Law 14,457/22 instituted the Emprega + Mulheres Program (Women Employment Program) and amended the Brazilian Labor Code (known as ‘CLT’) with the objective of promoting the employability of women for their insertion and maintenance in the labor market and combating sexual harassment and other forms of violence in the workplace.
The new legislation also established several measures to support parenthood in early childhood, brought incentives for female qualification, created the Emprega + Mulher Seal, and assigned new obligations to Internal Commission of Accident Prevention (‘CIPA’).
Measures aimed at preventing and combating sexual harassment and other forms of violence in the workplace became mandatory as of 03/22/2023 and must be observed so that companies do not suffer penalties by the Ministry of Labor.
In establishments where at least 30 women over 16 years of age work, the existence of an appropriate place for them to breastfeed their children is also highlighted as a mandatory measure.
Other measures introduced by Law 14,457 are optional and companies may:
To support parenthood in early childhood:
- adopt the daycare reimbursement benefit, with no salary nature, for employees who have children aged up to 6 years old;
- make the working hours more flexible for employees who have children aged up to 6 years or with a disability, with no age limit, for the adoption of teleworking, remote or distance work, part-time regime, compensation of working hours through the compensatory time, regime of 12 x 36, anticipation of vacations, and flexibility to start and end the working day.
To support women’s qualification and return to work after the end of the maternity leave:
- suspend the employment contract for participation in a professional qualification course or program offered by the employer, especially in the areas of science, technology, development, and innovation;
- offer a professional qualification scholarship and also monthly compensatory aid;
- suspend the employment contract of employed fathers with a child whose mother has ended her period of maternity leave to provide care and establish bonds with the children, monitor their development, and support the wife/partner’s return to work.
It is important to highlight that Law 14,457/22 also brought the possibility of flexibilization of the extension of the maternity leave of the Empresa Cidadã Program:
- The extension of the maternity leave for another 60 days provided for in the Empresa Cidadã Program may be shared between male employee and female employee, provided that both work in a company that has adhered to the Program;
- the company may replace the period of extension of the maternity leave with a reduction of 50% in the working hours for a period of 120 days.
Cipa, which received a new name, becoming the Internal Commission for the Prevention of Accidents and Harassment, was responsible for adopting measures to prevent and combat sexual harassment and other forms of violence at work, such as:
- inclusion of rules of conduct regarding sexual harassment and other forms of violence in the company’s internal rules, with wide dissemination of its content to employees;
- establishment of procedures for receiving and monitoring complaints, for investigation of facts and, when applicable, for the application of administrative sanctions to those directly and indirectly responsible for acts of sexual harassment and violence, guaranteeing the anonymity of the person making the complaint, without prejudice to applicable legal proceedings;
- inclusion of topics related to the prevention and combat of sexual harassment and other forms of violence in Cipa’s activities and practices;
- implementation, at least every 12 months, of training, guidance, and awareness-raising actions for employees at all hierarchical levels of the company on topics related to violence, harassment, equality, and diversity within the scope of work, in accessible, appropriate formats that present maximum effectiveness of such actions.
The emprega + mulher seal is also a novelty introduced by Law 14,457 and aims to recognize the good practices and conduct of companies that stand out for meeting the needs of their employees, such as promoting a culture of equality between men and women, provision of effective support to female employees in the event of harassment, physical or psychological violence, as well as companies that adopt other behaviors provided for in the new legislation.
Law 14,457/22 ends its provisions also contemplating other rights, such as equal pay between men and women, stimulus for the granting of microcredits to women, and implementation of initiatives by the National Employment System to improve employability of women, in particular those:
- who have a child, stepchild, or legal custody of children aged up to 5 years;
- who are head of household;
- who have a disability or have a child with a disability.
The LO Baptista team is available to assist you through the implementation of the new rules and help with whatever is necessary to adapt your company to Law 14,457/22.
