Job interviews in Brazil: what employers cannot ask

Employers may assess skills and experience, but cannot use discriminatory criteria in hiring. Law 9,029/1995 forbids requiring pregnancy or sterilization tests or certificates, and any practice limiting access to employment because of sex, origin, race, color, marital status, family situation, disability or age. Requesting a criminal record certificate is valid only when the law or the nature of the job justifies it.

Quick summary

• Forbidden: pregnancy tests, questions about plans to have children, marital status as a criterion, religion, sexual orientation and union membership.
• Criminal records: only for jobs where the law or the nature of the role requires it, such as security guards and caregivers.
• Experience: employers cannot require more than 6 months of experience in the same activity (CLT, art. 442-A).
• Pre-employment exam: assesses fitness for the job and cannot include discriminatory tests.
• Consequence: moral damages and, for pregnancy tests, a crime.

Questions that should raise a red flag

1. "Do you plan to get pregnant?" or "Who looks after your children?"
2. "What is your religion?" or "Are you married?"
3. "Have you ever sued a company?"
4. "Do you have any illness?" outside the occupational medical exam.

What to do

• Note the question, the date and the interviewer's name, and keep emails and messages.
• You may refuse to answer discriminatory questions.
• Report it to the Labor Prosecution Office (MPT) or the Ministry of Labor.
• If you were rejected for a discriminatory reason, you can sue for moral damages.

Frequently asked questions

Can an employer ask for a criminal record?

Only when required by law or justified by the nature of the job, such as access to weapons or caring for children and the elderly, according to the TST.

Is requiring a pregnancy test a crime?

Yes. Law 9,029/1995 provides for 1 to 2 years of detention and a fine for requiring a pregnancy test or certificate.

Can an employer require more than 6 months of experience?

Not in the same activity. CLT art. 442-A limits the requirement to 6 months.

Read more in this series

• Pre-employment and exit medical exams
• Discriminatory dismissal
• Unpaid trial day: is it allowed?
• Index: complete guide to labor rights

Topic: this guide is part of Harassment, discrimination and privacy at work, with all the guides on the subject.