According to information published by the newspapers Folha de São Paulo and O Globo, the federal government is studying changes in the rules for public tenders.

These alterations are described in a bill that is already being discussed in the Federal Senate and is supported by the Ministry of Management and Innovation.

This is PL 2258 of 2022, which was approved by the Chamber of Deputies in August of last year and subsequently sent to the Senate, where it is in the Committee on Constitution, Justice and Citizenship of the house.

This project is a modification of another proposal (PL 92/2000) prepared by former senator Jorge Bornhausen, which dealt with rules relating to public tenders.

For 2023, the government predicts that more than 8,000 vacancies will be opened in new public tenders.

According to the Union, the budget this year, approved at the end of 2022, provides for a tax break that allows for the opening of vacancies and the carrying out of tests.

The main changes planned

In the next topics, the main points that can be modified in the execution of public tenders are described.

Implementation of new requirements

In addition to the traditional written exam, the commissions responsible for the competitions may request other evaluation phases.

The PL that establishes changes in the bidding classifies as “valid means” of evaluation the measurement of:

• Knowledge: written, objective or dissertation tests, and oral assessments covering general or specific content related to the contest in question;
• Skills: preparation of documents and simulation of tasks relevant to the position held, in addition to physical tests corresponding to the activities carried out in the function;
• Skills: psychological assessment, mental health examination or psychometric test, conducted by a qualified professional, as stipulated by the specific regulation.

Conducting tests online

PL 2258/2022 also provides that some public tenders can be carried out remotely, completely over the internet.

In these cases, the bill highlights that the test must be done on an “electronic platform with secure individual access and in a controlled environment”.

In addition, on these occasions, the organizing boards must guarantee equal conditions to the candidates, so that they have access to the virtual environment and total parity in the holding of the event.

Prior or additional training

Another major change that can be instituted in the rules for organizing public tenders in Brazil is the inclusion of complementary courses and training as a prerequisite for eliminating or classifying candidates.

These training courses may be required both before and after the completion of the stages of the competition itself.

In any case, the performance of candidates in the courses will be taken into account in the final classification.

In addition, the objective is to introduce candidates to the functions they will assume, if approved. For this reason, some public tenders already adopt this type of organization format.