In August 2025, Brazilian labour inspectors ruled that a JBS subsidiary was responsible for the allegedly slavery-like working conditions of ten employees of a contractor hired to load and unload cargo for a poultry unit. This would normally lead to the company being added to the Government's slave labour “dirty list”.

Instead, in September 2025, the Minister of Labour pulled the proceedings to conduct their own review of the case. Labour prosecutors challenged this decision before the federal labour courts. In December 2025, a judge ordered the Ministry of Labour to add the company to the list. According to Reuters, the ministry will appeal the decision.

In a statement to Reuters, JBS said it had terminated the contract with the contractor upon learning of the allegations and that it “has zero tolerance for labor and human rights violations”.