Brazil's National Council of Justice (CNJ) unanimously approved a resolution requiring a single, unified pay stub for all judges across the country [1].
This measure targets the practice of using multiple payment sheets to hide "penduricalhos" — extra bonuses and allowances that often push judicial salaries beyond the legal constitutional limit. By consolidating all earnings into one document, the CNJ intends to increase transparency and ensure public funds are not obscured through fragmented accounting.
The resolution was approved on May 26, 2026 [1]. According to the council, the move is designed to prevent hidden income from bypassing the salary ceiling established by law [2]. The decision received 100 percent support from the members during the voting process [3].
Under the new rules, every court in Brazil must adopt the unified pay stub system [1]. This change will apply to all levels of the judiciary, regardless of the specific court or region. The CNJ has established a 60-day deadline for courts to adapt their payroll systems to comply with the new transparency requirements [3].
Critics and transparency advocates have long pointed to the complexity of judicial payrolls as a way to maintain payouts that exceed the official cap. The unified document will make it easier for oversight bodies, and the public, to identify exactly how much a magistrate earns in total each month [2].
The CNJ said the objective is to ensure that no public money remains hidden in multiple sheets [4]. By forcing a single point of reporting, the council aims to eliminate the administrative loopholes that allowed these supplementary payments to persist without scrutiny.
“The CNJ approved by unanimity the adoption of a single pay stub for all judges in Brazil.”
This administrative shift represents a significant effort by the Brazilian judiciary to self-regulate and address long-standing public criticism regarding 'penduricalhos.' By eliminating fragmented pay stubs, the CNJ is removing the primary mechanism used to bypass the constitutional salary cap, potentially leading to a reduction in total judicial spending and increasing the accountability of the public payroll.
