Productive sector points out benefits of outsourcing for companies and employees

Representatives of the productive sector defended the changes around outsourcing approved in 2017. In a hearing promoted by the Labor Commission of the Chamber of Deputies this Tuesday (11), they also stated that the legislation that regulated the subject already provides that the service is responsible for guaranteeing the rights of outsourced workers, in case the contracted company (provider) does not comply with them.

The impacts of outsourcing were the subject of a debate that also brought together public authorities, government representatives and union associations. At the center of the discussions were labor reform and the law 13429/2017which regulated outsourcing without setting limits on the middle and end activities of companies, which was later confirmed by the Federal Supreme Court (STF).

For Alexandre Furlan, president of the Labor Relations Council of the National Confederation of Industry (CNI), the positive effects that outsourcing generates for companies and workers cannot be forgotten due to isolated cases of non-compliance with the law. In a universe of millions of companies, these situations represent little statistically, according to him.

“We cannot treat exceptions in Brazil as if they were rules. Sometimes, by the mistake of one, a hundred end up in the same basket. Obviously, I defend the good employer. I do not defend the bad employer. Outsourcing is inexorable in productive processes It will continue to happen. We don’t refuse to improve the law. We just can’t see that outsourcing means precariousness. On the contrary”, he said.

liability guarantee

Vice-president of the Superior Labor Court (TST), Aloysio Corrêa da Veiga stated that it is necessary to find a balance between legal certainty for companies and protection for workers. For him, it is necessary to be aware that the service taker, that is, the company or body that outsources some of its activities, is held responsible for complying with what the labor legislation says.

“It is necessary to make the one who takes the service by fractioning the productive activity become responsible for the inspection of the fulfillment of the resulting labor obligations. We never had outsourcing problems with the automakers, who outsourced absolutely everything, the entire production line and these outsourced companies, which had no direct link with the automaker, were in the parent company’s stronghold. They were installed in the factory, but the activity carried out by them as outsourced workers did not have the slightest problem. There was never a labor claim. It is necessary to understand and improve what we have.”

For Ermínio Alves, representative of Fecomércio de São Paulo, the law that regulates outsourcing ensures that workers’ rights are fulfilled, in the last resort, by those who outsource the service. It is enough for the responsible bodies to carry out the inspection and justice to punish the culprits, as the norm says, he argued. “All labor, social security and insurance rights and conventions and agreements were guaranteed. All of this is the responsibility of the service taker and is in the law. It seems that it is not valid or has not been read carefully”, he countered.

Furlan recalled that the STF not only confirmed the legality of outsourcing, but also the so-called subsidiary liability of the contracting company. “The STF has already decided that the outsourcing of any activity, including its purpose, is constitutional and said the following: ‘in outsourcing, it is up to the contractor to verify the suitability and economic capacity and respond for non-compliance with labor standards, as well as social security obligations’. outsourced did not comply, you will have to comply, because you are the service taker. The rules are clear in the law”, he said.

Less judicialization

To her to her 13429 brought legal certainty that, before 2017, did not exist for companies and employees. The result, according to Leonardo Resende, representative of the National Union of Commerce and Services Entities (UNECS), was a decrease in disputes over the matter in court. “Before the advent of these laws, the labor courts received 106 thousand cases in this field. After the advent of the laws, the numbers dropped, in the following year (2018), more than 60% and this drop continued. In 2019, the reduction was of 63%. In 2020 and 2021, it was 70% and 68%, respectively”.

Furlan explained that between 2017 and 2022 there was a 62% drop in the number of cases involving outsourcing in the labor courts. “Regarding the discussion about the legality or otherwise of outsourcing, there were 14,414 lawsuits in the labor courts. Today there are only 1,700. 88% decrease. Regarding salary equality, 95% decrease. In other words, labor complaints about outsourcing.”

Representatives of the productive sector also affirmed that outsourcing allowed companies to gain competitiveness, greater efficiency and specialization.