraiva, opposes the Prime Minister’s call for companies to fire their workers on the eve of the next two holidays: schools will close and public service will be tolerated.
The decisions now presented, says the CIP in a statement, “are not consistent, considered and not even scientifically substantiated,” underlining that it had already raised reservations “to this new package of measures that limit mobility and, therefore, economic activity. “.
Added to the “strong conditionality in relation to eight full days” is the closure of schools on the eve of holidays, a decision that implies, he underlines, “an additional problem for hundreds of thousands of parents who must ensure the necessary assistance for children”
“The Government’s announcement is all the more serious as it recommends and refers companies to the possibility of ‘suspending work’ these days. In a situation of dramatic drop in income, the country cannot afford to lose so many days of production, there is no scientific basis to justify the general closure of companies ”, highlights the CIP.
Defending that vacations should be brought forward in 24 hours, this employers’ organization says that, in a situation like the current one, it is “fundamental that the Government realizes that Portuguese companies have commitments to fulfill – with workers and clients – and the fulfillment of that responsibility is decisive for Portugal. If the companies close, a vital part of the country closes with them ”.
Waiting for income support
Among the measures announced by António Costa is also the mandatory use of a mask in the workplace (if there are no partitions or if the workers are not isolated), something that, for the CCP president, was “inevitable”. “In terms of public health, we never discuss the measures”, stressed João Vieira Lopes.
A more sensitive issue is that of support for companies, with the CPC leader highlighting that this Saturday there were only two novelties: the postponement of the payment of VAT and Social Security to the State, with the possibility of being made in three or six installments ( without interest), and the announcement that there will be support linked to commercial income. In the latter case, however, nothing is known yet, and there may be news from the Minister of Economy, Pedro Siza Vieira, next Tuesday.
Recalling that the support for commercial rents is a claim made by the CCP before the summer, Vieira Lopes says that there must be a shared effort between the employer and the landlord, the State having to compensate the latter, which would go through a decline or even annulment. of the 28% tax charged at the IRS level. This is in stores with doors to the street, since there is specific legislation designed for shopping centers, although this special regime is now in the process of clarification.
On the other hand, the CCP president qualifies the support plan presented this Saturday as “unambitious, at least,” and adds that, in addition, there are measures that are taking a long time to reach the ground, which lack the desired effectiveness.
