INTERNSHIP TIME MAY COUNT FOR RETIREMENT

The Committee on Constitution, Justice and Citizenship (CCJ) may decide this Wednesday (17) whether it should be included in the Federal Constitution as a rule that ensures the inclusion of internship and studies funded by scholarships in the time required for granting retirement and other social security benefits. The measure is already contained in infra-constitutional legislation, which determines that, in order to be entitled to the counting of time, interns and scholarship holders must contribute to Social Security as optional insured.
 
The constitutionalization of the right is being suggested through the Constitutional Amendment Proposal (PEC) 16/04, presented by senator Sérgio Zambiasi (PTB-RS). He argues that there are uncertainties about the future of pension reforms, which can lead to setbacks in relation to the right now guaranteed. The rapporteur, senator Alvaro Dias (PSDB-PR), recommends in his vote the approval of the matter. "In the current situation, nothing prevents a provisional measure or any other bill from making this right a dead letter, in the name of reducing the social security deficit", argues the rapporteur. If the provision of the benefit is in the constitutional text, observes Alvaro Dias, any attempt to change it will require a qualified quorum. In this way, according to the senator, it will be possible to avoid "hasty changes and legal uncertainty" for taxpayers, trainees and scholarship holders. The optional right to contribution for interns and scholarship holders, as a means of accessing social security benefits, is provided for in the text of Law 8.212/1991, which provides for the organization of Social Security. After examination by the CCJ, the proposal will go to the Plenary, for voting in two rounds.


The Senate Agency