Regulation of the right to object will soon be implemented

On April 22, 2024, the Minister of the Superior Labor Court (TST) Guilherme Augusto Caputo Bastos, rapporteur of the Repetitive Demand Resolution Incident (IRDR) No. 1000154-39.2024.5.00.0000, ordered the suspension of the processes in progress in all instances of the Labor Court whose core discussion is how to exercise the right to oppose the collection of assistance contributions.

Among other measures, the Minister also ordered the publication of a notice providing interested parties with the opportunity to present a statement on the topic.

The establishment of the IRDR, provided for in articles 976 et seq. of the Civil Procedure Code, was admitted by the Full Court of the TST on 03/18/2024, in order to assess the exclusively legal question that deals with the appropriate way, time and place for non-unionized employees to exercise their right to object to the payment of assistance contributions.

Although the STF has already safeguarded the right of opposition (Theme 935), the criteria for its exercise were not defined, favoring the establishment of rules related to the deadline and the way to express opposition to the charge by the union entities themselves.

Due to the lack of clear contours, the issue reached the Judiciary, leading the Regional Labor Courts to render diverse decisions on the matter. In a survey carried out by the TST Statistics Coordination, 2,423 cases are being processed in the Superior Court that deal with assistance contributions and the exercise of the right to object.

The standardizing legal thesis to be established by the TST will be applied in the national territory to all processes, individual or collective, that deal with the same question of law. Therefore, it must also guide trade unions regarding the objective and reasonable parameters to be adopted for exercising the right to object. It is expected that, from the definition of the thesis, there will be pacification of the matter and, consequently, greater legal certainty for all parties involved.

Contributers to this article: Luciana Granato, lawyer, and Isabella Magano, partner.