After acquiring stability, the employee's employment contract could only be terminated with just cause, requiring verification of the serious misconduct through an investigation to verify the accusation.
Thus, in practice, many workers were fired shortly before the completion of the ten-year period or did not receive a severance pay they were entitled to, and were forced to claim their rights in court.
With the new law a fund was created, supplied by the employers, through the deposit of 8% on the worker's remuneration, required throughout the term of the contract.
Regardless of the employee's option, the employer had the obligation to deposit the FGTS value in a specific account, in the name of the worker as "not opting".
[3] The FGTS resources were, and are, remunerated with low interest rates and monetary correction, and were originally used to finance investments in housing and infrastructure, especially sanitation.
With the promulgation of the Brazilian Constitution, the job stability for employees under the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT) was extinguished, and only those who had worked for 10 years in the same company remained stable.
[6] The remuneration rule was changed by MP 889/19, making the FGTS start to yield more than savings or CD.
In December 2016, the then Minister of Finance, Henrique Meirelles, confirmed that the government is studying to allow the use of FGTS to pay debts.
[8] In 2017 President Michel Temer signed a decree allowing withdrawals of the FGTS, but only from inactive accounts.
"[9] The Negative Certificate attests to the regular situation of employers in relation to the collection of the Length-of-Service Guarantee Fund.