Gilmar Mendes suspends refereeing on the nursing floor

STF (Supreme Federal Court) Minister Gilmar Mendes has asked for a review (more time for analysis) of the ruling on the interim decision issued by Minister Roberto Barroso who re-established the nursing pay floor. The application was submitted on Wednesday (May 24, 2023) at Virtual public session to the Supreme Court.

This week, the STF will rule on the decision of Barroso, the case decider, issued May 15. The judges were 11:59 p.m. on Friday (May 26, 2023) to cast your ballots. In the virtual session, the votes are spread over the course of a week, without discussing the issues. However, Gilmar Mendes now has up to 90 days to redo the operation.

While the trial is suspended, Barroso’s provisional decision remains in effect. The Minister decided that the national floor would be implemented after the approval of the decree guaranteeing R$7.3 billion from the 2023 federation budget to finance salary increases in public institutions and private bodies that serve at least 60% of their patients through the SUS (Unique Health System).

However, Barroso acknowledged in his decision that the resources were not sufficient to guarantee 100% of the cost of the base. For this reason, I defined the implementation as follows:

1. Federal civil servants – The whole minimum must be applied with salary adjustments in accordance with the provisions of Law 14.434 / 2022;
2. Public officials of the states, the Federal District and Brasília, the autonomous authorities of these states and the private entities that At least 60% of their patients are cared for by SUS – In this case, the minimum salary will only apply until the resources provided by the federation, amounting to R$7.3 billion, meet the payments.
3. Private sector employees hired through the CLT – The minimum nursing salary as specified in Law 14,434/2022 shall be applied, unless there is a collective agreement specifying other values ​​taking into account “Concern about mass layoffs or compromising health services”.

In addition to the vote of Minister Roberto Barroso (here full – 116 KB), only Minister Edson Vashin voted. The judge did not agree with the rapporteur’s decision and ordered that the new National Nursing Hall be paid in full. Fashion Vote (Read full – 111 kb) speaking in “Social Justice” that it “human dignity”But it does not explain how public and private agencies will have the resources to pay the new salaries.

Vashin diverged from points 2 and 3 of Barroso. In his vote, the minister defended full implementation of the new national nursing floor, but without saying where the resources should come from.

While maintaining the decision while the case is not completed, the private sector will have to bear the total increase in expenses with salaries and wages without assistance. The result should be the closure of units and the dismissal of professionals who have lost their jobs. Initial accounts speak of as many as 165,000 professionals being fired.

Cities in the northern and northeastern regions – which already have more fragile structures and financial difficulties – will be disproportionately affected by the rule. This is mainly due to the fact that the difference between the current median wage and the new national baseline values ​​is greater than in the richest regions of the country.

History of the National Floor of Nursing

Below is the history of processing the minimum nursing salary in the three countries:

• National Congress approval – On July 14, 2022, Congress enacted a PEC (Proposed Amendment to the Constitution) that makes the minimum wage for nurses constitutional (Constitutional Amendment 124 of 2022). The text sets a minimum salary of R$4,750 for nurses, R$3,325 for nursing technicians, and R$2,375 for nursing assistants and midwives;
• The case reaches the Supreme Court – In August, CNSaúde took ADI’s case to the Supreme Court questioning provisions of the law and claiming there would be harm to the private sector. The case was distributed by lot to Judge Roberto Barroso;
• ground suspension On September 4, 2022, Barroso set out to suspend minimum wages and asked the federal government, states, the Federal District, and sectoral entities to provide information about the financial impact of the law. The court upheld the decision by 7 votes on September 16.
• New constitutional amendment – On December 23, 2022, the National Congress published a new amendment to the Constitution stating that the Federation will help states and municipalities pay the new minimum;
• Nursing floor PLN – On April 26 of this year, Congress approved the National Congressional Bill sent by Planalto on this subject. The project released R$7.3 billion from public coffers to the Ministry of Health and allows states, municipalities and private entities, with or without profit, that bring at least 60% of their patients through SUS to receive resources to pay for the increase in expenses with wages;
• Money is punished – President Lula approved, on May 12, the measure passed by the legislature, at the initiative of the Palace of Planalto;
• The floor has been restored – On May 15, Barroso re-established the minimum salary through a (temporary) injunction.