The National Minimum wage is 1,100 Brazilian reals.

The payroll cycle in Brazil is generally either bi-weekly or monthly and employees are paid on the 15th and 30th of each month.

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 instalments; one in November, which corresponds to the six months worked up to that date (with no INSS deduction from or withholding taxation due), and the second instalment in December (INSS contribution and withholding tax are applied to this second instalment.)

Standard working hours within Brazil are 44 hours per week, 8 hours per day.

The maximum weekly and daily working hours can differ as stipulated in employment contract /collective bargaining agreements.

All work more than 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.

Paid leave in Brazil is set in the employment contract as a minimum of 30 days paid holiday a year (following completion of 1-year service) in addition to public holidays.

The leave is calculated as a monthly salary plus an additional bonus of one-third of the monthly salary and must be 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.

There are 13 national holidays.  Other additional holidays may apply depending on the region.

All employees are entitled to paid sick leave and must provide a medical certificate within 48 hours of the first day of sickness.

The employer pays the sick pay for the first 15 days (at a rate of 100.00% of the usual salary rate), then by the Social Security (INSS) as a benefit payment to the employee. However, the benefit 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.

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. The employer can extend the maternity period to 180 days if enrolled in the government scheme (Empresea Cidada).

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 called “Empresa Cidadãs, provided some requirements established by the government program are observed.

There is no additional Parental leave in Brazil.

Employees are entitled to up to 5 consecutive days of paid leave for the bereavement of a family member.

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.

Employees are entitled to up to 3 consecutive days of paid leave after getting married.

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.

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 1-year service, the employer must provide 30 days’ notice. For employees with over one year of service, the employee 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.

In Brazil, severance pay is mandatory, but the amount differs based on the type of termination, i.e., termination by the employee, termination by mutual agreement, without cause, and with a cause in an indefinite term agreement and fixed-term agreement. According to the local laws in Brazil, there are also time limits for making severance payments within ten days of the employee’s last day at work.

It is common for employees to be paid one month for every completed year of service (with a percentage contribution from the Employers Severance Fund (FGTS)).

Probation periods in Brazil for permanent employees are 90 days

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 Labour 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 Labour and Employment).

The commonly used standard rate of VAT ( ICMS ( Imposto Sobre Circulação de Mercadorias e Serviços)) in Brazil is 17.00%; however, these do 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.