STF plenary analyzes employment relationship between driver and app

The ministers of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) began judging this Friday (23), in a virtual plenary session, an employment relationship case between a driver and Uber. This is the first time that the full collegiate has discussed relations between workers and platforms.

In the virtual plenary, there is no debate and each minister casts his or her vote in writing. The deadline for delivering votes is one week.

The magistrates will analyze a special appeal filed by Uber against the decision of the Superior Labor Court (TST) that recognized the right to a formal contract of a service provider.

The decision could have general repercussions. The case’s rapporteur, Edson Fachin, voted for it to be like this. If the majority of ministers agree with it, all actions on the matter are suspended until the STF decides the merits of the matter – and the other courts must adopt the same understanding as the Court.

For Fachin, the issue has “unquestionable magnitude” and, given the divergent decisions of courts across the country, it is necessary for the STF to take a position to standardize the Judiciary’s understanding.

Secondly, the type of employment relationship between workers and platforms will also be defined. A complaint from Rappi, in the same sense, was on the court agenda at the beginning of February, but was never analyzed.

Uber argues that the contract with service providers does not involve subordination, compliance with minimum hours, targets or leadership. “They are independent professionals who hire the travel intermediation technology offered by the company through the application,” said the company in a note. The company states that there are more than 6,400 court decisions opposing the application of the rules of the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT) in these relationships.

Decisions by the STF and the Labor Court have been divergent

The sentences, in both cases, are unprecedented. If the STF determines that the case has general repercussions, all such actions in the country must follow the Court’s understanding. Until then, decisions on the matter have been monocratic, that is, made by a single judge, accompanied by the others.

The STF’s understanding so far has been contrary to the existence of an employment relationship for workers, annulling decisions of the Labor Court, which has positioned itself in favor of the application of CLT rules to contracts.

In a recent decision, the First Panel of the STF ruled out the existence of an employment relationship between a worker and the Rappi delivery app. In a statement, Rappi highlighted the “legal security” provided to companies.

Regulation was discussed in a tripartite group, but no progress was made

The regulation of work through applications was discussed by a tripartite working group formed by the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE) in April last year. The group, made up of companies and worker representatives, aimed to establish a format that guarantees additional social rights to workers, with contributions to the National Social Security Institute (INSS) paid by the platforms.

The negotiations were supported by car apps. Uber says that it has been advocating, since 2021, “changes in legislation to allow the inclusion of app-based workers in Social Security, in a model in which platforms bear the majority of contributions, proportional to the earnings of each partner in the apps.”

The motorcycle apps, however, did not agree with the negotiated values ​​for working hours and contributions. In October, the Minister of Labor, Luiz Marinho, passed on to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) the basic text of the bill that will be sent to the National Congress. According to Marinho, the delivery drivers’ proposal will follow the same parameters as passenger transport services.