Brazil's Fiesp Secures Court Injunction Halting Enforcement of Mental‑Health Workplace Sanctions

The Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp) obtained a provisional injunction from Judge Cristiane Farias Rodrigues dos Santos of the 9th Federal Civil Court in São Paulo. The decision blocks the Ministry of Labor and Employment from applying penalties to companies that fail to comply with the new requirements of Regulatory Norm 1 (NR‑1), which now mandates monitoring of psychosocial risks such as excessive workload, long hours, and moral or sexual harassment.

The ruling shields roughly 130 000 firms and 131 affiliated employer unions in São Paulo from sanctions related to the mental‑health provisions introduced by a Ministry decree on 26 May 2024. Fiesp argues that the inclusion of psychosocial risk management exceeds the executive’s authority and lacked a required regulatory impact analysis. The injunction is provisional and may be reviewed by higher courts.