Brazil’s Supreme Court Upholds Gender Equal Pay Law in Unanimous Ruling

Overview

• The Supreme Federal Court, which heard arguments Wednesday and voted Thursday, unanimously upheld the constitutionality of 2023’s Law 14.611.
• The law requires companies with 100 or more employees to publish salary transparency reports twice a year and send anonymized pay data to the Ministry of Labor and Employment.
• When pay gaps are found, employers must issue an action plan with goals and deadlines, and the statute allows administrative penalties that include a fine equal to ten times the salary in cases of gender-based pay discrimination.
• The ruling resolves three consolidated cases, rejecting challenges from industry groups and a political party that claimed the law violates free enterprise, business secrecy, and data protection, and affirming what the relator called a duty on firms to prevent discrimination.
• With the legal question settled, the focus turns to company reporting, plan rollout, and oversight by labor authorities, which could bring clearer pay information to workers and faster correction of unfair gaps.