Employment contract
The CLT identifies employment from real personal, continuing, paid and directed service. Before work, lock the employer, role/CBO, site, start, term, pay and components, hours, rest, benefits, collective instrument, remote/hybrid terms, confidentiality/IP, data and safety, then create the CTPS Digital record through eSocial. Oral, PJ, invoice, consultant or remote labels cannot override actual subordination; collective and state/municipal rules remain role- and site-specific.
Probation
A probationary experience contract is fixed-term and may not exceed 90 days in total. Renewal, chaining or work continuing beyond the term can alter its fixed-term status. Minimum/collective pay, hours, overtime, FGTS, INSS, 13th salary, proportional vacation and safety duties continue; 90 days is not an unpaid, unregistered or settlement-free exit window.
Hours, rest & overtime
The ordinary private-sector baseline is eight hours/day and 44/week; shift, 12×36, banking, night, hazardous and field/remote exceptions follow the CLT and applicable collective instrument. Overtime is generally limited to two hours/day with at least a 50% premium; Sunday, holiday, night, rest and time-bank treatment are separate. Keep reliable time records, and do not automatically exclude hours rights merely by title or remote work.
Minimum wage by region
From 1 January 2026 the national minimum is R$1,621/month, R$54.04/day and R$7.37/hour. The real floor is the higher applicable national, state, occupational statutory or collective-agreement amount. Do not substitute the national monthly value for a São Paulo, Rio or occupation-specific floor, or confuse immigration investment, the INSS ceiling or market averages with minimum pay.
Salary & talent supply
Benchmark offers with IBGE PNAD, Novo CAGED/SINE and dated vacancy/candidate data by city, CBO, sector, seniority, fixed pay, bonus, benefits, shift and collective floor. The national minimum, eSocial-reported pay or one platform average is not a market median; retain period, definition, percentile, sample gaps and approval.
Payroll, payslip & payment
Send eSocial S-2200 before service starts, using S-2190 only when complete data is unavailable and completing it under the current manual. Keep eSocial/CTPS Digital, payroll and itemised receipt identity, contract and pay aligned. Monthly salary is generally due by the fifth business day of the following month; each payroll separately handles ordinary pay, overtime, night/hazard/insalubrity premiums, vacation, 13th salary, INSS, IRRF, FGTS, loans and lawful deductions. An accountant or payment provider does not transfer employer responsibility.
PIT withholding & social insurance
For 2026 employee INSS is progressive at 7.5%/9%/12%/14% across monthly contribution bands up to R$8,475.55, with 13th salary assessed separately. Employer layers can include 20% social security, 1%–3% RAT adjusted by FAP, third-system contributions, 8% FGTS, IRRF and sector/payroll tax treatment, with Simples, exemptions and worker categories handled separately. A fixed “28%” or employee deduction alone is not total employer cost.
Employer-cost calculator scope
The Brazil calculator is a baseline budget only. Model salary, state/collective floor, INSS/RAT/FAP/third-system layers, FGTS, 13th salary, 30-day vacation plus one third, overtime/night/hazard/insalubrity premiums, transport, benefits, absence, termination and tax regime separately. No single on-cost rate is eSocial, DCTFWeb, FGTS Digital, DARF, an offer or compliance advice; preserve location, risk-class, tax-regime and collective-instrument scenarios.
Annual leave
Employees generally earn up to 30 paid vacation days after each 12-month accrual period, subject to lawful absence reductions. The employer grants them in the next 12 months with at least 30 days’ notice. Vacation pay plus the constitutional one-third premium is generally due two days before leave; leave may be split into up to three periods under statutory conditions, or up to one third converted to cash on a timely employee request. Routine cash-out cannot replace leave; termination applies proportional/overdue rules.
Public holidays & overtime
Build holiday calendars from the actual worksite and applicable national, state, municipal, religious and collective rules. A 2026 federal-administration ponto facultativo does not automatically become paid leave for every private employee. Uncompensated work on a statutory holiday is generally paid double, but shifts, 12×36, substitute rest, Sundays and collective rules can change treatment. Retain schedule, authority, actual work and compensation rather than treating every Carnival or government closure as a private statutory holiday.
Family & medical leave
Ordinary maternity leave/salário-maternidade is 120 days; an eligible Empresa Cidadã employer may add 60, while ordinary paternity leave is at least five days and can add 15 under that programme. A 2025 law conditionally allows the 120-day period to run after hospital discharge where delivery complications hospitalise mother or newborn for over two weeks. Separate the employer’s first 15 sickness days from later INSS incapacity benefit, accident leave, adoption, breastfeeding, pregnancy-to-five-month-post-birth job stability, evidence and any top-up.
Statutory & market benefits
Pay, 13th salary, 30-day vacation plus one third, FGTS/INSS, weekly rest, statutory holidays, hours and occupational safety are not optional benefits. Vale-transporte is mandatory where applicable with separate deduction/non-wage rules; meal benefits are generally voluntary but can become compulsory under a collective instrument, contract or policy, with PAT tax treatment separate. Night, 30% hazard and 10%/20%/40% insalubrity premiums apply only when their legal facts exist; medical, dental, life, PLR and bonuses need separate eligibility, tax/social and non-discrimination treatment.
Termination & disputes
First distinguish cause, dismissal without cause, resignation, agreement, fixed-term expiry, constructive dismissal, collective redundancy and death. A dismissal without cause commonly involves notice, unpaid pay, proportional 13th/vacation plus one third, FGTS withdrawal and 40% compensation; an agreed exit uses different rules including generally 20% FGTS compensation. Complete payment deadlines, eSocial termination, FGTS Digital, unemployment documents, union/collective procedure, job stability, immigration and asset/data steps case by case. “40% FGTS” is neither total separation cost nor permission for arbitrary dismissal.
Contractor classification
CLT status turns on facts including a natural person, personal service, continuity, pay and subordination. A genuine autonomous provider may work continuously or exclusively, but control, substitution, business risk, tools, pricing, integration and multi-client evidence must align. PJ/MEI, invoice, app, outsourcing or “partner” labels do not validate fraud. Misclassification can create wage, hours, vacation, 13th salary, FGTS, INSS, tax, penalty and joint/subsidiary liabilities.
Foreign workers
Before work, match the A2 VITEM/residence, PF/CRNM and actual work authorization and register eSocial under equal labour, pay, social-security and safety rules. The CLT generally requires covered businesses to maintain at least two thirds Brazilian employees by both headcount and payroll, subject to statutory equivalents such as certain long-term residents/Portuguese nationals and scarcity exceptions. A company, CNPJ, offer, share/director title or SCE-IED does not create personal work rights; role, employer and exit changes align MigranteWeb/PF status.
Recruiting channels
Use SINE/Emprega Brasil, schools, professional networks and role-specific channels, measuring qualified rate, time-to-fill, acceptance, cost and 90/180-day retention. Advertising, screening, background/credit, health, AI, interviews and pay must not distinguish sex, race, age, family status, disability, origin or nationality without job necessity, and pregnancy/sterilisation evidence must not be required. Placement, apprentice/disability quotas, foreign recruitment and data processing need separate licence/record checks; do not claim an unsupported “best platform.”
Retirement age
The ordinary RGPS age-retirement baseline is generally 62 for women and 65 for men with required contributions, with transition, rural, teacher, disability and special-exposure routes separate. Obtaining a pension normally does not automatically end employment. The legacy employer-requested age-retirement provision, age discrimination, capability, stability, collective terms and genuine exit reason require case-specific advice; never set “automatic dismissal at 62/65.”
Employment compliance calendar
At hire verify role/CBO, status, work permission, floor/collective instrument, safety and S-2200/S-2190. Keep daily/weekly time, rest and overtime evidence; each payroll validates pay, INSS/IRRF, FGTS, benefits and receipt. Monthly close eSocial, DCTFWeb, DARF and FGTS Digital; pay vacation plus one third before leave, first 13th instalment by 30 November and balance by 20 December. Annually update minimum pay, INSS ceiling, FAP, holidays, collective terms, SST and policies. Every exit completes notice, settlement, eSocial/FGTS, unemployment, immigration, assets and data with an owner, evidence, deadline and escalation for each control.