02/10/2025
On September 15, 2025, Minister Alexandre Luiz Ramos, Rapporteur in case TST-IncJulgRREmbRep 0000348-62.2022.5.05.0493 (Theme 274), ordered the suspension of all appeals for review and interlocutory appeals addressing the matter submitted to the repetitive appeals proceeding. The controversy is: “Does the employment contract of an employee retired due to disability remain suspended after the legal deadlines for mandatory periodic evaluations have expired? Once those deadlines have passed, is the employer entitled to terminate the employment relationship?”
The issue at debate is whether the suspension of the employment contract should remain indefinite or whether it should end after the reassessment periods established in social security legislation, in particular Article 101, § 1, items I and II, of Law No. 8,213/1991, and Article 475 of the CLT (Consolidation of Labor Laws).
The multiplicity of lawsuits and divergent decisions among the Regional Labor Courts prompted the Superior Labor Court (TST) to address the matter for uniformization. The judgment may lead to a revision of súmula 160 of the TST, which currently establishes that “if the disability retirement is canceled, even after five years, the worker has the right to return to the job, although the employer may alternatively indemnify the employee as provided by law.”
In practice, this means addressing the reality of employment contracts that remain suspended indefinitely, with no prospect of effectively resuming the employment relationship. Thus, Theme 274 represents an opportunity to align case law with current legislation, promoting greater legal certainty for employers and employees alike and avoiding the so-called “eternal suspension” of the employment contract.
Authored by: Fabiane Sant’Anna
