Law No. 14,611 was published, bringing a new angle to wage equality and remuneration criteria between women and men who perform work of equal value or perform the same function, as well as amending the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT), which now provides for a fine of 10 times the amount of the new salary owed by the employer to the discriminated employee, and increased to twice as much, in case of recurrence, without prejudice to other legal sanctions.
In addition, the same law determines the semi-annual publication of reports on salary transparency and remuneration criteria by legal entities governed by private law with 100 or more employees, observing the protection of personal data (General Law for the Protection of Personal Data), under penalty of administrative fine whose value will correspond to up to 3% (three percent) of the employer’s payroll, limited to 100 minimum wages – something close to R$ 132,000 in 2023. And, moreover, specific channels should be made available for discrimination complaints wages by employers.
Once wage inequality between people of different genders has been identified, the company must present and implement an action plan to mitigate the difference, with goals and deadlines, ensuring the participation of representatives of unions and employee representatives in the workplace.
An Executive Power act will establish a protocol against salary discrimination and remuneration criteria between women and men, which should contribute to the increase and direction of campaigns and measures for oversight of this legal aspect.
Although discrimination in the workplace has been prohibited for a long time, this new legislation will undoubtedly bring greater protection and bring companies closer to the best ESG practices[i], which are increasingly desirable by companies, customers, consumers, in short , by society as a whole.
[i] ESG (“Environmental, Social and Governance”): English term that, in Portuguese, means: Environmental, Social and Governance.