Recently, social networks have proven to be a source of the emergence of new labor movements. We have previously talked about movements such as “quiet quitting” or “quiet firing”.
The latest movement, which has gone viral through social media, is called “bare minimum Mondays”, which means doing the bare minimum on Monday to compensate for the stressful environment and pace of the rest of the work week.
Some theories do not go so far and describe it as a tendency to start the week slowly, without making any big commitments, and start work gradually again, with a lighter workload for the first few hours of the day.
It originated in the United States, namely through a digital content creator named Marisa Jo Mayes, following a burnout she suffered in the year 2020 due to the excessive pace of overwork.
What is certain is that more and more of these kinds of movements have appeared in the labor market, mainly through the younger generations, in order to respond to some structural challenges of the market.
This is because today, more than ever, society is alert and aware of issues such as the conciliation of professional and personal life, or even at the level of mental health, which lead to professional life being a priority relativized by other elements such as family, friends, and personal well-being, among others.
Still, the origin and expansion of these movements can put certain interests in conflict, in this case potentially putting the needs of employers at stake, creating hang-ups and delayed work.
Anyway, some more flexible models have been adopted in order to balance all these interests, such as the vulgarization of telework hybrid models, the adoption of the four-day work week – lately more discussed -, or the adoption of fixed dismissals in certain periods and specific days.
Emphasis should be placed on the fact that these movements arise out of the absence of the relationship established between the employee and the employer, without any agreement and, therefore, materializing as a kind of “incident” in the employment relationship, which could compromise the character of trust on which it is based, by demonstrating a disinterested attitude (although it may not be so).
Having said this, we must analyze how these movements are framed in the labor legal system, since the conduct that they represent may include provisions at the level of reasons for subjective just cause for dismissal, particularly with regard to paragraphs d) and m) of no. 2 of art. 351 of the Labor Code (CT).
José Maria Coelho @ DCM | Littler
