Employer of Record Brazil
Employer of Record Brazil lets you take on a CLT employee without opening a CNPJ. As employer of record, EOR Brazil holds the legal employment: it signs the contract, registers the hire on eSocial, runs payroll with IRRF withheld, and pays INSS and FGTS every month. You receive one invoice.
Talk it overInside the portal
Follow every CLT hire from offer letter to first payslip
Our specialists in Brazilian employment do the payroll work; the portal shows you where each hire stands, what each month will cost and which documents are already on file.
- Watch onboarding move from signed contract to the eSocial S-2200 admission record
- Approve each month’s payroll figures before payday
- Log pay rises, férias dates and changes to hours as they happen
- Keep payslips, contracts and FGTS statements together for inspection
Our model in steps
We hold the CLT contract for you
We employ your hire as employer of record, acting as the legal employer under the Consolidação das Leis do Trabalho (CLT). One local rule shapes every budget: a year’s pay is 13⅓ salaries, since twelve monthly payments are topped up by the 13º salário and by 1/3 de férias, a bonus worth a third of a month.
The paperwork runs through eSocial: the S-2200 admission before day one, the monthly S-1200 and S-1299 closing, contributions paid through DCTFWeb and FGTS Digital by the 20th. When someone leaves, the S-2299 event, the verbas rescisórias within 10 days and any 40% FGTS fine are prepared too.
Payroll budgeting
How far above salary do Brazilian payroll charges go?
The rates below apply from 1 January 2026 and were checked on 25 September 2026 against Receita Federal and Previdência Social sources.
Employer charges, ~35.8%
For a company taxed on lucro real or lucro presumido, charges are paid on every payment, including the 13º and 1/3 de férias. INSS patronal is 20% with no ceiling (Lei 8.212/1991). RAT, the work-accident contribution, is 1%, 2% or 3% by the risk of the main activity, then adjusted by a company-specific FAP factor. Terceiros (salário-educação and Sistema S) add 5.8% under FPAS 515; other FPAS codes differ. FGTS adds 8%, deposited into the employee’s own account. Before FAP that is 34.8% to 36.8%; our example uses 35.8%.
Deducted from pay
Two amounts come out of gross pay each month, both on 2026 tables and both paid over by the employer.
- IRRF income tax, withheld on the 2026 Receita Federal table from 0% to 27.5%. Under Lei 15.270/2025, tax on taxable pay up to R$ 5.000,00 a month is reduced to zero, with the relief tapering away at R$ 7.350,00.
- Employee INSS, charged by band at 7.5%, 9%, 12% and 14% under Portaria Interministerial MPS/MF nº 13 of January 2026. Only pay up to the ceiling of R$ 8.475,55 counts, so the most anyone pays is R$ 988,09 a month. Vale-transporte, if requested, can take up to 6% of basic salary.
Worked example
São Paulo city, R$ 15.000,00 a month
Cost each month
R$ 22.633,33
Over the year that is R$ 271.600,00: gross pay of R$ 200.000,00 plus R$ 71.600,00 in employer charges.
Net pay, normal month
R$ 11.067,36
After INSS of R$ 988,09 and IRRF. Across 2026 the employee keeps R$ 147.500,68 in total.
Assumptions: a CLT contract for all of 2026, lucro real or presumido (not Simples Nacional), FPAS 515, RAT 2% with FAP 1.0, 30 days of férias taken in one month, no dependants and no vale-transporte. Not included: meal vouchers, health plan, PLR, other CCT benefits, dismissal costs and our monthly fee from USD 560 (R$ 2.901,24 using ECB reference rates, 24 Sep 2026).
Each month the salary is paid by the fifth business day of the next month (CLT art. 459). INSS and terceiros go to the Receita Federal by DARF from DCTFWeb, and FGTS goes by Pix through FGTS Digital, both by the 20th. You pay a single invoice covering gross pay, those charges and the fee, from USD 560,.
From offer to monthly payroll
What has to happen before a CLT employee’s first day?
Most of the work happens before the start date; after that, the same cycle repeats monthly.
Registration comes first. The admission is sent to eSocial as event S-2200 before work begins, and the digital carteira de trabalho (CTPS) must show the start date, pay and special conditions within 5 business days (CLT art. 29). A trial period, the contrato de experiência, can last up to 90 days.
We write the contract in português as standard practice, with an English copy for you if helpful. Remote work (teletrabalho) has to be written into the contract, along with the arrangements for equipment and expenses (CLT arts. 75-A to 75-F). Where a convenção coletiva de trabalho (CCT) covers the job, its terms feed the contract.
The monthly cycle is digital end to end. Payroll events S-1200 and S-1210 go to eSocial and the month is closed with S-1299. From there DCTFWeb produces the DARF for INSS and terceiros, and FGTS Digital issues the GFD guide for the 8% deposit, both payable by the 20th. EFD-Reinf covers withholding on other payments. The old DIRF return ended with the 2025 period, and the Receita now builds the IRRF statement from these filings.
Foreign hires need an autorização de residência para fins de trabalho, the residence authorisation linked to a Brazilian employment contract, under Resolução Normativa CNIg nº 2/2017. The Ministério da Justiça e Segurança Pública handles it through its labour immigration team.
That authorisation depends on the contract itself, so permit steps are planned with our team before any start date is promised to a candidate or a team.
We employ people in software, sales, finance and support roles. Collective agreements matter in Brazil: a CCT or company acordo coletivo can set a piso salarial, the yearly raise, meal vouchers or a health plan, and which one applies depends on activity and place of work. We check this for every hire.
Offer signed to first CLT payslip
A start date that waits only for the paperwork
An LTDA usually means the Junta Comercial, a CNPJ, Banco Central registration and a digital certificate. Hiring through an employer of record starts with the offer instead.
Send the job details
Salary, city, start month and duties, so we can check which CCT and piso salarial apply.
Get the full-year cost
A cost sheet showing salary, 13º, 1/3 de férias, INSS, RAT, terceiros, FGTS and the fee, from USD 560,.
A CLT contract in português
An open-ended CLT contract; a trial period (contrato de experiência) can run for 90 days at most.
Admission on eSocial
The S-2200 event is sent before the first working day and the CTPS is updated.
Vouchers and benefits set
Vale-transporte if your hire asks for it, plus any meal voucher or health plan agreed.
First payday
Salary lands by the fifth business day of the next month, payslip in the portal.
One named contact for your account
A single payroll lead answers for your Brazilian team, month after month
You deal with one person who knows your hires, their CCT and their pay history, so questions about a férias date or a rise get a straight answer.
Meet RafaelEOR or a Brazilian LTDA
Is it better to register an LTDA or hire through an employer of record?
There are two routes to a CLT employee: form your own sociedade limitada (LTDA), often as a single-member SLU, or let EOR Brazil employ the person as employer of record while you plan the longer term.
Opening your own LTDA
The Mapa de Empresas figures cover all company types, mostly with Brazilian owners. A foreign-owned LTDA usually adds apostilled, sworn-translated papers, a CNPJ for the foreign quotaholder and Banco Central registration.
Registry fees tend to be the smaller cost. The larger ones are usually a contador for bookkeeping and tax, a choice between lucro presumido and lucro real, a digital certificate and the time each filing takes. Check current fees with your state’s Junta Comercial.
- Monthly eSocial payroll and closing files
- DCTFWeb DARF for INSS and terceiros, due the 20th
- The 8% FGTS guide paid on FGTS Digital monthly
- EFD-Reinf reports on withholding and service payments
- Labour claims possible for 2 years after an employee leaves
Hiring with no CNPJ of your own
With EOR Brazil as legal employer, you need no CNPJ, bank account or accountant to begin. You pay the payroll cost, from USD 560 monthly for each person and, as a rule, a one-off set-up fee. If you later form an LTDA, we can plan any transfer of staff with you.
- No Junta Comercial filing needed
- We are the legal employer under the CLT
- eSocial, DCTFWeb and FGTS Digital prepared
- 13º and 1/3 de férias calculated for each hire
- Exit pay and any 40% FGTS fine worked out
Employer of record now, LTDA later?
When EOR fits best
You are testing the market with one to a few people, you need someone working before an LTDA could be registered, banked and certified, or you would rather not appoint a local administrator and contador for a small team. The employer of record model also means payroll and filings run from the first month without you building that function.
When your own LTDA makes more sense
You plan a sizeable team, you will sign contracts and invoice customers in Brazil, or you want to hold assets there. Per head, an LTDA can cost less than our fee once headcount grows, and registry costs alone are rarely what stops a company. The ongoing accounting and filing work is the real commitment.
Not sure which route fits your numbers? Send us your plan and we will set the cost of an LTDA against employing through EOR Brazil for your headcount and timeline.
What the CLT guarantees
Which leave and pay rights must a Brazilian employer give?
The CLT and the Federal Constitution set the floor, a CCT can raise it, and the Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego inspects. Disputes go to the Justiça do Trabalho. The figures below apply to 2026 for an employee working in São Paulo city.
Annual férias
After each 12 months of service the employee earns 30 calendar days of férias (CLT art. 130), fewer after more than five unjustified absences. Férias are paid with an extra third on top, the terço constitucional (Federal Constitution art. 7, XVII).
Public holidays
São Paulo city’s 2026 calendar has 13 dates: national holidays, the city anniversary, Corpus Christi and the 9 July state holiday. Carnaval is only a ponto facultativo for private employers unless a CCT differs.
Sick leave
Illness is split between two payers. The employer normally covers the opening days of an absence, and longer spells move to the INSS benefit, auxílio por incapacidade temporária, under Lei 8.213/1991; we confirm the day count that applies before each case is paid. Separately, CLT art. 473 lists paid absences for events such as blood donation, military service, entrance exams and court attendance, and the salary keeps running through them.
Licença-maternidade
Maternity leave is 120 days; salário-maternidade is paid by the employer and offset against INSS. If a birth-related hospital stay passes two weeks, leave runs from discharge (Lei 15.222/2025). Empresa Cidadã adds 60 days.
Paternity leave
Fathers get 5 days in 2026. Lei 15.371/2026 lifts this to 10 days in 2027 and 15 days in 2028. Employers in the Empresa Cidadã programme add 15 days on request.
Family events
CLT art. 473 gives 2 consecutive paid days after the death of a spouse, parent, child, sibling or dependant, and 3 consecutive days for the employee’s own marriage. A CCT may add further days for family events.
Tracked by us, visible to you
Our payroll team records every férias period, holiday, sickness absence and birth leave on eSocial and pays the matching amounts, including the one-third holiday bonus. You see balances in the portal, and we flag changes in advance, such as the longer paternity leave due on 1 January 2027.
Our remit
Services for CLT hires
EOR Brazil takes on the employer’s half of a Brazilian job: the contract, eSocial registration, monthly payroll and charges, leave, benefits and the exit paperwork. Our services page explains each part and what the flat monthly fee includes.
All services ›Employ in Brazil with no LTDA or CNPJ of your own
We sign the CLT contract and act as legal employer, so a first hire in Brazil does not have to wait for a company to be registered.
Payroll, IRRF and contributions
Monthly salary, IRRF withholding, INSS, RAT, terceiros and FGTS, reported through eSocial and paid through DCTFWeb and FGTS Digital on the monthly deadlines.
HR records and employment rules
Contracts in português, CTPS entries, férias planning, CCT checks and dismissal calculations, with notice (aviso prévio) worked out on the Lei 12.506/2011 scale, capped at 90 days.
Benefits, vouchers and the 13º
Vale-transporte on request, meal vouchers and health plans where agreed, and the 13º salário calculated and paid for every year worked.
Guides for employers
Read our notes onCLT contracts|in Brazil
Our hub explains the rules a foreign employer meets in Brazil, from the 13º salário and férias to eSocial reporting, notice periods and residence authorisation, with each figure dated and linked to its official source.
Open the CLT employer hub ›Our method
What changes when one specialist runs your payroll?
We work on Brazilian payroll every day, and the person who drafts your contract also checks your monthly figures. Costs are shown for the full year, with the 13º and férias included, and questions are answered by someone who knows your hires.
Speak to usQuestions first
No. The CNPJ on the records is the employer of record's, not yours, so you can hire before forming a company. This site covers Brazil only; if you hire elsewhere too, raise it on the call.
Timing depends mostly on your candidate. After acceptance, we prepare the contract for signature, and the admission goes to eSocial as event S-2200 before the first working day. For a Brazilian citizen or resident, signing sets the pace. A foreign hire needs a residence authorisation for work first, and the ministry's processing time then sets the start date.
No. Trabalho temporário under Lei 6.019/1974 is for licensed agencies registered with the Ministério do Trabalho, and each placement is capped at 180 days plus 90. We employ your hire on an indefinite CLT contract with the usual rights, so the job has no built-in end date.
Plan on about 1.51 times twelve monthly salaries before benefits. For R$ 15.000,00 a month in São Paulo city, the 2026 employer cost is R$ 271.600,00, since the 13º, 1/3 de férias and 35.8% in charges all apply. Benefits such as meal vouchers add to that. Then come our from USD 560 per employee monthly, roughly R$ 2.901,24 (ECB, 24 September 2026), and a set-up fee charged once.
Planning a first hire in Brazil?
Send us the salary and city and we will return a full-year cost that includes the 13º, férias bonus, charges and our fee.
If the numbers work for you, we can prepare the contract and eSocial admission as soon as your hire agrees.
Get a cost sheet
Next step
Share the role, salary and start month
A specialist in Brazilian employment will reply by email and suggest a time for a short call.