Labor & Employment | Edition 10

20.08.2025

Key Highlights

Agribusiness – Indigenous Rural Producer

The Federal Revenue Service published Ruling 136/2025, which denies the exemption provided by the Statute of the Indigenous Peoples regarding the social security contribution owed by individual rural producers who are indigenous.

Background Check – Irregularities

The 1^st Panel of the Superior Labor Court ordered a company to pay collective moral damages for conducting criminal background and credit history checks on job applicants prior to hiring. According to the Court, such practice is unlawful when the checks are not directly related to the professional duties to be performed by the candidate.

Disability Hiring Quota

The 5^th Panel of the Regional Labor Court of Campinas increased the amount of collective moral damages imposed on a healthcare institution in a Public Civil Action for failing to comply with the mandatory quota for hiring people with disabilities. The Court ruled that the company did not objectively demonstrate difficulties in meeting the legal quota, especially given the absence of an organized program for recruiting and retaining people with disabilities.

Healthcare – Biomedical Professional

The Federal Council of Biomedicine published Normative Instruction 3/2025, regulating the professional practice and technical responsibility of biomedical professionals in Intraoperative Autotransfusion (ATIO), setting requirements for qualification and defining competencies within the framework of Patient Blood Management (PBM).

Labor Funding – Income Tax Exemption

Law 15.191/2025 was enacted, exempting individuals earning up to two minimum wages from Personal Income Tax (IRPF), updating the exemption threshold to BRL 3,036 per month.

Labor Funding – Prohibition on Offsetting Third-Party Social Security Credits

The Federal Revenue Service published Ruling 135/2025, which prohibits the offsetting of social security contribution credits belonging to third parties (i.e., not the company itself), regardless of whether the intended offset arises from undue or excessive payment. The Ruling reaffirms that offsets are only permitted between tax debts and credits (social security and non-social security), provided both refer to periods after the implementation of eSocial system and belong to the same taxpayer (not third parties).

Labor Funding – Transportation and Meal Allowances

The Federal Supreme Court has admitted for general repercussion the Extraordinary Appeal (ARE) 1370843, to rule on the levy of employer social security contributions on amounts deducted for transportation vouchers and meal allowances granted to employees. The case was classified under Theme 1415 and may have significant impacts on companies’ payroll tax burden. A nationwide suspension of ongoing cases addressing this matter is expected.

Provisional Measure “Sovereign Brazil” – Job Preservation

Provisional Measure 1.308/2025 was published to compensate sectors affected by the new tariff policy imposed by the United States. Key measures include expanding the Reintegra program, extending the tax suspension regime of the “drawback,” offering extraordinary credit lines with subsidized interest, reforming the Export Guarantee Fund, and allowing direct government purchases of products. The plan also aims to preserve jobs in the affected sectors, though no concrete labor measures were included in the original package. The Provisional Measure takes immediate effect but must be confirmed by the National Congress within 120 days.

Termination with Cause – Sexual Harassment

The 3^rd Panel of the Regional Labor Court of São Paulo upheld a dismissal for cause applied to an employee due to misconduct, consisting of repeated and unwanted sexual harassment by a male employee against a female colleague of the same hierarchical level.