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Labor & Social Security
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Seniority Prime? February 2011

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Salary to determine the payment of

the Seniority Prime.

The Supreme Court?s Second Courtroom resolved that the amount of the seniority prime must be determined taking into consideration the salary that the employee receives at the time the labor relationship in terminated, either by resignation, death, disability or retirement. In case such salary is more than two times the minimum wage in force in the termination date, such amount will be considered as the maximum salary, with independence of the date on which such benefit is paid.

The Ministers have considered that the seniority prime is a benefit for the employees, in charge of the employer, that is achieved by the simple elapse of time, while the right to acquire it arises once the labor relationship in terminated. Such prime must be paid in accordance to the time that the worker rendered its services: that is, seniority.

With this resolution, the Supreme Court resolved two contradictory thesis issued by two Circuit Tribunals which disagreed about which salary must be taken into consideration when determining the amount of the seniority prime, established on articles 485 and 486 of the Federal Labor Law.

Such articles provide the minimum and maximum amounts that must be considered in order to determine the seniority prime, providing that such salary cannot be less than the minimum wage neither more than twice such minimum wage. If the employee receives a salary that exceeds twice the minimum wage applicable to the specific geographic area where the works are rendered, such amount must be considered as the maximum salary.

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