As many may already know, the Service Time Guarantee Fund (FGTS) was created to ensure that workers are able to support themselves financially in cases of dismissal and other casualties.

Therefore, employers must contribute monthly to the FGTS. Deposits must be made at the beginning of the month and are made directly into the employee's account, which must be opened through Caixa Econômica Federal.

Therefore, if workers are dismissed without just cause, they can withdraw from their Guarantee Fund and, in this way, they can maintain their dignity by not experiencing additional financial difficulties.

FGTS Birthday Withdrawal

Anyone insured by the FGTS should already be familiar with the Birthday Withdrawal. This method of withdrawing from the Service Time Guarantee Fund was created in 2019, during the government of former president Jair Bolsonaro. The initial proposal of Saque-Aniversario was that it could serve as a measure for the country's economic recovery.

Through it, Brazilian workers could withdraw part of their total balance present in their FGTS account. As the name of this modality suggests, withdrawals take place according to the worker's birthday month. This way, every year the worker could, in the month of his birthday, withdraw an amount from the Guarantee Fund.

Since its creation, more than 12 million Brazilian workers have opted for the modality. It is worth mentioning that when choosing to withdraw part of the FGTS balance through this modality, the worker loses access to the traditional Withdrawal-Termination. To return to the Withdrawal-Termination after using the Withdrawal-Anniversary, the citizen must wait for a period of 2 years.

Withdrawals follow the order of the months, so starting with those born in January and ending with those born in December, deposits are made.

See too: Can FGTS withdrawals be made AFTER resigning? Understand the rules

End of the Birthday Loot?

In 2023, a new government began under the command of current president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. With the establishment of the Lula Government, some initiatives began to take place in order to better protect the rights of Brazilian workers. One of these proposed measures was to end the Birthday Loot this year.

According to the Minister of Labor, Luiz Marinho, continuing to allow this modality could greatly harm the worker. According to Marinho, continuing to make these withdrawals prevents the worker, in the event of dismissal, from using the FGTS to insure himself. Therefore, at the moment when the worker would most need their Guarantee Fund, they would not have access to the amounts.

Last Monday (13) the minister had a meeting with the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp), where he defended once again that to better protect the rights of Brazilian workers it is necessary to put an end to the Anniversary Loot.

The end of the withdrawal could happen soon, with closure forecast for the month of March. Therefore, it is important that workers who are still interested in making their Birthday Withdrawal make the request by March.