Overview
- The government’s labor reform sent Thursday to Congress includes Article 194 repealing Law 12.908—the Journalists’ Professional Statute—in force since 1946, along with all its amendments.
- If approved, press workers would move under the general Labor Contract Law, ending the sector’s differentiated framework.
- The statute currently caps the workweek at 36 hours, requires a 100% premium or compensatory rest for overtime, and provides notice periods of up to two months plus an additional severance equal to six months’ pay.
- The law also created a national professional registry and credential for journalists, setting access provisions for reporting in public institutions.
- Officials frame the change as regulatory simplification, while press associations and unions warn of reduced job stability and the loss of protections tailored to journalistic work.