The Janeiro Branco (“White January”) campaign highlights the growing need for companies to address mental health in the workplace.
In a recent publication, Brazil’s Superior Labor Court (TST) emphasized that psychological well-being is not merely an individual matter, but is directly connected to how work is organized, managed, and experienced on a daily basis.
This discussion has gained even greater relevance with the new wording of NR-1, a Brazilian Occupational Health and Safety regulation, which now expressly includes psychosocial risks within the scope of Occupational Risk Management (GRO).
As a result of this update, factors such as work-related stress, excessive workloads, harassment, interpersonal conflicts, and inadequate management models must be identified, assessed, and managed under the company’s Risk Management Program (PGR), with the implementation of preventive measures and a formal action plan.
One key point: companies have until May 2026 to fully adapt to the new NR-1 requirements, particularly those related to psychosocial risk factors.
The inclusion of psychosocial risks in NR-1 reinforces trends already observed in Brazilian labor courts, including: (i) an increase in disputes involving mental-health-related occupational illnesses; (ii) greater exposure to claims of structural workplace harassment; and (iii) the use of the PGR as a central piece of evidence in labor lawsuits and government enforcement proceedings.
We highlight 4 key points of attention for companies below:
1. Reviewing the PGR to expressly include psychosocial risks, with due attention to data protection and privacy;
2. Training leaders and managers, particularly to identify early signs of mental distress and to align management practices;
3. Implementing effective prevention structures, including whistleblower channels, active listening mechanisms, and proper conflict-resolution processes;
4. Producing documentation and records with a preventive and defensive compliance focus.
Mental health has moved beyond a mere awareness topic to become a core legal and organizational priority. The new NR-1 consolidates this shift and requires companies to adopt a technical, structured, and strategic approach to psychosocial risks. Janeiro Branco provides an important opportunity to revisit this topic, because, in labor law, what is not properly managed today often becomes tomorrow’s liability.
