Brazilian women earn 19 percent less than men

Brazilian women workers earn an average of 19.4 percent less than their male counterparts, according to a new federal government report.

The data comes from the first-ever wage transparency report, a federal government survey of 49,500 companies with more than employees. The report takes into account the earnings of 17.7 million workers.

Brazil passed equal pay legislation last year as part of a package of gender equality measures announced on March 8, 2023 (International Women’s Day), which included efforts to combat gender-based violence and economic inequality affecting women.

Under the new rules, employers will be required to pay equal wages to men and women doing the same work. Although gender discrimination is prohibited by both Brazil’s labor laws and the 1988 Constitution, unequal pay remains the norm in practice. 

The new law obliges companies with more than 100 employees to be more transparent about pay and publish biannual salary transparency reports. Monday’s announcement brought the first batch of data.

The pay gap is even wider for black women, who earn 68 percent of what white men do.

The data also shows that the pay gap widens according to occupation. In managerial positions, for example, the pay difference between men and women reaches 25.2 percent.

The Labor Ministry prepared an individual report for each company that discloses its wage costs. Now they are required to publish the document on their websites or social media channels, “always in a visible location.” Companies that fail to publish the information face a fine of 3 percent of their payroll, capped at 100 times the value of the minimum wage — or BRL 141,200 (USD 28,325).

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• #sexism