Pejotização no direito do trabalho brasileiro: análise à luz da jurisprudência do STF

Abstract

This paper examines the phenomenon of pejotização as a form of flexibilization of labor relations in Brazil, analyzing its impact on labor rights and the fundamental principles of Labor Law, especially in light of the jurisprudence of the Federal Supreme Court (STF). Pejotização consists of hiring workers through the formation of legal entities, replacing the traditional employment relationship, which has led to precarious working conditions and the weakening of legal guarantees provided for in the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT). The study addresses the elements that characterize the employment relationship and highlights the role of the principles of the primacy of reality and the inalienability of rights in protecting workers. In addition, the study analyzes the divergent decisions of the STF and the Superior Labor Court (TST), which discuss the legality of hiring by legal entities, even in the presence of the typical requirements of the employment relationship, reflecting a tension between economic freedom and social protection. The current view of the STF points to the legitimacy of the pejotização as an expression of the freedom of productive organization, conditioned on the absence of fraud and the observance of the subsidiary liability of the contracting company. Finally, it is worth noting that the definitive definition on the matter awaits the judgment of Theme 1389, which should delimit the jurisdiction of the Labor Court and the criteria for recognizing the employment relationship in situations of hiring by a legal entity.