President Jair Bolsonaro sanctioned this Wednesday (21) the law that creates the Employs + Women Program, which was instituted through Provisional Measure 1,116/2022. The initiative provides for a series of measures to encourage the employability of women and includes, for example, flexible work arrangements, qualification in strategic areas to promote professional advancement, prevention of harassment and violence and access to microcredit. The text was approved by the National Congress at the end of August. 
The new law also establishes priority for the qualification of women victims of violence and the expansion of amounts available for loans to women entrepreneurs and informal workers in the Digital Microcredit Simplification Program for Entrepreneurs (SIM Digital).
The sanctioned text also includes in the legislation the rule of wage parity between men and women who perform the same function within the same company.
“The measure sought to make working hours more flexible for mothers and fathers who have children up to 6 years old or with disabilities, who can benefit with priority for part-time work, early vacations and granting flexible entry and exit times” , informed the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, in a note. In addition, the proposal determines that women receive the same salary as men who perform the same function in the company and, also, provides support for microcredit for women. the initiative supports the mother’s role in the early childhood of her children, and also qualifies women in strategic areas, with the aim of contributing to the professional advancement and return to work of women after the end of maternity leave”.
The law also establishes that employers who adopt the benefit of daycare reimbursement are exempt from the installation of an appropriate place for the custody and assistance of children of employees during the breastfeeding period, under the terms of current legislation. The maximum age for children to be entitled to daycare assistance was also extended to 5 years and 11 months.
The text of the new law also provides for the possibility of suspending the employment contract of the worker whose wife or partner has ended the period of maternity leave, by taking advantage of a training or recycling course. Thus, the proposal instituted a long-term leave to be shared by both parents.
