Understand the ‘uberization’ of nannies and day laborers – 04/19/2023 – Market

The PEC das Domésticas, which completes ten years this month, established a series of labor rights for professionals in the sector, bringing it closer to other professions. However, informality —historically intense— has increased.

Among the professionals who work without a registered license, many offer their work on service delivery applications. With no employment relationship, the platforms make available the profile of the providers or the contracting of services by the hour.

Among the professionals available are day laborers, nannies, cooks and caregivers for the elderly.

GetNinjas has approximately 100,000 day laborers providing services through the platform and an average of 380,000 requests per month. According to the company, “if the demand does not include heavy cleaning or other items such as window panes, a day laborer, on average, usually charges between R$ 70 and R$ 120 a day”. The hours worked agreement is agreed between the professional and the client who requested the service.

There is no charge or profit sharing on the platform, which works as a social network between service providers and potential customers.

Mary Help, with more than 150 franchised units and 8,000 professionals in activity, claims to offer three service models: intermediation of self-employed day laborers, selection processes for monthly workers and outsourcing of labor to companies.

Regarding self-employed day laborers, the franchisor says that, on average, it handles requests from 35,000 customers per month who hire around 60,000 daily.

The price for an eight-hour day on Mary Help ranges from R$170 to R$220. For a six-hour day, prices range from R$140 to R$170, and for four hours, from R$110 to R$ 140.

The charge varies according to the region of the country, the city and the day of the week in which the cleaning will be done (including weekends and holidays).

Of the values ​​received for daily rates, the professionals keep, on average, 60% to 70% and transfer around 30% to 40% to the Mary Help units for intermediation work with end customers.

“Considering the prices paid by clients and these percentages that the day laborers retain, the earnings of professionals who choose/accept to work every day of the month can reach between R$ 2,500 and R$ 3,000 per month”, says Mary Help to Sheet.

According to the company, in the last 12 months, 80% of the professionals worked as cleaners, 11% as ironers/washers, 3% cooks, 2% nannies and 1% caregivers. The company also mediates professionals for other types of services, such as gardeners, swimming pools, personal organizers, upholstery washing/waterproofing, carpet washing and room sanitization.

Odete also works as a connection channel between day laborers and contractors. The customer accesses the platform and enters the ZIP code of the region where he wants the service to be performed in order to have access to the profile of dozens of professionals. Negotiation of service, date, value, transport and payment method is done by telephone. Odete indicates charging per day or per hour worked, an amount between R$ 80 and R$ 500.

After the service, the day laborer and the contractor can leave comments about the experience.

Parafuzo claims that it has already provided more than 1 million services and currently operates in more than 160 cities, in 20 Brazilian states and in the Federal District and has more than 5,000 professionals active in the cleaning, ironing and furniture assembly categories. .

According to the platform, the average value of services is between R$ 150 and R$ 200. Parafuzo did not disclose the actual amount passed on to professionals.

The company charges a fee of BRL 80 for registration, which can be paid in three installments, and a monthly fee of BRL 28 for day laborers.

Self-employed and MEIs

Brazil has the world’s second largest market for domestic workers, behind only China. There are about 5.7 million people. According to Dieese (Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies), of this total, 92% are women, 65% of them black women. Currently, three out of four work without a formal contract.

According to the legislation, when the professional works up to two days a week in the same house, there is no labor relationship and there is no obligation to pay charges.

According to specialists, the list of housekeepers is seen by labor law in the same way as other workers per app. “With the client there is no bond, but with the company providing the service there is discussion”, says Rafael Covolo, partner at Araujo & Covolo Advogados.

The debate on the employment relationship between workers and the platforms is in the TST (Superior Labor Court) awaiting a final decision.

“There has already been recognition of an employment relationship between Uber and partner drivers. In 2023, the 4th panel of the TST, removed the relationship, referring that this and other forms of work that come from technology must be regulated by law”, he says. Marceli Brandenburg, partner at Messias e Brandenburg Blumer Advogados Associados.

The lawyer also states that, although there is currently no specific labor rule to be applied in the case of professionals hired through applications, the existence or not of binding must be analyzed on a case-by-case basis, until the labor court consolidates a position about.

“It is important that the day laborers are informed about the management limits of the platform in their work, so that, if exceeded, a labor claim is filed with a request for an employment relationship, for example”, says lawyer Larissa Barone, from the Peluso, Stupp office and Guaritá Advogados.

To guarantee the right to benefits such as maternity, sickness, and retirement benefits, among others, day laborers must contribute to the INSS as self-employed or MEI (individual micro-entrepreneur).

The fees charged by the platforms are legal, according to labor lawyers. They are the way to remunerate the service of websites and applications. But the fee and transfer amounts must be clearly informed to the professionals.

“Charging fees or sharing profits is common in partnership contracts, and there is no legal impediment to this. However, in the case of charging a percentage on top of the amount charged for the service, the company must consider some aspects such as who pays with operating costs, in the case of cleaning professionals, the cost of transportation and cleaning products, so that the signed partnership does not become unfeasible”, says Marceli Brandenburg.

ASK DOUBTS

1 – Who is responsible for the day laborer’s contract?

The customer accesses the website or application, chooses the type of service he wants and how he will pay. The regularization of the service provider is the responsibility of the platform. It is part of your obligation as an intermediary.

2 – If there is any problem during the service, who will be responsible?

Before the Judiciary, responsibility for problems in the service, such as breaking objects, theft or lack of a professional rests with the platform. The company may later sue the service provider for the damage suffered.

3 – After a first service, can the customer hire the employee directly, without going through the platform?

It will depend on the contract between the client and the platform. There is no provision in the law for punishing such conduct.

In general, the applications try to create methods that prevent the hiring of partner professionals by their clients outside their environment, through incentives.

4 – If you call the same professional several times, will the client create an employment relationship?

There may be characterization of an employment relationship if the same day laborer is hired three or more times a week by the client, as this is the rule for direct hiring. However, apps already tend to limit hiring to twice a week.

There are cases in which the Labor Court recognized an employment relationship between service providers and intermediation platforms. Even in these cases, the incidence of employment relationship is low, because it is difficult to prove subordination between the professional and the application.

The judgment of transport applications by the TST (Superior Labor Court) should guide this issue.

5 – Are cleaning materials included in the daily rate?

It is necessary to negotiate directly with the application or the day laborer.

6 – How to know who will attend?

The application must inform the customer of the name and ID of the day laborer who will perform the service the day before the visit.

7 – How much does a day laborer’s cleaning cost per application?

Price varies according to location, type of cleaning and frequency. In general, the amount is paid for contracted hours.