The Brazilian Supreme Court (STF), by decision of Justice Gilmar Mendes, ordered the suspension of all ongoing proceedings in the national territory that discuss the recognition of employment relationships in service provision contracts. The measure was taken within the scope of Extraordinary Appeal with Appeal No. 1,532,603, which deals with Theme 1,389 of general repercussion. 

The controversy involves the jurisdiction of the Labor Court to judge actions in which fraud in civil contracting is alleged, the legality of hiring a legal entity or self-employed worker to provide services, and the definition of who should bear the burden of proof in cases of this nature - whether the worker, when alleging an employment relationship, or the contracting company. 

According to the rapporteur, the decision aims to guarantee legal certainty, avoid contradictory decisions in lower courts and contain the significant increase in demands reaching the STF, especially through constitutional complaints against labor decisions that allegedly disregard the understandings established by the Court. 

The minister also highlighted that the repeated resistance of part of the Labor Court to apply the precedents of the STF has generated a scenario of legal instability, with direct impacts on the predictability of contractual relations and on the functioning of the Judiciary itself.  

The suspension determined covers all proceedings, individual or collective, that deal with the aforementioned matters and will last until the final judgment of the paradigm appeal by the STF Plenary. The measure has already been communicated to the Presidency of the Superior Labor Court (TST) and to the Presidents of the Regional Labor Courts, who must inform the judges under their jurisdiction. 

Our office is closely monitoring all updates regarding this matter and will keep its clients and partners informed as soon as possible about the developments of the decision.