On 09/21/2022, Law 14.457/2022 was sanctioned, instituting the “Programa Emprega + Mulheres”, created to promote a safer work environment for women.

The Law brought changes to CIPA, now called “Internal Commission for the Prevention of Accidents and Harassment”, which will become effective as of Tuesday (03/21/2023).

The Law requires companies with more than 20 employees to adopt measures to prevent and combat sexual harassment and other forms of violence in the workplace. These measures are listed in Article 23 of the law.

In short, companies must include rules of conduct regarding sexual harassment and other forms of violence in their internal regulations, with wide dissemination of the content to employees.

In addition, they must make complaint channels available that guarantee the anonymity of the whistleblower, as well as institute procedures for receiving, investigating the facts and applying administrative sanctions to those responsible, when this is the case.

They must also include themes related to the prevention and combat of sexual harassment and other forms of violence in CIPA’s activities and practices.

Finally, they must carry out, at least every 12 months, training, orientation, and sensitization actions for all employees on topics related to violence, harassment, equality, and diversity in the workplace.

The non-adoption of the new requirements may result in fines to companies when inspected by the Ministry of Labor, as well as civil inquiries by the Labor Public Prosecutor Office.