A multidisciplinary project called “The Private Sector and Human Rights: Equity Obligations and Regulations and the Future of Work,” carried out by Fundação Getulio Vargas’ Sao Paulo Law School, recently produced a series of recommendations on diversity promotion policies. The goal was to help the Superior Council of the Sao Paulo State Public Defender’s Office revise its affirmative action policy. The project’s findings were published at the end of May in Superior Council Deliberation 400.

The deliberation states that the Public Defender’s Office ought to reserve 30% of its long-term job and internship vacancies in recruitment contests for black and indigenous people, 5% for disabled people and 2% for trans people. The institution also plans to implement affirmative action measures for temporary employees and workers on continuous service contracts.

The project, coordinated by Alessandra Benedito and Thiago Amparo, both professors at the Sao Paulo Law School, is part of the “Racial Equity and Law” research area at the school’s Center for Racial Justice and Law. The University of Sao Paulo School of Economics was also a partner, through an initiative coordinated by Professor Laura Carvalho. The project also involved the Public Defender’s Office, represented by public defender Samuel Friedman, who spoke with students about diversity policies, which are fundamental to the success of this initiative.

The work began in 2022, in response to questions posed by professors about human rights obligations and demands for equity in the job market. The initiative involved students Ana Beatriz Sampaio Magalhães, Brenno Renno Calisto, Guilherme Eufrasio Pinheiro, Lucas Pereira, João Tess Portugal, Marina Silva Ferreira, Sofia Almeida de Barros and Thales Solis Farha.

In addition to this project with the Public Defender’s Office, these students worked on another project that focused on human rights in the private sector, which looked at subjects such as education, the job market and gig economy, environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles and greenwashing, religious diversity, religious days of rest and ESG in the private sector.

To find out more about this and other projects carried out by the school, click here.