Brazil Advances in Female Inclusion, but Pay Equality Remains a Challenge: Global Experiences Show Paths to Avoid Litigation
By Maíra Lacerda and Mariana Eugenio Almeida
In recent years, Brazil has made progress in increasing women's participation in the labour market, with a growing number of women in formal positions across various economic sectors. However, significant gender inequalities persist, marked especially by substantial pay gaps compared to men. These disparities are accentuated when considering the intersectionality of gender and race, revealing that Black women face additional barriers to access, progression, and remuneration. The scenario shows that, although female presence has been increasing, equality of opportunity and earnings remains a structural challenge for the country.
Data from the 4th Salary Transparency Report, released by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, reveal a slow but steady transformation in salary differences between men and women in Brazil. In 2025, the average salary for women was R$3,908, compared to R$4,958 for men, a difference of 20.9%. The survey is a result of the implementation of Law No. 14,611/2023, known as the Pay Equality Law.
The legislation, enacted in July 2023, made it mandatory for companies with 100 or more employees to publish semi-annual reports detailing remuneration criteria and salary data disaggregated by gender and race. This transparency mechanism is essential for identifying and correcting asymmetries. The 2025 report, which analyzed over 54,000 companies, points to some advances: a growing number of establishments report average salary differences of 5% or less, and Black women's participation in the formal labour market has increased.
Brazil in the Global Context and the Risk of Litigation
Brazil is in the early stages of implementing the Pay Equality Law. After an initial cycle focused on raising awareness among companies and society about the importance of preparing and publishing salary transparency reports, this phase was also marked by questions and lawsuits, reflecting the difficulties in adapting to the new legal requirements. Now, the government is moving to a new stage, centred on enforcing compliance with the rules. This transition marks a decisive moment, where the practical application of the Law begins to be accompanied by concrete monitoring and inspection actions.
As the inspection framework consolidates, with over 800 companies inspected in 2025, the experience of countries that have already travelled this path serves as a beacon. Without proactive and continuous policies, the government could follow the example of other jurisdictions where pay equality became a massively litigated issue, overburdening the courts with thousands of individual and collective lawsuits.
The United Kingdom and Iceland, though geographically and culturally distant, can be sources of great learning and reference. In 2017, the British government introduced the mandatory reporting of gender pay gaps for all companies with 250 or more employees on a specific annual "snapshot date", under The Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017 (UNITED KINGDOM, 2017). Although this measure aimed to increase salary transparency, similar to the Brazilian law, it faced compliance and interpretation challenges. It is an exemplary case of the limits of transparency without mandatory corrective action. Following the report's implementation in 2017, there was significant public debate that pressured organizations to confront their numbers. Studies pointed out that, despite initial gains, the absence of legal mechanisms for mandatory correction and effective enforcement turned the process into a "checklist compliance", where the act of reporting data became an end in itself (AON, 2023). Consequently, the reduction of the pay gap stagnated, remaining around 9.8% between 2018 and 2022 (AON, 2023). The British case illustrates the limits of transparency in isolation: without corrective measures and active policies, the visibility of the problem does not translate into lasting structural transformations.
Iceland, on the other hand, went further. Since 2018, the country requires companies with 25 or more employees to obtain an equal pay certification, proving that their remuneration policies are equal, according to the technical standard ÍST 85 -- Equal Wage Management System (ICELAND, 2018; GOVERNMENT OF ICELAND, s.d.). This preventive model significantly reduces the scope for legal disputes. Companies must obtain, every three years, a certificate issued by accredited auditors, which proves that their pay structures guarantee equal pay for work of equal value. This model is not based on simple data disclosure, but on a technical audit that examines and corrects salary inconsistencies at their root. Thus, the Icelandic model shifts the focus from judicial remediation and passive transparency to prevention, creating a structural and financial incentive for companies to adjust their policies and build real equity (WAGNER, 2022). In this way, the Icelandic experience shows that mechanisms of technical audit and corporate accountability can be effective instruments for the sustainable promotion of pay equality.
A concrete, successful, and closer example comes from our continent, in Chile. The University of Talca implemented the "Ni Mas Ni Menos" program, an internal initiative focused on diagnosing and correcting pay asymmetries. Through a detailed audit of its positions and salary structures, the university not only identified gender disparities but also implemented concrete salary adjustments. As a direct result of this measure, the institution managed to reduce its pay gap by 3%, tangibly demonstrating how applying certification and technical correction tools, even at an institutional level, is effective in advancing towards real equity, serving as an inspiring model for other organizations (UNIVERSIDAD DE TALCA, 2024).
The key lesson from these experiences is that transparency measures, though necessary, are insufficient on their own to solve the gender pay gap. They are the first step, a fundamental diagnosis. However, what prevents mass litigation and promotes fundamental transformations are the next steps: the technical correction of disparities and cultural change within organizations.
In this sense, the Collective Bargaining Guide published by the Brazilian government in 2025 moves in this direction, encouraging the issue to be addressed at the negotiation table rather than in court (BRASIL, 2025). Social dialogue -- that is, the effective involvement of workers and employers - proves essential to consolidate equality policies and ensure that legislation produces concrete effects (BRASIL, 2024). The International Equal Pay Coalition as a Strategy
In this effort to accelerate learning, coalition action becomes central. Brazil, by aligning its policies with initiatives like the International Equal Pay Coalition (EPIC), positions itself within a global ecosystem for exchanging best practices. EPIC, co-led by the International Labour Organization (ILO), UN Women, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), brings together governments, employers, workers, academia, and civil society to accelerate progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 8.5, which demands equal pay for work of equal value by 2030.
The Coalition serves as a platform for peer learning, knowledge exchange, and evidence-based case studies. Through targeted knowledge products and convening events, EPIC helps countries learn from each other's challenges and solutions. EPIC's emphasis on multifaceted approaches - combining legislation, changing social norms, and strengthening the capacity of employers and unions - mirrors the strategy being designed in our country today, with the "Movement for Equality at Work" of the Ministry of Women.
The Way Forward
Brazilian data show that gender inequality in the labour market extends well beyond salary differences. It stems from structural factors that shape women's access to, growth in, and retention in prominent positions. Occupational segregation still concentrates the female workforce in less valued sectors, such as education, health, and social services. At the same time, so-called "glass ceilings" continue to prevent many women from reaching leadership and decision-making roles.
These mechanisms help explain why, even with higher educational attainment than men, women continue to earn less, and the higher the position, the greater the gap. In 2025, the national average salary difference was 21.2%. But among directors and managers, women earned, on average, only 73.4% of men's salaries. In roles requiring higher education, the proportion dropped to 68.2% (MTE, 2025).
The situation is even more unfavourable in male-dominated careers. A study that followed professional trajectories in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields shows that the pay gap increases over time (ALMEIDA, 2025). What begins as a modest difference at market entry transforms, years later, into a significant gap, driven by barriers to promotion, penalties associated with motherhood, and biased evaluation systems. Beyond these factors, subtle forms of discrimination weigh heavily, manifesting in predominantly male work environments where organizational culture reinforces stereotypes of competence and leadership linked to men. In these contexts, many women report a sense of not belonging and isolation, leading them to migrate to other sectors or leave the labour market altogether. At the same time, men continue on more linear, valued trajectories.
Economist Claudia Goldin, winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Economics, argues that gender inequalities in the labour market stem not only from direct discrimination but also from occupational structures that value continuous availability and penalize flexibility. In Career and Family (2021), Goldin shows that a large part of the pay gap between men and women arises over time, especially in occupations known as 'greedy jobs,' which reward long hours and total dedication. These characteristics tend to penalize workers with greater family responsibilities, disproportionately affecting women, especially after motherhood. This mechanism helps explain the persistence of pay gaps even among highly qualified professionals and in contexts of greater formal equality, and it also offers a practical analytical framework for understanding realities such as those in Brazil, where advances in female participation coexist with structural barriers to gender equity.
The path to pay equality is still long, but there are signs of progress. Law No. 14,611/2023, which established salary transparency, and initiatives like the Guide for Collective Bargaining for Salary and Labour Equality are essential steps. The challenge now is to turn transparency into concrete action, applying international lessons to avoid the costs and delays of the judicial route. As successful experiences in other countries show, pay equality is more effective and less costly when treated as a management policy rather than a court ruling.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
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