STF Suspends Judgment on Nursing Floor Reimbursement Decision | Policy

Minister Gilmar Mendez’s request for review this Wednesday (24) suspended the Federal Supreme Court ruling of the decision that released the payment of the minimum wage for nursing – approved into law by the National Congress last year.

Since last Friday (19), the ministers have been analyzing the case in the court’s virtual plenary session, which is a trial format in which they cast their votes on the court’s electronic page, without the need for a face-to-face session or video conference.

Despite the postponement, the individual decision of Minister Luis Roberto Barroso on the payment of the category wage is valid, but with some conditions.

At the start of the trial, the rapporteur voted in favor of his decision. On the other hand, Minister Edson Fashin voted to participate in the same way for all groups – nurse, technician and assistant – in both the public and private sectors.

In the case of private units, the Minister foresaw the possibility of collective bargaining, while maintaining the section of law that precluded the procedure.

Barroso considered it possible to release the minimum bonus payment because the government and Congress made the transfer of resources possible.

However, the minister reasoned, the amount reserved for the procedure did not appear to be sufficient to cover the cost of the floor. Information provided in the process by sectoral institutions estimates the financial impact, in the first year, to be R$10.5 billion for the municipalities alone.

The rapporteur stressed that the federal law cannot impose the minimum amount on local administrations without providing the full amount to cover the new costs. This could harm the financial autonomy of states and municipalities, violating the federal principle, which is a strict provision of the Constitution.

The minister indicated that for the private sector, “the risks of adverse effects mentioned in the precautionary measure still exist, namely the possibility of mass layoffs of nursing workers, especially in the private sector, and damage to the maintenance of the center.” Supplying beds and other hospital services.”

But she concluded that the lack of involvement of professionals in this field could raise questions on the basis of the principle of equality. Therefore, for this sector, I have authorized collective negotiations and set a deadline for implementing the decision, starting from July 1 of this year.

In August, the legislature also approved the law cited by the constitutional amendment, which set a value of R$4,750.00 for nurses – nursing technicians will earn 70% of that amount; Assistants and attendants will have the equivalent of 50% of the floor.

In September, the case reached the Supreme Court. The decision of the measure questioned the measure, Secretary Barroso decided to suspend the rule until the financial implications of the measure for states, municipalities, and federal government agencies could be analyzed. The court later upheld the individual decision.

In December, a new constitutional amendment specified that the federation would have to, by law, provide supplementary financial aid to states, the Federal District, municipalities and charitable entities, to pay for a minimum.

This year, Congress approved a law specifying the amount the union must pass on to local departments. This measure was signed into law by the President and is currently in effect.