THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE QUOTA LAW IN THE INCLUSION OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IN THE BRAZILIAN FORMAL LABOR MARKET: CHALLENGES OF LOW EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AND HIRING BY SMALLER COMPANIES

Abstract

This study analyzes the effectiveness of the statutory employment quota for people with disabilities in the Brazilian formal labor market, emphasizing two factors that limit the reach of the policy: educational inequality and the participation of smaller companies. It is a bibliographic and documentary study with a qualitative approach, deductive method, and analysis of legislation, official statistics, and Labor Court decisions. The central legal framework is Article 93 of Law No. 8,213/1991, which requires companies with 100 or more employees to reserve 2% to 5% of their positions for people with disabilities or rehabilitated social-security beneficiaries. The data indicate that the quota has created a relevant pathway into formal employment: more than 93% of the employment relationships involving people with disabilities identified in eSocial in December 2025 were in companies legally subject to the quota. At the same time, aggregate compliance remains far from universal, and low educational attainment restricts access to formal occupations: in 2022, 63.3% of people with disabilities aged 25 or older had no schooling or had not completed primary education. The analysis also shows that excluding companies with fewer than 100 employees from the quantitative obligation narrows the policy’s direct reach, although these companies remain subject to duties of non-discrimination and accessibility. The study concludes that quota outcomes must be read together with education, vocational training, accessibility, job-placement policies, and measures capable of expanding inclusion in small businesses.