The Hardest Market · Brazil
Brazil's HR data
The rules and costs of employing people in Brazil (São Paulo), from official sources, in English and Japanese.
Employment rules
| Statutory annual leave | 30 calendar days + one-third vacation bonus |
|---|---|
| Public holidays (2026) | 13 days |
| Notice of dismissal | 30 days + 3 per year of service, max 90 |
| Severance required by law | No lump sum; 40% FGTS fine on dismissal without cause |
| Typical negotiated exit | No official benchmark |
| Probation | Max 90 days (contrato de experiência) |
| Working hours | 8/day, 44/week; OT max 2 h/day at +50% |
| How hard is dismissal? | Easy: without cause allowed, at a cost |
Employer contributions
| Employer INSS social security | 20% |
|---|---|
| Workplace accident insurance (RAT/SAT) | 1% |
| Third-party contributions (Sistema S, salário-educação, INCRA) | 5.8% |
| FGTS severance fund deposit | 8% |
Employee contributions
| INSS social security (7.5% band) | 7.5% |
|---|---|
| INSS social security (9% band) | 9% |
| INSS social security (12% band) | 12% |
| INSS social security (14% band) | 14% |
Take-home pay and employer cost by monthly salary
| Monthly salary | Employee contributions | Income tax | Take-home | Employer cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R$6,000 | R$642 | R$385 | R$4,973 | R$8,088 |
| R$10,000 | R$988 | R$1,570 | R$7,442 | R$13,480 |
| R$18,000 | R$988 | R$3,770 | R$13,242 | R$24,264 |
| R$30,000 | R$988 | R$7,070 | R$21,942 | R$40,440 |
A single employee in São Paulo city, no dependants, Brazilian national and tax resident, CLT employment contract, salary paid evenly as 12 monthly payments with no bonus and no PLR. The 13th salary (décimo terceiro) and the one-third vacation bonus (terço de férias) are mandatory in Brazil but are not modelled here, so annual pay and take-home are understated by roughly 1.33 months' salary relative to a CLT employee's real annual compensation. Employee INSS on the progressive 2026 table up to the contribution ceiling (R$8,475.55 a month). Income tax is the monthly withholding (IRRF) for calendar year 2026, annualised: the progressive monthly table less INSS, with the new reduction under Lei 15.270/2025 (no tax up to R$5,000 a month, phased out linearly to R$7,350). Employer side assumes an ordinary company outside Simples Nacional and payroll relief schemes: INSS 20%, RAT 1% (FAP 1.0), third-party contributions 5.8% and FGTS 8%.
Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Checked 2026-11-07; 2026 rates.