ADMINISTRATIVE MORALITY AS A LIMIT ON THE ARBITRATION OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL MINIMUM WAGE

Abstract

This study analyzes the possibility of reviewing administrative morality in the determination of the constitutional minimum wage, emphasizing the viability of the ação popular under Brazilian law as a mechanism for overseeing state wage policy. It examines whether fixing the minimum wage in disregard of the purpose established in Article 7, item IV, of the 1988 Brazilian Federal Constitution may violate the principles of legality and administrative morality, thus becoming subject to judicial review. The research is justified by persistent social inequalities, the central role of the minimum wage in promoting social justice, and the need to strengthen citizen oversight of state action. A qualitative, bibliographical, and exploratory methodology is adopted, based on the analysis of the Constitution, relevant legislation, legal scholarship, and judicial precedents concerning the existential minimum and the review of state action. The findings indicate that the determination of the minimum wage is not an exclusively economic or discretionary choice but one constrained by constitutional limits and by the duty to ensure dignified subsistence conditions for workers and their families. The study concludes that wage policy may, in theory, be reviewed in light of constitutional legality and administrative morality.