TAM Linhas Aéreas SA (LATAM Brasil) was condemned by the Labor Court of Campinas (SP), in a lawsuit by the Public Ministry of Labor (MPT), to the obligation to regularize the working hours of its airline employees and to pay a compensation for collective pain and suffering in the amount of R$ 5 million.
The decision is valid throughout the country. The defendant has already filed an ordinary appeal with the Regional Labor Court of the 15th Region (TRT-15).
The sentence of the 6th Labor Court of Campinas, handed down by judge Gustavo Zabeu Vasen at the end of October 2021, determines that TAM refrains from keeping the airline workers hired by it in working hours that exceed 2 hours of overtime per day and that it grant breaks for rest and food for at least one hour (on shifts that exceed six hours a day), under penalty of a fine of R$ 1.000,00 for each non-compliance, per employee in an irregular situation.
The decision also determines that the defendant implements, within 30 days, a point registration system that “do not allow automatic clocking and allow, through the data center, the electronic and printed extraction of the faithful record of the clocks made by the employee, distinguishing them from any clocks made by third parties”, under penalty of a fine of BRL 10.000,00 per day.
TAM was investigated by prosecutor Danielle Olivares Corrêa, based on a complaint that reported the practice of fraud in time registration by the company's managers, in order to hide the real number of overtime hours worked by workers who activated at the terminal Viracopos, in Campinas.
The MPT took a series of testimonies and found that, in various segments of the company, with regard to the work of airline workers, the practice of extrapolation of working hours, suppression of rest intervals and fraud in the clock record was recurrent.
The MPT proposed g a conduct adjustment term (TAC) to TAM, but the company did not agree with the extrajudicial agreement. So, the MPT filed the public civil action in 2020.
“Limiting working hours is a crucial element for protecting the health of workers, regardless of the risks that the activity carried out offers, since its extrapolation can cause physical and mental fatigue, in addition to suppressing the enjoyment of family and social relationships. In this way, respect for the workday provided for in the legislation and the observance of the rest break constitute the essential minimum for the preservation of collective health”, says Danielle Olivares Corrêa.
In the sentence, the judgment considered reasonable the conviction of the defendant to pay compensation of R$ 5 million, as required by the MPT.
“With regard to the amount of compensation, considering the extent of the damage (non-compliance with norms that enshrine highly relevant social rights, intended to ensure the physical and psychological integrity of airline workers); the period of duration of the damage (there is news of the practice of irregularities throughout at least the entire period not prescribed); the number of workers affected by the defendant's conduct (before the pandemic, the defendant had around 3.000 airline workers across the country, adding this fact to the turnover of such employees over the period under review); the culpable conduct of the defendant (failed to observe the rules in force as a way to avoid hiring more employees to meet the regular demand for work); the lack of retraction; the lack of adoption of measures aimed at mitigating the damage; the economic condition of the defendant (a large company that is part of a group that announced a net profit of 190 million dollars in 2019, the year immediately before the pandemic [...]), I understand that it meets the criteria of common sense and reasonableness to arbitrate compensation for Collective moral damages in the postulated amount of BRL 5.000.000,00”, wrote the magistrate.
Via: Public Ministry of Labor
