In times of pandemic and social isolation, have you noticed how many government services are being made available virtually? The gov.br portal, which currently houses more than 4,300 services and information about the activities of all areas of government, already has more than 100 million users, registered with their CPF number.
One of the services available is the Digital Work Card, the subject of Ricardo Moreira's dissertation, who, in addition to being deputy secretary of Labor at the Ministry of Economy, is now also a master in Public Administration at IDP.
Felipe Cruz, professor at the institution and Ricardo's advisor, explains that digital transformation in public administration “involves the use of digital technologies to bring efficiency to the provision of services, allowing citizens a simple and intuitive experience in their relationship with the government”.
In this context, the digitalization of services, the simplification of access, the unification and integration of digital channels emerge as strategies to guarantee the satisfaction of users of public services.
Work Card: before and after
Before the virtual tool, the worker needed to present the physical version of the Work Card - the famous little blue book - for the company to hire them. In that little book, there were all the professional records of a citizen's life. And, to request the document, it was necessary to go to a service point at the Secretariat of Labor or the National Employment System (Sine) network and, within around fifteen days, return to receive the document.
"Considering that the country has 5,570 municipalities and that the service network has around 2,800 positions, reaching just over half of the total, the worker would often travel from one municipality to another in order to obtain the Work Card " , explains Ricardo Moreira.
Felipe explains that the main advantage of the digital transformation of services is associated with the efficiency it brings to the provision of public services with a focus on the needs of citizens.
"Access through digital channels facilitates and simplifies the consumption of services, as it reduces the effort required to interact with the government, especially in cases where it is difficult to travel to in-person service points", explains the teacher.
Since implementation, in September 2019, until March 2021, the Digital Work Card already had more than 323 million accesses and more than 37 million users . The Federal Government's initiative, implemented in September 2019, allows every Brazilian or foreigner who is registered with the CPF to obtain their work card 100% digitally.
The Digital Work Card can be accessed through the Android and IOS application store, or by downloading from the gov.br .
Ricardo explains that the implementation of the Digital Work Card allowed the redirection of the service network for demands that do not yet have digital solutions and the saving of budgetary resources in the production and distribution of the paper Work Card. Furthermore, it reduces the average service time for citizens and speeds up access to labor information consolidated in a single environment, enabling workers to monitor their employment relationships.
Professor Felipe highlights the cost reduction in the provision of public services made possible by the gov.br platform, as it “enables governments to be assertive in the allocation of servers and the optimization of information and communication technology infrastructures”, explains the professor .
Facilitates hiring
In addition to benefits for workers, the project also has advantages for contractors.
"The Digital Work Card exempts employers who use the Digital Bookkeeping of Tax, Social Security and Labor Obligations (eSocial) from registering the employment contract in the paper Work Card and makes it possible to hire the worker by simply presenting the CPF and document identification ", explains Ricardo.
The eSocial system also eliminates the need for paper records for admissions, dismissals, salaries, vacations, licenses and absences. It also makes it possible to monitor the worker's working life, the request (and filing, in case of rejection) for Unemployment Insurance and indicates possible discrepancies in the information provided by the employer to the government, automatically incorporating all this data into the Digital Work Card.
Is this the end of the printed Work Card?
Although the digital version replaces and completely eliminates the issuance of a printed Work Card, Ricardo emphasizes that the document is not a requirement for hiring.
This way, those who do not have easy access to the internet or who prefer the physical version can also be hired by presenting their CPF and identification document. If they identify a need, individuals can also contact the Department of Labor's service units or obtain information by calling 158.
Pandemic
Despite having been implemented before the Covid-19 pandemic, in September 2019, the application proved to be extremely important during the period of social isolation, when worker service centers were closed.
Ricardo states that "the Digital Employment Card has become the main channel for accessing Unemployment Insurance since March 2020, when a state of public calamity was declared in Brazil".
“Public services will be increasingly digital, agile, transparent, personalized and simple” says Ricardo’s advisor, optimistically. Based on data and comparisons with other similar initiatives, Felipe Cruz believes that demands in relation to the quality of public services tend to grow.
“The costs of providing services will fall and the tendency is for citizens to become more satisfied and have a relationship with greater trust and credibility when consuming public services”, concludes the professor.
Learn from the experts!
Felipe Cruz is the professor responsible for the Openclass Digital Government: challenges and strategies in offering digital public services .
In this free, online and certified mini-course offered by the IDP School of Economic and Business Management, you will have the opportunity to attend a specific class on the Digital Wallet, led by Ricardo Moreira, our graduate student! In addition to learning more about Digital Government with other experts on the subject.
