The plenary session of the STF (Supreme Federal Court) will begin debating this Thursday (8), for the first time, a request for recognition of an employment relationship between a digital platform and an app worker. The issue to be addressed by the collegiate brings as a backdrop, according to experts heard by Folha, the legality of contracts beyond the signed card, provided for in the CLT (Consolidation of Labor Laws).
Monocratic decisions on outsourcing, pejotização (private-employment), and uberização (uberization) demonstrate the recurrence of this debate. The speed with which justices render judgments is also striking.
Ministers and President Lula at a formal opening session of the Judicial Year at the Supreme Federal Court (STF); the plenary session will decide this Thursday on the relationship between delivery drivers and apps – Pedro Ladeira – February 1, 2024/Folhapress. Survey by the Labor and Development Research Group at the FGV Direito SP (FGV Law School of São Paulo)
shows that 15.7% of constitutional complaints—an instrument used to overturn a lower court decision that allegedly violates Supreme Court precedents—receive a single-judge decision on the same day or, at most, the day after the case challenging hiring procedures is received. Because these complaints are, the analysis tends to be faster, but in labor matters, the agility is even greater. Regarding other issues, only 6.29% of cases were decided in the same period.
The unpublished data, to which Folha had access, is part of the second stage of the research Outsourcing and Pejotization at the STF: analysis of constitutional complaints, the first phase of which was completed in November.
According to a study by Olívia Pasqualeto, Ana Laura Barbosa, and Laura Fiorotto, justices issue a decision within five days in 33.19% of complaints regarding recognition of employment relationships. In general cases, the rate drops to 21.27%. Almost half (48%) of a total of 167 decisions between January and August of last year overturned the Labor Court's ruling—a number considered high.
According to Barbosa, the high volume of complaints about employment relationships (12.66% of the total, in 2023) and the organization of work in the court's offices are hypotheses to explain the greater speed of analysis.
“Sendo muitos os casos, eles acabam sendo julgados mais rapidamente. Então, o volume pode contribuir para isso [tempo mais curto para julgamento], pensando em uma organização do gabinete que procure otimizar mais o trabalho”, diz.
Pasqualeto reforça esse entendimento. “Em direito trabalhista, sabemos que há muito esse tema [reconhecimento de vínculo de emprego]. Talvez, a existência de pouca variedade [de outros temas] possa contribuir para que a decisão seja mais replicada”, afirma. Justiça do Trabalho ignora STF, e ministros veem afronta à corte Justiça multa Uber em R$ 1 bilhão e manda empresa registrar motoristas ‘Não chamei a Uber para vir, não vou falar para ir’, diz ministro do Trabalho Governo propõe INSS, seguro de vida de R$ 40 mil e hora mínima a trabalhadores
of apps. Now, the specific case to be judged is that of a Rappi driver, whose employment relationship was recognized in the labor court. The reporting judge, Justice Alexandre de Moraes, suspended the proceedings and, in another complaint filed by Cabify, had already denied the work permit and sent the case to the Common Court. The First Panel unanimously overturned the labor court decision. Justices often use similar reasoning to overturn a lower court decision. Furthermore, they refer to precedents, which, taken together, show that other contracts are permitted. Among them are court decisions that reaffirm road transportation contracts without an employment relationship, authorize outsourcing in any activity, and consider any other form of division of labor lawful.
Para Pasqualeto, os ministros fazem uma interpretação ampliada da jurisprudência, e afirma que o caso concreto em análise neste momento é mais importante do que o tempo que se leva no julgamento. “Em pejotização, a gente já está vendo que o STF tem validado [o contrato]. No caso da uberização, talvez essa decisão, se vier no sentido de negar o vínculo, ajude a pacificar as decisões da Justiça do Trabalho”, diz ela, que ressalta, no entanto, não ser unânime a visão de reconhecimento de vínculo nesse ramo do Judiciário. Na pejotização, cabe à Justiça do Trabalho analisar eventuais fraudes e coibi-las.
Attorney Mayra Palópoli, a partner at Palópoli & Albrecht Advogados, highlights the Supreme Federal Court's precedents. "These decisions may be moving more quickly because there's already a conviction, a firm decision." According to Palópoli, who represents companies challenging the recognition of a legal relationship in cases of pejotization, the court's decision in the Uberization case may reinforce the understanding of the legality of other contracts. "We have significant legal uncertainty with this matter. Broadly speaking, this would also apply to all other segments that use different forms of hiring, such as outsourcing, pejotization, and self-employment," she says. This history of decisions increases the expectation of a victory in the Supreme Federal Court in the Rappi case, says Daniel Domingues Chiode, a partner at the firm Chiode Minicucci | Littler, which represents the app in the lawsuit.
Chiode é responsável por outros processos nos quais faz a defesa das empresas de aplicativo. Segundo ele, os argumentos que apresenta aos ministros são todos com base em decisões já tomadas pelo STF. “A gente está confiante no que o Supremo já decidiu. Eu não trouxe uma tese inovadora, eu juntei tudo o que o Supremo já tinha decidido em uma tese só, mostrando que a Justiça do Trabalho não está respeitando [precedentes]”, diz. O advogado reconhece que existe um vácuo legislativo no Brasil sobre a atividade de motorista de aplicativo, mas, para ele, a falta de regulamentação não leva a uma relação automática de registro em carteira de trabalho. “É um contrato civil”, afirma. A tese do advogado ganhou força após a PGR (Procuradoria-Geral da República) mudar o posicionamento sobre os apps. Antes, a PGR acreditava que havia vínculo empregatício pela CLT, agora fala em trabalho autônomo.
In a statement, Rappi states that the discussion will be "an important signal" for digital platforms, bringing legal certainty and ensuring "continuity in this economic sector." Superior Labor Court (TST) uses 'gamification' theory to recognize employment relationship with Uber. Zanin overturns TST decision and denies employment relationship to Rappi delivery driver. "We are facing a new way of organizing service provision and technology, bringing specificities to this type of work, in a way that current legislation does not yet address," the company says.
The platform also states that drivers are free to choose when and where they will connect to work, and therefore, there would be no binding relationship. Rappi also claims to have contributed to the working group composed of companies, government, and unions, which is expected to produce a bill regulating app-based activity. The draft was expected to be submitted by the end of 2023, but this did not happen. The proposal may be released after February 20th. The Supreme Federal Court (STF) did not respond when contacted by the time this article was published.
Article originally published on February 8, 2024, on the Folha de S. Paulo website.
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