Salary and Remuneration Transparency Law: New developments in Brazil

At a glance

• The Ministry of Labour and Employment has published a normative instruction addressing operational aspects of salary transparency reports.
• Companies with 100 or more employees are required to submit information regarding employee salaries to the federal government platform.
• Challenges in court to the reporting requirements mean that the legal status of the reporting obligations is currently unclear. 

On 18 September 2024, the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MTE) published Normative Instruction (IN) GM/MTE 6 to regulate the implementation of the Salary and Remuneration Transparency Law, supplementing Decree 11.795/23 and MTE Ordinance 3.714/23.

The IN addresses operational aspects of the salary transparency report, maintaining the practices already followed by the MTE and companies. This includes details on the preparation of the report by the MTE (and not by companies), the provision of additional information through a wage equality questionnaire, and the format, content, and methodology of the salary transparency report, as well as its disclosure by companies.

Additionally, IN provides more detailed regulations regarding the enforcement of the Salary and Remuneration Transparency Law by labour auditors and provides for the implementation of the Action Plan for Mitigating Wage Inequality with the involvement of unions and employee representatives.

The key point of the IN is the continuation of the provisions of Decree 11.795/23 and Ordinance 3.714/23, which establish that salary transparency reports will continue to group employees into broad occupational categories based on the Brazilian Occupational Classification (CBO).

Adopting a more conservative stance, and in line with the strict terms of the law, companies with 100 or more employees are currently required to submit information regarding employee positions and salaries to the federal government platform.

However, please note that there has been some discussion about the obligation to submit these reports as judicial measures have been used by companies to challenge the law. 

On 3 September 2024, an electronic summons was issued to the union regarding the decision of the 6th Regional Federal Court (TRF-6) in Interlocutory Appeal No. 6002221-05.2024.4.06.0000/MG, which once again suspended the obligation to publish reports. 

According to the ruling issued by the TRF-6, companies are not required to publish the report provided by the MTE while the suspension order remains in effect. 

We can expect future discussions on this, particularly based on the precedent mentioned above. With the decision rendered by TRF-6, there is room for debate as to whether the requirement to publish the reports is currently a legal obligation or not.