Minister recognizes that there are workers penalized for being pregnant

“IT IS absolutely crucial to resist the temptation to turn off the policies of protection of parenthood and reconciliation [family] of policies to promote equality between men and women workers”, said Rosário Palma Ramalho, at the opening ceremony of the session “Equality Remuneratory: challenges, commitments and future”, promoted by ISCED, regarding the International Day of Equal Pay.

For the Minister for Labour, Solidarity and Social Security to dissociate these aspects, she said.

Also defending the PSD proposal that aims to extend parental leave, providing that it can reach 180 days paid to 100%, provided that the last 60 are shared in equal periods by parents, the ruler considered it a “false alternative” to increase support, to the detriment of encouraging the sharing of responsibilities between men and women.

“ But if sharing family responsibilities is a necessary condition for promoting equality between women and men at work, it is not, however, a sufficient condition,” said Palma Ramalho, stressing that to achieve this goal it is necessary to “go further.”.

In this sense, according to the Minister of Labour, it is also necessary to “continue to promote” and “deepen” the “remuneratory equality for equal work and equal value”.

The governor stressed that this is one of the aspects covered by the proposed law that the government is preparing to transpose the European directive on wage transparency, whose diploma will still have to be approved in the Council of Ministers and then sent to the Assembly of the Republic.

Nevertheless, Palma Ramalho warned that policies to promote wage transparency and equal pay “does not mean the end of differentiation by merit”, stating that the objective is that wage advancement policies are more transparent and arguing that “who works better should earn more” and have productivity premiums, as well as “progress faster”.

The Minister of Labour also said that the function of “is to promote a quality job”, on equal terms of access “and conditions of equal treatment for all members of our society” and acknowledged that there are still women who are not hired or fired because they are pregnant.

“ We know that today there are still women who are not hired or fired because they are pregnant or because they want to become pregnant,” she said, recognizing that women on parental leave are also in question whose contracts are not renewed.

On the other hand, Rosário Palma Ramalho also recalled a study by the Committee on Equal Opportunities at Work and Employment (ISCED) indicating that “applications for an opinion for dismissal or non-renewal of contracts for parental reasons concern 10 times more women than men“.

“ Thus, to fulfill its function properly, with respect for family autonomy, the State must seriously reflect on the incentives it wants to send, the messages it wants to send to civil society ", stressed, defending the sharing of responsibilities between parents.

ISCED received in 2025 more than 1,700 communications from companies that would not renew the fixed-term employment contract for pregnant women, mothers, infants or persons on parental leave, compared with 1,894 communications registered in 2024.