Labor Law: Employment Termination and Working Hours Rules

Employment Termination and Contractual Voids

Termination Agreement: This is an agreement between the employee and the employer to terminate the employment contract.

Termination-Termination: This occurs when there is a void in hiring by the Administration without a competition; this causes a void in the contract.

Understanding Hours in Itinere

What are hours in itinere? These are the hours workers spend moving to the workplace that are counted as working hours. This applies where the workplace is inaccessible or not serviced by regular public transport, and transportation is provided by the employer. It also considers cases where there is an incompatibility between the start or end of the workday and the scheduled public transport.

If the employer charges for the transport provided, is the employee still entitled to hours in itinere? According to Summary 320 of the TST, the fact that the employer charges (partially or otherwise) for local transport provided to an inaccessible location or one not serviced by regular transportation does not remove the right to the perception of hours in itinere.

Work Shifts and Sunday Compensation

What are continuous shifts? Continuous shifts are those in which groups of workers succeed each other in work activity, alternating times in order to allow the continuous operation of the company.

What is the consequence for work performed on Sunday that is not compensated? Work performed on Sunday that is not compensated by the employer must be paid double, according to Summary 246.

Working Hours and Rest Intervals

What is the requirement for the extension of working hours? There must be a written agreement between the employer and employee, or a collective labor agreement.

Differentiating Intra-day and Inter-day Intervals

Intra-day interval: This is the interval that occurs during the employee's workday, such as lunch time. For shifts of 4 to 6 hours, it is 15 minutes. For shifts of more than 6 to 8 hours, it is a minimum of 1 hour and a maximum of 2 hours.

Inter-day interval: This is the interval corresponding to the period between one workday and another for the restoration of the employee, following a minimum of 11 hours.

Theories on the Working Day

• Theory of time actually worked: This theory only computes the actual time worked by the employee, not counting idle time.
• Theory of time available to the employer: This computes the working day as the time the worker is available to the employer, regardless of whether the worker was idle.
• Theory of time in itinere: This adopts the period from the displacement of the employee from their residence to work and vice versa as part of the working day.

Requirements for Hours in Itinere and Overtime

What are the requirements for receipt of hours in itinere? The workplace must be difficult to access or not serviced by regular public transport, provided there is the provision of transportation by the employer.

How long is the period for overtime compensation? Compensation for overtime, through a bank of hours, must be made within one year.