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The Harvest Workers Law was approved in the Chamber on 05/19. Income from the harvest contract no longer counts to exclude families from Bolsa Família. Proposal now awaits presidential sanction.
The approval of the so-called Harvest Workers Law by the Chamber of Deputies may change the relationship between temporary rural work and social programs in Brazil. The project approved on May 19 determines that the amount received by workers hired during the harvest is not considered in the calculation of family income used by Bolsa Família. According to the official website of the Chamber of Deputies, the proposal has already passed the Senate and awaits presidential sanction. The measure was created to prevent families in vulnerable situations from losing the social benefit after taking on temporary contracts in the field.
Change attempts to correct problem faced by rural families
For years, temporary rural workers faced a situation considered contradictory. By accepting formal employment during the harvest period, many families ended up excluded from Bolsa Família due to the temporary increase in income.
The problem arose because the system identified the harvest salary as a permanent increase in family income. Thus, the benefit could be canceled a few days after the start of the contract.
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When the agricultural season ended, the worker stopped receiving the harvest salary and also no longer counted on the social aid.
Returning to the program depended on new bureaucratic procedures, updating the Cadastro Único, and waiting for a new analysis. The Harvest Workers Law was presented precisely to avoid this cycle.
Harvest Workers Law creates protection for seasonal income
The approved text recognizes that the payment received by harvest workers has a temporary nature. For this reason, the remuneration will not be used as a criterion for automatic removal from Bolsa Família.
In practice, the worker will be able to work formally during the harvest without suffering immediate exclusion from the social program.
The proposal changes the way this income is interpreted. Instead of being treated as fixed income, it is considered seasonal, linked only to the specific agricultural period.
According to the text approved in Congress, this adaptation seeks to make social policy more compatible with the reality of work in the field.
Who are the workers benefited by the new rule?
Seasonal workers are professionals hired for a determined period for activities related to the agricultural calendar. The hiring period varies according to the crop produced and the needs of the rural property.
These workers participate in different stages of production, from land preparation to harvest.
Among the crops mentioned in the project are:
- Coffee
- Soy
- Sugarcane
- Orange
- Apple
- Tomato
The contracts follow rules provided in Law 5.889/73, which deals with temporary rural work.
After the end of the harvest, the employment relationship naturally ends.
Formalization in the field is one of the objectives of the measure
Congress pointed out that the fear of losing Bolsa Família helped increase rural informality.
According to reports mentioned during the project’s processing, many workers refused formal positions to avoid the risk of being without income after the harvest.
The situation created a deadlock:
| Situation | Consequence |
| Accept formal work | Possible loss of Bolsa Família |
| Remain informal | Maintenance of the social benefit |
With the new rule, the government attempts to reduce this disincentive to formalization.
Additionally, workers will be able to access the rights guaranteed by formal contracts, including contributions to Social Security.
Reporter stated that the system ignored the reality of the field
Deputy Evair de Melo, the rapporteur of the proposal, criticized the previous rules for not considering the annual variation in income of temporary rural workers.
According to him, automatic exclusion occurred because the system treated seasonal earnings the same way as permanent salaries.
The assessment presented in Congress was that this ended up harming precisely families in situations of economic vulnerability.
The approved text understands that temporary agricultural work has a different dynamic from continuous jobs in other sectors.
Seasonal Workers Law also changes obligations in eSocial
Another change involves eSocial, a platform used to register employment relationships in the country.
While there is no specific field for harvest contracts within the system, employers will be exempt from reporting certain data related to the employment relationship for maintaining social benefits.
The project treats this measure as transitional.
According to the rapporteur, the intention is to allow the immediate application of the new legislation without relying on future technical changes in the federal system.
Thus, employers will not be held accountable for structural limitations of eSocial itself.
Return to Bolsa Família will have an extended period
The project also establishes a specific rule for families that may leave the program after seasonal work.
In these cases, the return may occur within up to 36 months, provided that the eligibility criteria are met again.
The period is considered broader than the traditional re-entry process into the social program.
The proposal recognizes that temporary rural workers face periods of unstable income throughout the year.
Therefore, the text seeks to create a mechanism more adapted to the typical fluctuations of agricultural activity.
Difference between the new law and the existing protection rule
Before the approval of the Harvest Workers Law, the Bolsa Família already had a protection rule for families who secured formal employment.
This mechanism allows for the maintenance of 50% of the benefit for a limited period, provided that the monthly income per person does not exceed R$ 706.
According to the rules mentioned in the text:
- The general term is up to two years;
- For families included from June 2025, the period is reduced to one year.
Even so, the new legislation creates additional protection specifically aimed at harvest contracts.
The main difference lies in the treatment given to the temporary income from the harvest, which no longer serves as an automatic reason for exclusion from the program.
Lack of labor in the field was cited during the debate
Senator Jaime Bagattoli stated that the proposal could help reduce the deficiency of workers in the agricultural sector.
According to him, there is a shortage of over 800,000 jobs in the field across different regions of Brazil.
The text also highlights that rural informality has several causes, including:
- Seasonal work;
- Distance from urban centers;
- Documentary difficulties;
- Fear of losing social benefits.
The expectation is that the new rule will reduce some of this insecurity among temporary workers.
Project awaits presidential sanction
The Chamber of Deputies approved the project in a symbolic vote. Since the Senate had already analyzed the text previously, the proposal now proceeds to presidential sanction.
The President of the Republic does not have a fixed deadline determined by the Constitution for signing the law. Even so, projects considered priorities and with parliamentary support usually advance quickly.
The text stipulates that the new rules will come into effect after the sanction, unless there is a different definition in the final version published officially.
New legislation seeks to adapt social programs to rural work
The Harvest Workers Law was created to address a specific characteristic of agricultural activity: variable income throughout the year.
By preventing temporary contracts from causing automatic exclusion from Bolsa Família, the project attempts to bring social protection and work formalization closer together.
Additionally, the proposal seeks to reduce one of the factors identified as responsible for rural informality in the country.
With this, workers will be able to accept temporary harvest jobs without the immediate fear of losing social assistance after the end of the harvest season.
Source: Meu Tudo and Câmara dos Deputados
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