In Brazil, 289 employers flagged on slave labor list
The list of employers that hired workforce in conditions similar to slavery has incorporated 132 new names and excluded 17, including individuals and companies. A total of 289 names are involved in closed cases (no appeals ongoing), Brazil’s Ministry of Labor reported.
The inclusion of offenders caught had been planned since May 2016. The database must undergo an update every six months, with names remaining flagged for two years.
The cases added were reported from 2018 to 2022. Most took place in Minas Gerais state (35). Next come the states of Goiás (15), Piauí (13), and Pará (11).
The issue was detected in 19 of the 27 Brazilian states. Early this year, over a thousand workers were rescued from these conditions, Labor Minister Luiz Marinho noted.
What’s meant by slave-like working conditions?
Under Brazilian law, all types of forced activity—when workers are is prevented from leaving their workplace—carried out under degrading conditions or for an exhausting amount of hours come under “labor analogous to slavery.”
Exhausting is any workday that causes damage to the physical or mental health of workers, who have their will disregarded and dignity affected by the intensity or frequency of the activity, or fatigue.
Degrading conditions, in turn, are those in which the contempt for the person’s dignity is made clear by the violation of fundamental rights, especially regarding hygiene, health, safety, housing, food, and rest.
Another form of modern slavery recognized as such is debt bondage, which occurs when employees have their movements restricted by the employer, under the allegation that the former must settle a debt in cash.
