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Currency
R$ (BRL)
Working Hours
44/Week
Brazil is the largest country in South America and is borders on the east by the Atlantic Ocean. It is the world’s third largest economy and has the largest consumer market in South America. Competitive industries, such as manufacturing, agricultural production, mining, and energy, fuel its economic growth. Brazil has a labor force of around 108 million people.
A written employment contract in Brazil is recommended and should include:
name of the employer and employee,
specific duties to be performed,
salary, method of payment and payment intervals,
leave entitlements, and
start date and end date (if for a fixed term).
Standard working hours within Brazil are 44 hours per week, 8 hours per day. This is typically spread over 5 working days, from Monday to Friday.
The maximum weekly and daily working hours can differ as stipulated in employment contract/collective bargaining agreements.
Overtime
All work that exceeds the standard 44 hours a week is to be paid as overtime and is regulated by the employment contract/collective agreements, etc. In general, overtime maximum limits are set at 2 hours per day and paid at 150.00% of the standard salary rate.
Work on a holiday is paid at the rate of up to 200.00% of the regular pay. Working at night (between 10:00 PM and 5:00 AM) is compensated at a rate of at least 120%, each hour of night work is considered to last for 52.5 minutes. Managers are not entitled to overtime pay.
Remote Work
The Brazilian Government passed the working hours legislation applicable to remote workers including those remote workers on a hybrid set up, regular, permanent, or casual basis. This requires employers to implement an electronic timekeeping system (after approval by their relevant union) for employees working remotely.
Legislation and Collective Bargaining Agreements must also apply be applied to remote employees working outside of their employer’s jurisdiction (except if otherwise agreed by the parties).
Employers are not responsible for reimbursing expenses that a remote employee may incur to return to in-person work, when such teleworker chose to work in a location other than the one provided in their written teleworking agreement.
Employers are required to give priority to employees with disabilities and those with small children when allocating positions that can be performed remotely.
The teleworking regime should be expressly stipulated in the individual employment contracts. The teleworking regime applies to interns and apprentices on the same basis as regular employees, when expressly stipulated in their internship contract, and expressly agreed upon by the intern and the grantor and the educational institution.
Food allowances and vouchers paid by the employer to the remote employees must be only used for food purchases in restaurants or other commercial establishments.
Maternity Leave
All female employees are eligible for maternity benefits, including when adopting a child. The maternity benefit will be paid to the employee for 120 days and is paid by INSS, the Brazilian social security agency, generally, it will go to the employer who will then pay this benefit directly to the employee. During the maternity leave, the employer will continue to pay social contributions on behalf of the employee. Additionally, during maternity leave, the employee continue to accrue annual leave and is entitled to 13 salary.
The employer can extend the maternity period to 180 days if enrolled in the government scheme (Empresea Cidada).
Paternity Leave
The father is entitled to mandatory paid paternity leave of 5 days, which the employer can extend to 20 days if enrolled in the government program (Empresea Cidada) which provides some requirements established by the government program.
Parental Leave
There is no additional parental leave in Brazil.
Bereavement Leave: Employees are entitled to up to 5 consecutive days of paid leave for the bereavement of a family member.
Care Leave: Employees are also entitled to 30 days of paid leave per year to provide urgent and essential care to a family member younger than 12 years of age and 15 days for an older family member.
Marriage Leave: Employees are entitled to up to three consecutive days of paid leave after getting married.
Brazil has a universal healthcare system, but employers often offer their employees supplementary private health insurance.
Employer Employer Payroll Contributions
20.00% to 26.80% - Social Security (INSS), applied on income up to
2.00% - Work Accident Insurance (RAT/FAT)
8.00% - Employees Severance Indemnity Fund (FGTS)
5.8% - Terceiros (3rd party institution) applied on income up to 338,880 BRL annually.
2.78% - Vacation bonus
36.58 – 41.08% - Total Employment Cost
Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) - The majority of companies are subject to a CBA which require additional benefits to be given to workers including those listed below
20-50 BRL per working day - Meal Vouchers
130 BRL per month - Grocery Vouchers (mandatory in some CBAs and for lower income)
~ 350 BRL per month - Transportation vouchers (sum will vary according to transportation distance)
Employee Employee Payroll Contributions
7.50% - Up to 1,412.00 BRL Social Security contribution
9.00% - 1,412.01 BRL to 2,666.68 BRL Social Security contribution
12.00% - 2,666.68 BRL to 4,000.03 BRL Social Security contribution
14.00% - 4,000.04 to 7,786.02 BRL Social Security contribution
7.50% – 14.00% - Total Employee Cost
Employee Income Tax
0.00% - Up to 25,344 BRL annually
7.50% - 25,344 – 33,919.8 BRL annually
15.00% - 33,919.8 to 45,012.60 BRL annually
22.50% - 45,012.60 to 55,980 BRL annually
27.50% - 55,980 and above annually
25% - Flat rate for Non-residents, taxed exclusively at source on their Brazilian-sourced income.
Payroll Cycle
Payroll payment must be made in the local currency within the first five business days of the month. Intervals exceeding one month between successive payment dates are not allowed. The payment cycle in Brazil is generally bi-weekly or monthly, and employees are paid on the 15th and 30th of each month. the monthly cycle is more common.
13th Salary
In Brazil, a mandatory 13th-month salary payment is paid to the employees at the end of the year.
Employees who have worked for 12 months are entitled to receive the full payment, while those who have worked for part of the year will receive a payment proportional to the period worked.
The 13-month payment is made in two installments; one in November, which corresponds to the six months worked up to that date (with no INSS deduction from or withholding taxation due), and one in December (INSS contribution and withholding tax are applied to this second installment.)
Authority Payments
Authority Payment Paid To Due Date
Income Tax (IRRF) - IRRF - 20th of the following month
Social Security (INSS) - INSS - 20th of the following month
Guarentee Fund (FGTS) - FGTS - 7th of the following month
The commonly used standard rate of VAT Imposto Sobre Circulação de Mercadorias e Serviços (ICMS) in Brazil is 17.00%; however, these differ slightly regionally.
The ICMS rate of 17.00% applies to the following states: Acre, Alagoas, Ceará, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Pará, Piauí, Rondônia, Roraima and Santa Catarina.
The ICMS rate of 18.00% applies to the following states: Amazonas, Amapá, Bahia, Distrito Federal, Maranhão, Minas Gerais, Paraíba, Paraná, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, São Paulo, Sergipe and Tocantins.
The ICMS rate of 19.00% applies in Rio de Janeiro.
The national minimum wage is 1,412 Brazilian reals monthly.
Common Benefits
Phone allowance – 50 to 100 USD per month
Home office allowance – 70 to 120 USD per month
Gas/auto allowance – typically 7% of the monthly salary depending on Collective Agreement terms.
Gym & Wellness allowance – 100-200 USD per month
Profit sharing is a common practice in large companies in Brazil
All employees are entitled to paid sick leave and must provide a medical certificate within 48 hours of the first day of sickness.
The first 15 days of sick leave are paid by the employer (at a rate of 100.00% of the usual salary rate), and then the leave is paid by Social Security (INSS). However, the INSS rate does not correspond to the actual salary; it is a specific INSS-based calculation based on contributions made and capped at approximately 6,100.00 BRL. During the employee’s sick leave, the employer is still required to pay social security contribution.
Paid vacation in Brazil is set in the employment contract as a minimum of 30 calendar days paid holiday per year (following completion of one year of service) in addition to public holidays.
The leave is paid based on a calculation of one monthly salary plus a bonus of one-third of the monthly salary, paid two business days before the start date of the leave.
The Labor Reform allows the split of the paid leave period, where the employee can take the leave in up to three periods, one of which cannot be less than 14 days and the others cannot be less than five days each.
In Brazil, local holidays are observed in addition to the national holidays listed below. These local holidays are optional for employers to grant as time off for their employees. Furthermore, employers have the discretion to designate these holidays as paid or unpaid leave. Public holidays falling on weekends are usually lost.
Date Day Holiday Notes
1 Jan 2024 - Monday - New year
12 Feb 2024 - Monday - Carnival - Non Mandatory but common practice to give as a day off.
13 Feb 2024 - Tuesday - Carnival - Non Mandatory but common practice to give as a day off.
14 Feb 2024 - Wednesday - Ash Wednesday - Non Mandatory but common practice to give as a half day off in the morning.
29 Mar 2024 - Friday - Good Friday
21 Apr 2024 - Sunday - Tiradentes day
1 May 2024 - Wednesday - Labor Day
30 May 2024 - Thursday - Corpus Christi - Optional holiday (ponto facultativos)
7 Sep 2024 - Saturday - Independence day
12 Oct 2024 - Saturday - Festividad de la Virgen Aparecida
2 Nov 2022 - Saturday - All Saints
15 Nov 2024 - Friday - Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic
25 Dec 2024 - Wednesday - Christmas
The termination process is standard in Brazil, with notice periods required unless an employer can provide sufficient cause for dismissal without notice (due to misconduct, disobedience, etc.). Lack of notice of termination must be in writing and sent to the relevant governmental authorities.
Notice Period
In general, notice periods in Brazil are stipulated within the employment contract/collective agreement and are linked to the reason for termination and the employee’s length of service. For employees with one year of service, the employer must provide 30 days’ notice. For employees with over one year of service, the employer must provide 30 days’ notice plus three additional days for each year of service (maximum of 60 additional days).
Employee termination must require the employee to give 30 days’ notice.
Should the termination be with mutual consent, the required notice period may be halved.
Severance Pay
In case of termination without cause, the employee is entitled to severance, amounting to the equivalent of 40 percent of the balance in the employee’s Unemployment Guarantee Fund (Fundo de Garantia por Tempo de Serviço or FGTS), accrued during the employment relationship.
Additional payments will be due, such as one month’s salary if the termination takes place in the 30 days before the expected date of the collective bargaining agreement for the following period; payout of accrued vacation plus 1/3 vacation bonus; pro-rated 13 months’ pay; and other payments required by the applicable collective bargaining agreement or contract. In case of termination with cause, accrued unused vacation plus vacation bonus and other payments required by the applicable collective bargaining agreement or contract are still required, but there will be no FGTS payout or an additional one month’s salary. In case of termination by mutual agreement, the company must pay half of the notice and 20 percent of the FGTS balance, as opposed to 40 percent when the termination is on the company’s initiative. The employee will be allowed to withdraw 80 percent of the balance of the FGTS fund, as opposed to 100 percent when the termination is on the company’s initiative, but they are not entitled to unemployment benefits in this type of termination.
Probation Period
The probation period in Brazil for indefinite employees is set to 45 days with the ability to extend to 90 days. Employers can terminate employment at the end ofthe probationary period and must pay final compensation, including unused vacation pay and proportional 13th-month salary. The details of the probation period should be documented in the employment contract.
Any foreigners coming to work in Brazil will need a residence permit (either temporary or permanent) and a work visa (Autorizaçao de Trabalho). The prospective employer in Brazil must apply for a work permit at the Brazilian Ministry of Labor and Employment (Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego) by submitting the work contract and a set of other required documentation. Once the approval of the application is received, the application for a work permit must be made to the Brazilian embassy or consulate in the future employee’s home country.
For both the Brazilian residence and work permits, the type of work visa required depends on the type of work activity involved in the role in Brazil. Different jobs and qualifications will require different work visas, both temporary and permanent visas.
The most applied-for visas are:
Temporary work visa (Visto Temporario V) initially issued for two years (although a second two-year extension may be possible). After completing four years with the same company, should the employer wish, they may support the employee with applying for a permanent work visa.
Permanent work visa (Visto Permanente) issued to foreigners who are entitled to permanent residence in Brazil. Usually, this applies to professional researchers or scientists (for activities exceeding two years), investors (provided the investment sum exceeds the reported required amount by the Brazilian Ministry of Labor and Employment).
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Local Laws & Regulations
We understand that local laws and regulations change and sourcing an accurate reference guide is not easy. Our data is researched and verified by our team of local international Employment Attorneys, HR and Benefit Professionals and Tax Accountants through our Atlas team and consultants, to ensure information up-to-date and accurate.
Our team of regional experts are here to support you with your global expansion plans. If you have any questions, contact us and we will be delighted to help.
