Abstract (Translated):
Wage employment is essential to a fair participation of workers in economic, social and political fields. This economic relation is based on many (and relevant) labour and social rights. However, in the 1990`s and the beginning of the 2000`s, wage employment lost a bit of its importance in the Brazilian occupational structure. The main reason was the poor performance of the economy, which fostered occupation without labour and social rights. Nevertheless, there were also political aspects involved, since the legislation of that period enhanced the growth of rightless labour activities. The politics behind the emergence of such legislation were full of contradictions, showing that the Brazilian State initiatives were full of ambiguities. For example, on one side, executive and legislative representatives introduced new rules that stimulated occupation deprived of labour and social rights. On the other side, judges and prosecutors (as well as labour inspectors) resisted strongly to such new rules, aiming to guarantee wage employment with all related rights.