Brazil

Language:

Scores (out of 10)

Impacts

Fair pay:

1.1: 99 made a public statement assuring that no worker earns less than minimum wage after costs, and that they are continually reviewing workers’ earnings to guarantee that all workers will continue to earn above the minimum wage during their active working hours and after subtracting work-related costs.

Fair conditions:

2.1: 99 has updated its policies regarding worker safety on its website, making information about all safety resources such as safety cameras and emergency buttons, easily accessible to drivers and customers. The platform has also made information about the accident insurance it offers for drivers available on their website. In addition, 99 communicated these resources to all drivers through the app.

2.1: iFood aims to further expand its support and rest point initiative to major cities in Brazil still in 2022.

Fair contracts:

3.1: iFood created accessible and illustrated terms and conditions. The platform also reviewed the content of its terms and conditions to clarify that all changes are subject to a 30-day notice to workers.

Fair management:

4.1: 99, this year, will implement a new policy on deactivation aiming to enhance transparency for workers.

Fair representation:

5.1: iFood created a “Riders’ Forum” to initiate collective dialogue with delivery worker organisers and activists.

Fairwork Brazil

The second Fairwork Brazil report continues to analyze how the country’s main digital labor platforms relate to decent work principles, in a context of growing disputes and struggles over the regulation of platform labor.

In Brazil, the increasing platformization of labor has been among the main topics of public debate, central to discussions between policymakers, governments, workers and companies. This report evaluates 10 platforms from varied sectors, and shows that there is still much to do in terms of decent work in the country, with many workers continuing to face unfair working conditions and a lack of social protections.

Still, there have been some improvements on some platforms, especially in terms of fair pay and fair management, compared to the Fairwork Brazil report published in 2022. However, no platform scored on the principles of fair conditions and fair representation – which is an additional warning sign for the platform economy in the country. In addition, some platforms that scored in the previous report did not score in this one.

The Fairwork project remains open to social dialogue with all parties interested in ensuring decent work in the platform economy in Brazil.

Poll: Consumers in Brazil demand better working conditions for platform workers

New survey found 7 out of 10 São Paulo citizens would stop using delivery and transport apps that fail to offer decent pay and working conditions for workers.

A poll by Locomotiva released today has found that 93% of people in São Paulo believe that platform workers deserve better protections and pay.

Featured Publications

In a chapter in the edited volume Humanistic Management in the Gig Economy, published by Palgrave Macmillan, Fairwork Brazil researchers present and discuss the results of the second round of the Fairwork scorings, carried out in Brazil during the years 2022 and 2023.

“With the advance of technology and the computerization of services, digital platforms have gained immense ground. Many of them achieve huge profits. On the other hand, the search for maximizing profits comes along with the overexploitation of labor. We have seen, for example, the situation of young delivery boys in Brazil who, throughout the pandemic, have worked without any rights. Fairwork helps us to uncover these realities and thus think about policies to protect the working class.”

Ivan Valente
Federal Deputy for the state of São Paulo

“The Microelectronics Technological Revolution has profoundly altered the ways of organizing and providing work since the end of the last century. With the internet and the enormous advances in computing, “platform capitalism” has emerged. This new productive paradigm is established, but the workers engaged in these activities do not have practically any social and/or labor protection. But this does not mean that regulation of this new employment contract should not be established with legal parameters based on the concept of fair work. Thus, the Fairwork project has a lot to contribute.”

Henrique Fontana
Federal Deputy for the state of Rio Grande do Sul

“The Fairwork project assesses working conditions on digital platforms against five principles of fair work: fair pay, fair conditions, fair contracts, fair management and fair representation. MPT supports these principles and encourages everyone to use the Fairwork ratings as a selection criterion when using digital labour platforms.

With this commitment, we also want to encourage other organisations to join us and Fairwork in our efforts to create a fairer future of work in the platform economy.”

José de Lima Ramos Pereira
General Labour Prosecutor, Brazil Labour Prosecutions Office (MPT)