Compensatory leave has become one of the Justice system’s main perks. To make its payment possible, the Judiciary and the Public Prosecutor’s Office have distorted the bonus for cumulative exercise and created a new bonus that circumvents the constitutional ceiling and increases the salaries of their members by up to a third.

The leave, with no legal support, transformed the bonus into days off that can be converted into pay – an indemnified sale of rest. The practice has already cost the judiciary R$819 million between July 2023 and October 2024.

• Of the 35 courts of justice, three out of every five members received compensatory leave: there are 8,700 judges and magistrates who have earned an average of R$12,400 a month on their paychecks;
• Ten state courts have already spent R$404 million between July 2023 and October 2024 on the leave, made possible by laws passed by the assemblies or internal administrative acts;
• Despite this, the Supersalaries Bill (Bill No. 2721/2020), already approved by the House and under consideration by the Senate, removes these perks from the constitutional ceiling;
• Legislative proposals to combat super-salaries in the justice system will be ineffective if they do not cover the bonus for cumulative exercise and compensatory leave.