Tax Reform: regulations approved by Congress move forward for Presidential sanction

MTE Normative Instruction No. 6/2024, which regulates the parameters for preparing the Pay Transparency and Remuneration Criteria Report, established clear guidelines regarding the publication of the reports, with an emphasis on their semiannual publication, both on the company’s intranet and for its employees. The regulation requires the reports to be published twice a year, but does not address the possibility of replacing previous reports with more up-to-date versions, nor whether those reports must remain available.

Although Law No. 14,611/2023, which establishes equal pay and remuneration criteria for women and men, entered into force on the date of its publication, the obligation to publish the Pay Transparency Report began in 2024. The first version of the report was made available in March and was required to be published in April, while the second report was made available in August and had to be published in September.

The legislation does not address the possibility of removing or replacing previous reports, referring only to the publication of “new” semiannual reports at regular intervals. This means that, based on a strict interpretation of the applicable rules and taking a cautious approach to the matter, all reports should remain available and accessible to the public, particularly to employees and supervisory authorities, such as the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MTE) itself. Therefore, no Pay Transparency Report should be removed from the intranet until regulatory guidance is issued in this respect.

Although previous reports cannot be replaced by new ones in the locations where they are published internally and externally, a report may be amended to correct errors without the need to remove it from the intranet. For example, if the first report identifies a pay disparity, the company may not replace it with the report for the subsequent six-month period as though the irregularities identified during the earlier period had never existed. Instead, the company may amend the information previously submitted to the competent authority, ensuring that the changes are properly recorded. Corrections must be made through the Emprega Brasil Portal.

Nevertheless, the various notices issued by the Ministry of Labour and Employment indicate that there is no intention to replace previous reports, but rather to ensure that all reports issued over time remain continuously available and up to date. The emphasis is on semiannual publication, rather than on the removal or replacement of previous reports.

If reports are replaced and/or removed, this may be regarded as a violation. The semiannual publication requirement is clearly established in the applicable rules and, if a labour inspector finds that the obligations have not been complied with, particularly regarding the frequency of publication, a fine may be imposed in an amount of up to 3% of the payroll, capped at 100 minimum wages, in addition to fines applicable in cases of discrimination in pay and remuneration criteria between women and men, where applicable.

It is important to bear in mind that this is still a relatively new matter and there are few precedents or judicial guidelines that could provide greater clarity on how to proceed in the event of conflicts or divergent interpretations, which requires companies to adopt a cautious approach.