eSocial: new phase is mandatory for companies with revenues up to BRL 78 million, except micro, small and MEI

 

Observing the difficulties faced by large companies may support the overcoming of the new employers’ group main challenges.

 

On July 16, the second phase of eSocial deployment began, in which a new group of private companies in Brazil - with an annual turnover of up to BRL 78 million, except micro and small companies and Individual Micro entrepreneurs (MEI) became required to use the platform that unifies the information provided to the tax authorities on the workers.

How the adequacy for companies to provide the information should be required

Employers should gradually include the information at the system, as follows:

• Between July 16 and August 31, employers must record the company’s registration events and tables;
• On September 1, the eSocial filling phase begins with the employees' registration data and their relationship with companies (non-periodic events).
• In November, employers should include employee's remuneration and the payroll closing information;
• From January 2019, employers should replace GFIP (Information to Social Security) and cross-compensation. At the same time, the worker’s safety and health data must also be inserted.

As of July, the requirement would also reach micro and small companies - those with annual revenues of up to BRL 4.8 million - and MEIs that have employees. But the recent eSocial Steering Committee resolution provided the option for employers of this range to file the data from November. (see here).

However, the companies in this group that decide to follow the original phasing dates can start filling data to the system from now, also according to the above dates.

Each stage needs to be properly completed for the employer to advance to the next one, since each step is prerequisite to the other. Failure to comply with deadlines exposes the employer to fines and penalties provided for in labor and social security legislation, requiring assertiveness in completing the information.

Lessons Learned

In January 2018, companies with annual revenues exceeding BRL 78 million began the adaptation process that now extends to the new group of employers.

The experience of who has already been using the government platform may help those who should now fit in.

According to the eSocial Portal, 97% of the companies in the first group already had used the system and they are making the final adjustments for the total payrolls closing.

Domingues e Pinho Contadores, who advised large companies on adequacy, comments on some of the main difficulties imposed by the new workers’ information provision tool:

- Initially, it was believed that the system would be a critical point for deployment. In fact, the digital environment presented failures, but the real impact was due to the imposition of a new work pace and flow.

- In these companies, eSocial changed the reality of professionals working in areas such as personnel and human resources departments, increasing the demand for activities related to system set-up, data collection, formalization of processes, and standardization of routines.

- To get an idea, an employee information must be registered at the system by the end of the day immediately before his/her hiring. Terminations should be reported up to ten days after the event. This imposes to companies a new pace of work to handle these procedures, which must be executed with agility and precision.

- As the platform demands technical capacity, specialization and knowledge on the legislation to meet the deadlines, those who invested in qualification and awareness of the team managed to move more quietly through the stages.

- In addition, the experience shows that the company’s leadership commitment with the project is very important, as there has to be real change of culture to adapt the requirements.

- Another matter of concerning has been the payroll items table. This issue still runs into the lack of objectivity in defining the correct parameter. The items are related to the amounts due to employees, whether their salaries, bonuses, payroll benefits. The lack has led companies to search for legal support to create a calculation method that does not result in future problems.

Expectations for the work of the new employers’ group

Many companies in the new group, motivated by the feeling that requirement to join eSocial could be postponed once again, did not apply to the task of adapting to this new moment.

The eSocial is a reality to be faced. Now, the system will receive a much greater number of accesses and information, since this group concentrates a greater number of companies, of new branches of activities that will use different codes to include the data. With this wealth of information, new system failures can be detected.

As with the group of large companies, the faced difficulties must move beyond the technical question. The main point to be addressed is the internal structuring to fully meet the demands, through the improvement of internal processes, the alignment between departments involved and the set-up of systems.

As the digital environment requires dynamism and deadlines are short, we must turn our attention to some points, such as:

• Management’s awareness about the importance and urgency of the project;
• Internal restructuring and alignment among the departments to organize workers’ information;
• Training of the team involved with the activity;
• Investing in faster ways to deal with labor information, such as software, intranet, and electronic document management.

eSocial compliance consultancy

 Domingues e Pinho Contadores has been advising hundreds of companies on adaptation to eSocial and its fulfillment, ensuring more peace of mind in the process.

DPC acts by offering customized training, reviewing internal procedures to adopt the best practices, in systems set-up, reviewing analysis of records until the conclusion of filing the obligation.

This deployment has been increasing the proximity with the clients of this service, as, in order to propose solutions, it is important to understand the characteristics of its management, its work routine, the stage in which it is and the structure and the available resources.

In this sense, the advice is not limited to a technical work, but looks for a global comprehension of the business, sharing the acquired knowledge with the advised throughout the monitoring the eSocial stages, the legislation involving the obligation to the practice with the digital environment, and especially the strategy that guides an effective and successful implementation.