In addition to reorganising and rewriting some chapters of the law, the NLGT brings important changes in the field of labour relations, which will have an impact on the way people relate to each other and on the maintenance of legal and labour relations.
In a non-exhaustive manner, we would like to highlight the following main innovations and changes introduced by the NLGT:
- Establishment or fixing of the rule for concluding employment contracts for an indefinite period of time[1];
- Limitation and explicit indication of the grounds justifying the conclusion of fixed-term employment contracts, making this an exception[2];
- Obligation to put fixed-term employment contracts in writing[3];
- Reduction of the maximum duration of fixed-term employment contracts to periods of 6, 12, 36 and 60 months, depending on the legal basis or reason given for the contract[4];
- Provision for temporary work contracts, teleworking contracts and service commission contracts as special types of employment contracts, domestic work contract, sports work contract and artistic work contract[5];
- Teleworking contracts can be carried out in the form of home teleworking, teleworking in a satellite office, teleworking in a community work centre and nomadic teleworking[6];
- Introduction of a section dedicated to personality rights, alluding to freedom of expression and opinion, physical and moral integrity, privacy and the protection of personal data[7];
- Establishment of a ban on the use of technological equipment in the workplace to monitor workers' performance[8];
- Introduction of complementary maternity leave for a further 4 weeks, whereby the employer only needs to be informed and no authorisation is required (without pay)[9];
- Extending the catalogue of disciplinary measures by reintroducing temporary demotion and suspension from work with loss of pay[10];
- Increasing the ways or means of delivering the notice of disciplinary interview, with the addition of the employee's corporate e-mail address[11];
- Establishment of a minimum period of 5 (five) days and a maximum of 10 (ten) days for the interview to take place, starting from the date of delivery of the notice[12];
- Extending the deadline for internal regulations to come into force[13];
- Prohibition of disciplinary proceedings against workers on holiday[14];
- Introduction of the concept of "worker mobility" as an instrument available to employers within an economic group;
- More detailed treatment of functional mobility[15] and geographical mobility (transfer)[16] of workers, as rights of the employer;
- Establishment of the material and formal conditions under which the worker can be geographically moved (transferred)[17];
- Introduction of flexible working hours for workers with family responsibilities[18];
- Elimination of more favourable regimes according to the size of the employer (small, medium and large), regarding the duration of fixed-term employment contracts, salary supplements, sick leave arrangements and compensation for termination of employment contracts, among other matters;
- With specific regard to the previous point, the percentage for payments is now the same for small, medium and large companies;
- Amendment to the rules on extraordinary compensatory rest in the event of overtime work[19];
- Introduction of paternity leave, on the occasion of the birth of a child, without salary deduction, when any of the specific circumstances in the Law are verified[20];
- Criminal liability of companies in the event of serious negligence resulting in accidents at work or occupational diseases[21];
- Admission of holiday accumulation by agreement between the worker and the employer, in the cases provided for in the Law[22];
- Introduction of the right to compensation for expenses and material damage resulting from the postponement or suspension of scheduled holidays[23];
- Changes to the remuneration system in the event of sick leave[24];
- Justification of absence for prenatal and postnatal consultations for the worker's spouse[25];
- Elimination of deductions from workers' holidays as a result of unjustified absences[26];
- Introduction of a section on employee performance appraisals[27];
- Introduction of sexual harassment in the grounds for just cause[28];
- Provision, in the process of dismissal for objective reasons and collective dismissal, of the legal criteria of preference for the selection of workers to be dismissed[29];
- Reducing the criteria for applying the collective redundancy scheme from 20 to 5 workers[30];
- Equal consequences in the event of nullity or unfoundedness of the dismissal (being treated solely as unlawful dismissal, namely, granting the right to reinstatement, payment of back wages and compensation calculated in accordance with Article 310)[31];
- We would like to point out that, in addition to the consequences mentioned in the previous paragraph, a duty has been introduced to compensate the worker for all damage caused, both pecuniary and non-pecuniary, in the event of the dismissal being declared unlawful[32];
- Elimination of the compulsory precedence system, i.e. the obligation to resort to conciliation before resorting to legal proceedings to resolve labour disputes[33];
- Provision of a system of sanctions for labour offences in the event of violations of the rules of the new general labour law and complementary legislation, especially rules on hygiene, safety, payment of social security, as well as the settlement of the respective charges in favour of the worker, among others[34];
- Change in the time limit for judicial challenge of dismissal from 180 (one hundred and eighty) days to 120 (one hundred and twenty) days[35].
In this context, we recommend that our clients, entrepreneurs and citizens who are in some way covered by the LGT, conform their activity to the new guidelines of the Law, paying attention to the obligations, the new powers of the employer and the new consequences of unlawful dismissal.
Luanda, 18th January 2024.
[1] See Article 14(1) of the NLGT.
[2] See Article 14(2) of the NLGT.
[3] See Article 12(2) of the NLGT.
[4] See Article 16(1) in conjunction with Article 15(1) of the NLGT.
[5] See Article 48(1)(i), (j) and (m) of the NLGT.
[6] See article 62 of the NLGT.
[7] See articles 21 to 27 of the NLGT.
[8] See Article 26(2) of the NLGT.
[9] See Article 34(2) of the NLGT.
[10] See Article 87(1)(c) and (e) of the NLGT.
[11] See Article 88(4)(d) of the NLGT.
[12] See article 90(1) of the NLGT - Deadline previously imposed by case law, resulting from Ruling no. 1461/09, of 07 September 2010, issued by the Labour Chamber of the Supreme Court.
[13] See article 104(2) of the NLGT.
[14] See Article 88(5) of the NLGT.
[15] See Article 127 of the NLGT.
[16] See Article 131 of the NLGT.
[17] See Article 132 of the NLGT.
[18] See Articles 175 to 178 of the NLGT.
[19] See Article 186 of the NLGT.
[20] See Article 218 of the NLGT.
[21] See Article 145 of the NLGT.
[22] See article 208 of the NLGT.
[23] See Article 208 of the NLGT.
[24] See Article 226 of the NLGT.
[25] See Article 229 of the NLGT.
[26] See Article 230 of the NLGT.
[27] See article 233 and 234 of the NLGT.
[28] See point g) of paragraph 2 of the NLGT.
[29] See article 288 of the NLGT
[30] See Article 290 of the NLGT.
[31] See articles 297 et seq. of the NLGT.
[32] See Article 300(1)(a) of the NLGT
[33] See Article 317 of the NLGT.
[34] See Article 318 of the NLGT
[35] See Article 313 of the NLGT.