Member Article

From among the special forms of contracting employment, special reference should be made, as it is an innovation, to the possibility of an employee being bound simultaneously to several employers provided there are corporate or organisation relations between them, by way of a contract in writing stating which of the employers represents the others in the performance thereof. Where these requirements are not met, the employee will be free to choose to which employer he/she wishes to be bound. Where fixed term employment contracts are concerned, to be noted is that the Code admits the possibility of the rules applicable to these contracts therein established being amended or set aside, within certain limits, by applying those set forth in collective agreements. On the other hand, the list of the situations in which fixed term employment contracts are permitted now takes on the form of examples. As for the term of these contracts, the Code introduces the possibility of these being extended for a minimum of one year and for a maximum of three, in addition to the initial three-year term that is currently established in the law. However, this possibility is subject to special laws applicable to this type of contract coming into force. Among other amendments, to be noted is that for first jobs the total duration of fixed term employment contracts is reduced to eighteen months. Moreover, the termination of fixed term employment contracts for reasons not imputable to the employee is, save in certain cases set forth in the Code, impeditive of the same position being filled for a fixed term before a period of time equivalent to one third of the term of the contract and its extensions having elapsed. Also to be noted is the requirement of the employer providing vocational training to employees engaged for a fixed term where the term of the contracts, including their extensions, is of more than six months. The duration of the vocational training will depend on that of the employee’s contract. In turn, the scope of the secondment system has been extended, reference to the exclusion from positions not coordinating other positions of leadership having been eliminated. Reference should also be made to the fact that a rule has been introduced whereby the employee terminating his/her employment contract during the secondment will lose his/her right to the compensation applicable to the termination of the secondment. As regards the temporary assignment of employees, a limit of one year, which may be extended up to a maximum of five years, has been introduced. The Code provides for the figure of telework employment, which is characterised by work usually performed outside the company by resorting to information and communication technologies. Fernando Silva Fernandes ([email protected])