Brazilian Senate approves bill to establish equal pay for men and women

The Brazilian Senate approved a bill that introduces mandatory criteria for equal pay and remuneration for women and men for work of equal value or performance of the same functions. The approved text determines that the federal government will have to regulate the future law through a decree. The draft will now be submitted to the president.

The proposal, authored by the Presidency of the Republic, was reviewed as a matter of urgency and approved by the three standing committees of the Senate. In the Human Rights Commission, Senator Zenaide Maia was the rapporteur. In the Social Affairs Commission and the Economic Affairs Commission, Senator Teresa Leitao was the rapporteur.

The bill stipulates that in the case of discrimination on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, origin or age, payment of the difference in wages does not exclude the right of those who have suffered discrimination to sue for moral damages on a case-by-case basis.

The text modifies the fine provided for in article 510 of the Labour Code so that it will correspond to ten times the amount of the new wage to be paid by the employer to the discriminated employee and, in the event of a repeat offence, doubled, without prejudice to other legal measures. Currently, the fine is equal to one regional minimum wage.

The bill also obliges companies (legal entities) with 100 or more employees to publish biannual wage transparency reports in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Act (Act 13 709 of 2018) and provides that the executive will establish a protocol for monitoring wage discrimination.

The reports will contain data and information, published anonymously, which will enable an objective comparison of salaries, remuneration criteria and the proportion of female and male directors, managers and executives employed, in addition to statistical information on other possible inequalities due to race, ethnicity, national origin and age.

In the case of unequal pay or remuneration criteria, private companies shall draw up action plans to mitigate these inequalities, with targets and deadlines, ensuring the participation of trade union and employee representatives in the workplace. If these provisions are not complied with, an administrative fine of up to 3% of the employer's payroll, capped at one hundred minimum wages, will apply, as reported by Brasil 247, a partner of TV BRICS.

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