Companies Take Legal Action To Prevent The Publication Of The Transparency Report Related To The Gender Pay Gap

• Published date: 02 April 2024
• Subject Matter: Corporate/Commercial Law, Employment and HR, Corporate and Company Law, Employee Benefits & Compensation
• Law Firm: L&E Global
• Author: Ms Gabriela Lima (TozziniFreire Advogados)

Since the enactment of Law 14,611/2023, many discussions have arisen about the obligation for companies to publish the semiannual transparency report, which will be unilaterally produced by the MTE, considering information disclosed by the companies. Given that the date for the publication is approaching, several companies are taking legal action and requesting a preliminary injunction to be released from the obligation of disclosing such transparency report on their websites and social media channels.

The main argument of the companies is that the regulation of Law 14.611/2023 (Decree 11,795/2023 and Ordinance 3,714/2023) created additional obligations such as the publication of the report on companies' websites and social media channels, which exceeds what is provided by Law 14,611/2023 and violates the principle of legality guaranteed by the Brazilian Federal Constitution. In addition, companies argue that the data requested by the law and its regulation, plus the publication of such report may violate the Brazilian General Data Privacy Law and competition law.

Some companies were able to obtain favourable decisions, wherein the judges granted the preliminary injunction releasing them from publishing the gender pay gap report on their websites and social media channels. Final decisions confirming such injunctions, however, have still not been granted.

On the other hand, a judge has recently denied the preliminary...