The webinar New Times: Legal Challenges, Security, Digital Economy, promoted by ABES on April 15, was moderated by Rodolfo Fücher, president of the organization, who opened the presentation by saying that, with the Covid-19 pandemic, ABES included in its purpose to help build a healthier country , more digital and less uneven.
Fücher stressed that the IT sector plays an important role in the democratization of knowledge, education and the creation of new opportunities. He also spoke about the importance of government actions and measures in order to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the business sector and the less favored classes. “How are we going to be able to help with this change process? What are the government's actions and new measures? What are the legal impacts on taxes, contracts, labor relations, security and the digital economy? These are issues that we will address in this webinar ”, he explained.
Legal Challenges
The first speaker was Dr. Manoel dos Santos, legal director of ABES and Master in Law, who highlighted the action plan formulated by the association and which will be forwarded to the Ministry of Economy, with the objective of minimizing the effects of the pandemic on the sector IT (the plan is available for consultation here). Among the items in this plan is the postponement of payment of taxes. “A part of our claims has already been carried out, but for a short period. ABES wants to claim that the payment suspensions be reissued for a longer period of at least 12 months. This is the case of the payment of Social Security Contributions, PIS, Cofins, ICMS, Guarantee Fund, Certificates of Regularity. Dr. Manoel also addressed the different ordinances and laws issued during this period and explained their impacts. The information was made available for consultation.
Alternatives for managing employment contracts
Dr. Ana Claudia Modo, a lawyer specializing in Labor Law and Data Protection and ABES' Legal Consultant, spoke about the alternatives made available by the Government's Provisional Measures to face the crisis. One of the measures makes it easier to adopt telework, advance vacations, grant collective vacations, delay payment of FGTS, advance holidays, adopt a bank of hours with compensation extended to up to 18 months. Another measure concerns the regulation of working hours and salary reductions, which may be adopted for 30 days and renewable for another 60 days, with the possibility of salary reductions of 25%, 50% and 70%. In companies that choose to reduce their wages, employees will receive a portion of the same percentage of the cut as their unemployment insurance would be, if they were fired. The lawyer recalled that the ABES legal department is available to associates to provide more information on duty, considering the importance of evaluating the reality of each associate.
The impact of the pandemic on contractual relations
Dr. Thomaz Corte Real, a lawyer, specialist in Business Law, Tax and Data Protection and ABES's legal advisor, spoke about the impact of pandemics on contract management and pointed out that bill 1179 should be approved and will bring legal certainty to to curb pandemic-based non-payment abuses.
“One of the articles sets March 20 as the starting date for the effects derived from Covid-19. Therefore, contractual obligations before that date must be fulfilled ”, explained Dr. Thomaz With this proposal, there is a need for proof of the contractual situation before and after the pandemic. The project also suggests that companies should create a crisis committee, made up of representatives from the legal, financial and commercial departments to analyze the situation as a whole. In addition, the expert explained the importance of applying the contractual principles: common sense, good faith and renegotiation, as they help to pass the period and mitigate impacts within the best possibilities.
The importance of digital certification in pandemic times
Paulo Milliet Roque, co-founder of the company DigiForte and vice-president of ABES, spoke about the government's intention to massify the digitization of public services, aiming to reduce costs and expand citizen access to services. For this, three types of certificates were created: simple identity, advanced identity and qualified identity, guaranteed by the digital certificate (eCPF or eCNPJ). “Today, there are more than 10 million digital certifications and the Government intends to reach the mark of 40 million of qualified identity by the end of the current government”, he highlighted.
ABES action plan
The presentations of the webinar ended with the participation of Dr. Ariel Uarian Queiroz Bezerra, a lawyer with expertise in the areas of Constitutional Law, Administrative Law and Tax Law, in addition to a Specialist in Public Law at ATAME (Universidade Cândido Mendes). He stressed that the world will be more digital and more connected and explained some points of ABES 'action plan, of which he participates in the elaboration.
Dr. Ariel explained that an important point pleaded by ABES is the settlement of payments that governments (federal, state and municipal) owe suppliers and said that the Union will need to help the states and municipalities. He also pointed out the need for lines of credit offered by banks – both state and private to finance companies, as well as the flexibility of guarantees applied to the debtors' registry. In addition, he spoke of other measures pleaded in the plan: the extension in the payment of water, electricity, telephone for the population and companies for a grace period of 180 days, in addition to the grace period in the payment of IPTU.
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