South America

Law No. 27240 requires employers to provide working mothers a one-hour daily break for breastfeeding. The law states that an employee cannot exchange this benefit for another benefit or compensation and that the employer and employee can agree on the breastfeeding schedule. The law initially granted this right to working mothers until the child reached six months old. In 2001, Law No.

The objective of Law No. 27942 is to prevent and penalize sexual harassment that arises from relationships of authority or dependency. The statute applies to public and private workplaces, educational institutions, police and military institutions, and relationships that are unregulated by labor law. In 2009, Law No.

Law 28983 aims to provide a general framework for enacting national policies and legislation that protects women’s right to equality and dignity, and prohibits discrimination in all spheres of life. The law provides that the executive branch shall adopt policies, plans and programs directed at preventing and eliminating violence against women. (Article 6c).

The objective of Law No. 30364 is to prevent, eradicate, and penalize all forms of violence against women and family group members, especially those who are particularly vulnerable because of their age or physical attributes (e.g., children, adolescents, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities).

Law No. 30367 modifies Article 29 of Legislative Decree No. 728, nullifying all employment terminations motivated by pregnancy, childbirth, or lactation if the termination occurs during the pregnancy or within 90 days of the child’s birth. An employer is presumed to have terminated the employee based on the employee’s pregnancy if the employer has no justification for the employee’s termination and was notified of the pregnancy.

The objective of Law No. 30709 is to prohibit pay discrimination between men and women who have the same type of job. The law requires companies to keep charts detailing job categories, operations, and applicable payment. It recognizes that an employer must guarantee dignified work and a nondiscriminatory work environment. It also specifies that employers must guarantee protection against sexual harassment.

Law 31030, enacted in 2020, provides that at least 50% of each party’s candidates for election to Congress must be women. For presidential elections, a party’s list of candidates must also include at least one woman. The law further provides that gender parity must also be observed in the number of candidates each political organization presents.

The objective of Law 31155 is to establish mechanisms to prevent, eliminate and sanction the harassment of women in political life to ensure that they can fully and freely exercise their political rights and have the right to equal opportunities. The law provides that compliance with those mechanisms shall be monitored and that the three branches of the national government shall adopt appropriate policies to enforce them.

Legislative Decree No. 1410 ( the “Decree”) modifies Law No. 27942, Law No.

Law No. 11.108/2005 was enacted to amend existing Law No. 8.080/1990, which regulates the Unified Health System (“SUS”). It included a new chapter providing that pregnant woman shall have the right to an accompanying party to be present during all health services provided by the SUS in connection with labor, birth, and the immediate post-partum period.

A Lei Federal n. 11.108/2005 altera a Lei n. 8.080/1990, para garantir às parturientes o direito à presença de acompanhante durante o trabalho de parto, parto e pós-parto imediato, no âmbito do Sistema Único de Saúde - SUS.