President Lula (PT) has fully vetoed provisions that would have created compensatory leave in the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate and the Federal Court of Auditors (TCU) in the laws on salary and career adjustments for civil servants published yesterday, February 18.
The veto comes after pressure from Transparência Brasil and nine other organizations, through a letter sent to the Presidency on 6.Feb.2026, to prevent the benefit from being institutionalized in law for the first time. The organizations warned the President that sanctioning the provisions would lead to extra tax payments and an increase in public spending, with a possible cascading effect on public administration.
For TB’s executive director, Juliana Sakai, the veto is even more important in light of Minister Flávio Dino’s decision on February 5 to suspend payments of compensation without express provision in the law. According to her, this demonstrates the position of the federal executive in the fight against super salaries and respect for the constitutional ceiling, since compensatory leave represents a strategy for violating the limit, as well as being able to promote the regulation of compensatory allowances by the legislature.
Compensatory leave allows civil servants with an accumulation of work to take time off, with the possibility of converting these days into cash compensation. Created in the Judiciary and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, it has been replicated in the Public Defender’s Office, the Court of Auditors and even the Federal Senate.
Because it makes it possible to increase salaries by up to ⅓, compensatory leave cost the Judiciary R$1.24 billion in 2024 alone, according to a survey by TB and República.org, making it one of the most harmful to public administration.
In addition to TB, the following signed the letter: República.org, Associação Fiquem Sabendo, Centro de Liderança Pública, Livres, Movimento Brasil Competitivo, Movimento Orçamento Bem Gasto, Movimento Pessoas à Frente, Plataforma Justa and Transparência Internacional – Brasil.