New Law on Equal Pay

Law 14.611/23, which governs equal pay for equal work and compensation criteria between women and men, was recently sanctioned and brought greater consequences for the employer if a situation of discrimination based on sex, race, ethnicity, origin, or age is evidenced.

For example, the fine that already existed in the law for evidenced situations of discrimination, equal to 50% of the maximum limit for social security benefits, was replaced by a fine in the amount of 10 (ten) times the amount of the new salary due by the employer to the discriminated employee, which can be doubled in the case of recidivism.

The law also sets forth a new obligation, which depends on a specific regulation that was not issued yet, for companies with 100 (one hundred) or more employees, which must publish semi-annual reports of salary transparency and remuneration criteria.

Such reports must contain anonymized data and information that allow the objective comparison between salaries, remuneration and the ratio of positions filled by women and men in director, management, and leadership positions, always observing the limits of the General Data Protection Law (“LGPD”).

In addition, these reports should also contain information that can provide statistical data on other possible inequalities arising from race, ethnicity, nationality, and age.

In the event of non-compliance with this obligation of issuing the reports, the companies can be fined by an amount corresponding to up to 3% (three percent) of its payroll, limited to 100 (one hundred) minimum salaries, in addition to other sanctions that may apply to cases of salary discrimination and discrimination of remuneration criteria between women and men.

In addition, if salary inequality or remuneration criteria are identified based on the information provided in the reports, these companies must present and implement an action plan to mitigate inequality, with goals and deadlines, ensuring the participation of representatives of trade unions and employee representatives in the workplace.

Although some of the topics are not yet regulated, the wording of the law is clear to indicate that measures will be taken to ensure equal pay for equal work and compensation criteria between women and men, for example, by increasing the labor audits and by providing specific channels for reporting salary discrimination, and such measures can be extended to other situations involving race, ethnicity, nationality, and age.

In this regard, a review of the remuneration practices currently adopted by companies may be a precautionary measure in preparation for the regulation of these obligations brought by the new law.

Our labor team is available to clarify any doubts and discuss aspects related to this topic.