Brazil Employment Law

Duration of Annual Leave – Employee is entitled to 30 calendar days of annual leave, but only after they have completed 12 months of work for the employer. Vacations may be taken in 2 annual periods as long as none of them is less than 10 calendar days.  

Employees hired for less than 12 months will, at the opportunity, enjoy proportional vacations, starting then a new acquisitive period. 

The granting of annual leave will be communicated, in writing, to the employee, at least 30 days in advance.  Annual leave will be granted by act of the employer, in a single period, in the 12 months following the date on which the employee acquired the right. The time when annual leaves are granted will be the one that best suits the employer’s interests. Whenever annual leave are granted after the period referred, the employer will pay double the respective remuneration.

Collective Annual Leave – Annual leave may be granted to all employees of a company or certain establishments or sectors of the company. Annual leave may be taken in 2 annual periods as long as none of them is less than 10 calendar days.  

Entitlement of Annual Leave – Annual leave can be divided into up to three periods upon agreement between employer and employee. One of them may not be less than 14 calendar days and the others may not be less than 5 calendar days, each.

Members of a family, who work in the same establishment or company, will have the right to take vacations during the same period, if they so wish and if this does not result in harm to the service.

Pay in Lieu of Annual Leave – Employees have the right to convert one third (approximately 33%) of their paid vacation (normally up to 10 days) to pay in lieu of vacation

Holiday Pay – The holiday pay is based on employee’s monthly salary. Employers shall provide one third of an employee’s monthly salary as holiday bonus. Employees hired for less than 12 months will, at the opportunity, enjoy proportional vacations, starting then a new acquisitive period. Additional payments for overtime, night shift, unhealthy or dangerous work will be included in the salary that will serve as the basis for calculating vacation pay. 

Vacation Bonus – For each day’s holiday enjoyed by an employee, he or she should receive the standard payment for that day plus a vacation premium of 25% of the daily wage.

Employees are also entitled to a year end bonus, sometimes referred to as a “13th month salary” or “Christmas bonus,” in an amount equal to one month’s salary. The Christmas bonus is divided into two installments, the first payable between Feb. 1 and Nov. 30, the second before Dec. 20. Typically, half the bonus is paid in November, the other half in December.

Reduction of Annual Leave due to Unjustified Absence – The main condition that an employee must follow to have the right to 30 days’ vacation is to not have more than five unjustified absences in a year. If this happens, the vacation days are decreased as follows:

• • • 24 days, if the employee had from 6 to 14 unjustified absences
    • 18 days, if the employee had from 15 to 23 unjustified absences
    • 12 days, if the employee had from 24 to 32 unjustified absences
    • none, if the employee had more than 32 unjustified absences in a year

Termination of Employment – Upon termination of the employment contract, whatever the reason, the employee will be paid a single or double remuneration, as the case may be, corresponding to the vacation period to which he has acquired the right. The employee who is dismissed without just cause, or whose employment contract is terminated within a predetermined period, before completing 12 months of service, will be entitled to remuneration related to the incomplete period of vacation. 

Loss of Annual Leave – An employee will lose the right to annual leave if, during the vesting period, any of the following occurs – 

• • • the employee leaves the job and is not re-admitted within the 60 days following departure;
    • the employee goes on paid leave for more than 30 days;
    • the employee does not work due to a partial or complete shutdown of the services, but continues to be paid, for more than 30 days; or
    • the employee is in receipt of a sick leave benefit paid by the INSS (Brazilian social security) for more than 6 months.

In such cases, a new vesting period will start when the employee returns to work.

Accrual of Annual Leave – The annual leave must be taken within 12 months after it accrues. Employee who does not take their annual leave and accumulates two periods in a row, the employer would have to pay a double rate for the accumulated leave.

Conditions for Annual Leave – For the purposes of annual leave, the following are deemed to be justified absences:

• • • • days when employees are entitled not to work under Article 473 of the CLT (the Brazilian labour code) such as, for example, licence days for marriage, blood donation, to enrol for compulsory military service and to enrol to vote in elections;
      • maternity leave (in the case of birth, stillbirth or abortion);
      • during sick leave paid by the INSS (Brazilian social security), either by virtue of illness or work-related accident (save when the employee is on sick leave for more than 6 months);
      • leave which is authorized or permitted by the employer;
      • when there is no work and the employee continues to receive salary (save if this lasts for 30 days or longer); or
      • during the suspension of the employment agreement for the employee to respond to disciplinary proceedings or if the employee has been remanded in custody and has not been charged or is acquitted

Annual Leave coinciding with Public Holiday or Rest  Day – It is forbidden to start the vacation in the period of two days preceding a public holiday or paid weekly rest day.

Duration of Maternity Leave: A pregnant employee is entitled to 120 days of paid maternity leave. The mother is given the right to be absent from work starting 28 days before giving birth or leaving the hospital.

The duration of maternity leave before and after childbirth may be increased by 2 weeks upon presentation of a medical certificate.

Notification Requirement – An employee is required to inform their employer about the pregnancy and obtain proof of such examination along with the expected date of delivery of the child.

Miscarriage/ Stillbirths – Mothers who have suffered a miscarriage or have given birth to a stillborn fetus are also entitled to maternity leave, which is 14 days in the case of an abortion.

Maternity Leave for Adoption – An employee who adopts or obtains legal custody to adopt a child or adolescent will be granted paid maternity leave for a period of 120 days. 

Maternity leave will only be granted upon presentation of the judicial term of custody to the adopter or guardian. Adoption or joint legal custody will result in the granting of maternity leave to only one of the adopters or guardians employed. For adopting mothers, this period starts counting from the child’s arrival at home.

Transfer of Maternity Leave when Mother Dies – In the event of the mother’s death, the employee’s spouse or partner is entitled to leave for the entire period of maternity leave or for the remaining time to which the mother would be entitled, except in the case of the child’s death or abandonment. 

Pay – The payment is made by the employer to the pregnant employee and reimbursed by the National Social Security. An employer can grant an additional 60 days of paid maternity leave and recover that paid amount from tax benefits given by the federal government. 

Breastfeeding Break – To breastfeed the child, even if resulting from adoption, until the child reaches 6 months of age, the employee shall be entitled, during the working day, to 2  breaks of 30 minutes each.  Art 391-400 of the Consolidated Labor Code

Duration of Leave – A male employee is entitled to up to 5 working days of paid paternity leave for the birth of a child or adoption of a child. An employee is entitled to 5 days unpaid leave for employees with less than 1 year of service.

Eligibility Criteria – An employee shall be employed with the same employer for at least one year of continuous service.

Usage of the Leave – The leave must be taken within 14 weeks of the child’s birth. The employee can only be taken once in 12 months after birth.

Pay Benefits – An employee is entitled to full wages by their employer.

Additional Leave – An employer can grant an employee an additional 15 calendar days of paid paternity leave, although the benefit will only be valid for those who work in companies registered in the government program [Empresa Cidadã Program]  that grants tax discounts, to recover the paid amount from tax benefits.

Notice Requirement – An employee must apply in writing to the employer at least 4 weeks before the desired start date. The employer must submit a doctor’s certificate verifying pregnancy, due date, and paternity. Temporary Constitutional Provisions Act, art. 10.

Duration of Sick Leave: An employee has the right to paid time off in the event of illness or injury, provided that they give a medical certificate stating the number of days that they must be absent from work.

Pay – The first 15 days of time off are paid by the employer, at the usual salary rate. After the first 15 days are over and further days off are paid through fixed rates by the National Institute of Social Security (INSS) (a governmental institution). There is no entitlement to unpaid time since, in all cases of illness and injury, employees are entitled to paid time off. Art 129-138 Law no. 1,535.

An employment agreement may be suspended for a period of two to five months for training program purposes, as long as the training suspension is provided for in the applicable collective bargaining agreement, and the employee expressly consents to it. During the period, the employee is not paid; however, the employer may provide the employee with financial aid.

The employee may take paid leave of absence for the below reason: 

• Employees are entitled to 3 consecutive days of paid leave for marriage. 
• The employee is entitled to 2 consecutive days of paid bereavement leave if a spouse, parent, child, sibling or other dependent dies.
• 5 consecutive days, in the case of the birth of a child, adoption or shared custody
• 1 day, in case of birth of a child during the first week of employment
• 1 day, every 12 (twelve) months of work, in case of duly proven voluntary blood donation;
• Up to 2 consecutive days or not, to register voters
• The period in which the employee has to comply with the requirements of the Military Service 
• On the days in which they are carrying out entrance exams for admission to a higher education institution
• For as long as necessary, when he has to appear in court for court or jury duty.
• For as long as is necessary, when, as a representative of a trade union entity, he is participating in an official meeting of an international organization of which Brazil is a member. 
• For the time required to accompany your wife or partner in up to 6 medical consultations, or complementary examinations during the pregnancy period;
• 1 day per year to accompany a child up to 6 years old for a medical appointment.    
• Up to 3 days, in every 12 months of work, in case of duly proven cancer-preventive exams. 

Art 473 of the Consolidated Labor Code.