On 09.21st.2022 was sanctioned the Law No. 14,457which creates the Emprega + Mulheres Program, instituted by means of Provisional Measure (MP) 1.116/22. The initiative aims to encourage means to insert and maintain women in the labor market, implementing measures to support parenthood in early childhood, make the work regime more flexible to support parenthood, qualify women in strategic areas for professional advancement, support women's return to work after maternity leave, recognize good practices in promoting women's employability, as well as by modernizing the rules for professional apprenticeships provided for in the Consolidation of Labor Laws - CLL.

Among the changes brought by Law 14.457/22 the following items stand out:

1. Employers must prioritize telecommuting jobs for employees with children, stepchildren, or children under legal custody aged up to six years old or disabled (in this case there is no age limit).
2. Flexibility of the work and vacation schedules, as long as with the express authorization of the male and female employees, aiming to promote the conciliation between work and caring for children, stepchildren or person under their custody up to 6 years old or with disabilities, observing the following:

• Individual vacations can be granted in advance even if the accrual period has not yet elapsed;
• Part-time regime, in accordance with article 58-A of the CLL;
• Special regime of work day compensation by means of a time bank;
• Possibility of working 12×36 hours;
• Flexible check-in and check-out times, within the daily working hours.

3. Suspension of the labor contract to encourage the qualification of women to participate in a professional qualification course/program offered by the employer, and during the period of suspension of the labor contract, the employee will be entitled to the professional qualification scholarship, and the employer may also grant the employee a monthly compensatory allowance, without a salary nature.
4. Suspension of the work contract of employees whose spouse/partner has finished the maternity leave period to provide care, monitor development and establish ties with the children and support the return to work of their spouse or partner, through a professional qualification scholarship and possible granting by the employer of a monthly compensatory allowance, without a salary nature.
5. Also, in relation to the Citizen Company Program, the option to reduce the working hours by 50%, for a period of 120 days, has been added.
6. To support parenthood in early childhood, employers are authorized to adopt the benefit of day-care reimbursement. Such benefit does not have a salary nature and is not incorporated into the compensation for any purpose.
7. The employer's duties are:

• Give wide disclosure to its employees about the possibility of supporting the return to work of their wives or partners after the end of the maternity leave period;
• Provide guidance on the procedures required to sign an individual agreement to suspend the employment contract with qualification; and
• Promote periodic awareness actions on responsive and equal parenting to drive adoption of the measure by its employees.

The deadline for adopting the measures provided for in Article 23 is 180 days after Law 14457/22 comes into force.

Cesar Peres Dulac Müller Lawyers Team