Status of Professionals is ″ new page in the history ″ of culture in Portugal
The Ministry of Culture considers that this Saturday “a new page in the history of Culture in Portugal” was inscribed, in reaction to the promulgation by the President of the Republic of the Statute of Professionals in the Area of Culture.
A note published this Saturday on the website of the Presidency of the Republic referred that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa promulgated the diploma proposed by the Government, “although it falls short of generated expectations, as it corresponds to a starting point that improves the pre-existing situation , in domains where the old “.
In a statement, the Ministry of Culture states that, “from now on, for the first time in Portugal, all professionals in the field of Culture have what they fought so hard for over several decades”, noting that the Statute of Professionals of Area of Culture enters into force on January 1, 2022.
“A Statute that combats precariousness and false green receipts in the sector and increases social protection in all eventualities, such as unemployment, illness, parenthood, occupational diseases, among others”, stresses the ministry, led by Graça Phonseca.
The Statute of Cultural Professionals, a sector technique with at least two decades, began to be seen in dissemination in 2020, when the Government announced the creation of an inter-ministerial working group, “to analyze, update and adapt the legal regimes of the employment contracts of show professionals and the respective social security system”.
The working group also counted on contributions from several representative associations of Culture. The tutelage explains that the Statute of Professionals in the Area of Culture is based on two fundamental axes: combating precariousness and false green receipts and greater social protection.
“With regard to combating precariousness and false green receipts, an important mechanism was created to justify the hiring of self-employed workers to the detriment of the employment contract, accompanied by a new contribution rate to be paid by contracting entities, as a way of combating precariousness and false green receipts, with its own inspection regime”, reads the statement.
The ministry mentioned that “the presumption of employment contract in the cultural sector was further strengthened and adapted, with different contribution rates being treated to discourage the signing of more precarious contracts”.
“With regard to the greater social protection created by this Statute, we highlight the creation of the new subsidy for the suspension of cultural activity (similar to the unemployment benefit) which covers all professionals in the field of culture and the extension of protection in all eventualities (suspension, parenthood, illness and occupational diseases) “, absolute guardianship.
The Ministry of Culture adds that “the cultural activity suspension subsidy is an unprecedented and exclusive mechanism in the Culture sector, which did not exist until today”, and that it is similar to the unemployment subsidy, covering “all professionals in the area of Culture “
The subsidy has a minimum value of 438.81 euros and a maximum of 1,097.03 euros. “To access this subsidy, the professional in the field of culture must complete 180 days (six months) of activity (warranty period). The guarantee period is accounted for by converting the value of the receipt / invoice into days of provision of activity, and every 30 days corresponding “to the maximum value (1,097.03 euros), is read in the statement.
