Abstract:
Religious freedom focused on only one religious group is nothing more than veiled
intolerance, in this sense, this paper aims to expose the situation of sabbatists, a
minority belief in Brazil, in their work environment, as well as reflect on the
responsibility of the Brazilian State in the protection of religious individuals regardless
of what their belief is. To do so, the hypothetical-deductive method was used to verify
whether the hypothesis to solve the central problem of the work (regulation of
alternative benefits to sabbatical workers) is adequate or not. The comparative legal
method was used to analyze laws that already regulate alternative benefits in other
areas of life. The research verified that in order to achieve equality of material goods
and to guarantee the dignity of the human being, it is necessary to make a
reasonable accommodation for sabbatical workers, without placing an excessive
burden on the employer. In this way, an agreement between the parties would be the
most interesting way, that is, only in the impossibility of a consensual resolution
should the law regulating alternative benefits be applied in order to avoid
discrimination for reasons of belief in the work environment. Thus, one may conclude
that, since the employee is the most vulnerable party in the employment relationship,
it is necessary to enact a law that regulates alternative benefits under the terms of
art. 5, item VIII, of CRFB/88.
