FGTS: Ending birthday withdrawal depends on Congress – 03/10/2023 – Market

The rule that provides for a two-year waiting period to return to the withdrawal-termination of the FGTS (Fundo de Garantia do Tempo de Serviço) after giving up the anniversary withdrawal should postpone the plans of the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) government to extinguish this access route to the bottom.

According to Minister Luiz Marinho (Labour), changing this requirement depends on a bill by the National Congress, according to an analysis carried out by the AGU (Advocacy General of the Union).

There was an expectation that a new rule relating to the FGTS would be discussed at the first meeting of the Fund’s Board of Trustees in 2023, scheduled for March 21st. According to Marinho, however, not all the changes necessary to end the anniversary withdrawal are the responsibility of the board – as in the case of the grace period, for example.

By current rule, the worker who gives up the birthday withdrawal needs to wait two years to regain the right to the traditional modality of access to the fund’s money, which is the termination withdrawal.

While opting for the birthday withdrawal, which allows an annual withdrawal of a percentage plus a fixed portion of the fund, always in the month of the birthday, the worker does not have access to the rest of the balance even if he is dismissed without just cause (condition for access to the withdrawal -termination).

The anniversary withdrawal was created by Law nº 13.932/2019. According to Marinho, the AGU (Attorney General of the Union) is analyzing what would need to be provided for in a bill or provisional measure (MP) and what could be resolved directly in the fund’s council.

This Friday (10), Marinho participated in a meeting at the headquarters of UGT (General Union of Workers), in São Paulo, and again criticized the use of the FGTS to contract loans.

“It is an aberration, an abuse of economic power carried out by the banks and guaranteed by law in the previous government. We will have to change that, but I depend on Congress to make that change,” he said.

Marinho did not give an estimate of when the bill or MP would be sent to the National Congress, but said that he will discuss the matter with the government in the coming days to then send the proposed amendment.

The FGTS anniversary withdrawal has been under attack by the head of Labor and Employment since the early days of the government. The modality was created in the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government on the grounds that the release of money could stimulate consumption and allow workers to use the resources to pay off debts.

This Friday, at UGT’s headquarters, Luiz Marinho met with presidents of dozens of unions linked to the union federation, most from the service and trade sectors. On the agenda were the situation of retail, under scrutiny since the accounting scandal that led to the judicial recovery of Americanas, the regulation of applications and the level of interest.