Labor court reaffirms that providing PPE alone doesn't remove the hazard-pay premium in a cold room without thermal breaks
Brazil's Labor Court (TST) 3rd Panel reaffirmed the binding precedent from Tema 80: anyone who works in a cold room without the thermal break required by Article 253 of the CLT is entitled to the hazard-pay premium, even if the company provides personal protective equipment.
The ruling: the TST's 3rd Panel decided the special appeal (Recurso de Revista) RR-0000817-44.2024.5.09.0585, with Justice Maurício Godinho Delgado as rapporteur, granting the hazard-pay premium to a meatpacking-plant worker who worked in a cold room without taking the thermal break provided for in Article 253 of the CLT. The company argued that regularly supplying personal protective equipment neutralized the hazardous agent and removed the right to the premium. The Panel reaffirmed the binding precedent set in Tema 80: the absence of the thermal break, by itself, already characterizes exposure to cold as hazardous, regardless of the PPE provided.
The point that tends to create internal controversy at meatpacking and cold-storage companies is exactly this: supplying adequate PPE is an occupational health-and-safety obligation, but it does not replace the thermal break as a specific protective measure against artificial cold. These are separate requirements, and meeting one does not excuse the other.
Because the hazard-pay premium becomes part of compensation for practically every purpose, including the 13th salary, vacation pay, FGTS and the INSS contribution base, the impact of a retroactive judgment in collective or individual claims tends to be significant, especially in operations with high turnover among workers exposed to cold rooms.
We help companies with cold-room, meatpacking and cold-storage operations map their compliance with the Article 253 CLT thermal breaks and their exposure to retroactive hazard-pay liability on payroll. Start with the Payroll Risk Check.
Does your company log, with date and time, the actual thermal breaks taken by cold-room workers, or does it only make sure PPE was handed out?