A poultry farm that supplied a unit of Seara Alimentos—a JBS Group company—kept a worker in conditions analogous to slavery, according to Repórter Brasil. Labor inspectors reported that the farm owner exploited the worker’s vulnerable situation by offering employment in exchange for only food and lodging.
Ten workers were found in conditions analogous to slavery by labor inspectors at a JBS service provider in the town of Arvorezinha, in Rio Grande do Sul, according to the Labor Prosecutor’s Office (Ministério Público do Trabalho – MPT). The rescued workers were engaged in chicken picking—placing chickens into boxes and loading them onto trucks. According to the MPT, they were housed in precarious lodgings and had limited access to food.
According to a report by UOL, a workers’ union has accused JBS of subjecting dozens of Indigenous workers to “degrading conditions,” as described in a lawsuit filed against the company. Sindaves, a union based in Sidrolândia, Mato Grosso do Sul, filed the suit on behalf of 76 individuals—including members of the Terena Indigenous community—who worked as chicken pickers for a subcontracted company.
JBS admitted to purchasing 8,785 head of cattle from three ranches owned by Chaules Volban Pozzebon, following a complaint by Greenpeace Brasil, Repórter Brasil, and Unearthed. The rancher was arrested and initially sentenced to 99 years in prison for multiple crimes, including illegal logging, and is considered the country’s most prolific deforester. He was also convicted of using labor analogous to slavery on one of his properties. The purchases were registered as coming from another farm, also owned by Pozzebon, which had been cleared according to socio-environmental criteria.
Farms caught by the government using labor analogous to slavery supplied cattle to JBS, according to a report by Repórter Brasil. In one of them, according to the report, among the workers were nine Indigenous individuals from the Taunay/Ipegue Indigenous Land, inhabited by the Terena ethnic group, in the municipality of Aquidauana, Mato Grosso do Sul (MS). The properties sent the animals directly to JBS slaughterhouses, without any form of triangulation or “laundering” of origin.
According to Repórter Brasil, in Forquilhinha (in Santa Catarina state), a company outsourced by JBS for chicken picking activities, which involve placing chickens into boxes and loading them onto trucks, had nine chicken pickers rescued in 2025 due to conditions analogous to slavery. According to G1, in Vidal Ramos (in Santa Catarina state), an inspection by the Ministry of Labor rescued nine pickers from conditions analogous to slavery from a company outsourced by JBS. As a result of the case, the JBS unit in Vidal Ramos (Santa Catarina), JBS Aves LTDA, was added to the “dirty list” of labor analogous to slavery published on July 27, 2017, because the labor auditor considered that the company is responsible, since it controls the outsourced company's chicken picking routine.
JBS has bought cattle from farms caught using labor analogous to slavery and engaging in illegal deforestation, according to an investigation by Repórter Brasil and The Guardian. The report states that the company purchased cattle directly from a farm in the state of Pará that was under investigation for keeping workers in slave-like conditions, where the water employees drank came from the same river where the oxen defecated.
JBS joined the National Pact for the Eradication of Slave Labor (InPacto), a corporate initiative to strengthen actions against slave labor in Brazil. By joining the institute, the company said it reaffirmed “its commitment to sustainability and the development of a clean and responsible supply chain.” Despite this, subsequent reports and surveys by different organizations have revealed ongoing problems in this area.
Repórter Brasil revealed that a farm supplying JBS kept a worker in conditions analogous to slavery for ten years. According to a Federal Government inspection, the worker had no access to drinking water or any food on the property, located in Dourados (state of Mato Grosso do Sul). According to the report, the farmer carried a gun and would fire shots into the air as he moved around the area.
JBS employees faced recurring health problems due to the poor working conditions to which they were subjected, according to a study by Repórter Brasil. According to the study, based on data from the Brazilian federal government, 14% of the 1,850 employees at the company’s unit in Barretos (state of São Paulo) were permanently off work due to accidents and occupational illnesses. In the first half of 2011 alone, there were 496 requests for leave due to mental disorders and musculoskeletal problems.
