Brazil has passed a law mandating companies pay men and women equally for the same position. 

“Any business person that doesn’t comply will have to deal with the law,” said President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during a presentation for the law’s passing. 

Companies that fail to pay equal salaries to men and women doing the same work can be fined ten times the value of the salary discrepancy, the law establishes. For repeat offenders, the fine could double that of the first infraction. Even if the fine is paid, the person who was discriminated against can seek financial compensation for moral distress.

People can report violations of the law through the Labor ministry website or via a hotline. 

According to the Brazilian Geography and Statistic Institute (IBGE, by its Spanish acronym), a woman in Brazil earns on average 78% of what a man makes for doing similar work.The percentage drops to 46% for women of color. 

Brazilian law has required equal pay for men and women since 1943, but the pay gap remains, according to Brazil’s Women’s Minister Cida Gonçalves. “Women have been waiting for this day for at least 80 years,” she said. 

This law is an amendment of the existing law. One change is that businesses can be exempted from the equal pay requirement in individual cases if they present a collective agreement and submit a company-wide labor and salary plan. Per the new law, businesses must also present reports so that inspectors can check what men and women are paid. 

Other provisions in the law include implementing diversity and inclusion programs and training managers, leaders and employees with a gender equality perspective in the job market, with an evaluation of results. There should also be a drive to educate and prepare women for their entry, continuity and progress in the workplace on equal conditions to men. 

-with information from Télam