The 13th salary and vacation third explained with one Brazilian salary

The 13º salário (13th-month salary) is a statutory extra month of pay, and the 1/3 de férias is a constitutional supplement worth a third of the holiday pay, added when an employee takes annual leave. Every CLT employee is entitled to both, and together they raise annual pay to about 13⅓ monthly salaries.

Foreign employers usually know the headline salary of a Brazilian role and very little else. Both extra payments are fixed by law, cannot be waived in the employment contract and cannot be dissolved into a higher monthly figure. A candidate offered R$ 15.000,00 a month will expect twelve payments of R$ 15.000,00, a 13º salário of R$ 15.000,00 for a full year and a holiday bonus of R$ 5.000,00 when they take their 30 days of leave.

The terms appear in several forms. The 13º salário is also written décimo terceiro salário; the holiday bonus is the terço constitucional de férias, because it comes from art. 7, XVII of the Federal Constitution. Payroll staff often shorten both to “13º” and “1/3”.

This article follows one salary through the year, using the figures from our São Paulo worked example for 2026, so that finance teams can see when each payment falls, what it costs and how to provide for it month by month.

The payments also matter when a company compares Brazilian pay with other countries. A monthly figure that looks modest next to a US or European salary grows by a third of a month once both extras are counted, and the employer charges then apply to the larger total. Comparing annual cost, and never the monthly headline, keeps those comparisons honest.

For an employee who works the whole calendar year, the 13º salário equals one month’s salary. For a shorter period it is paid in proportion to the months worked, and any proportional amount still owed is settled when the contract ends.

In our worked example the employee earns R$ 15.000,00 a month and works a full year, so the 13º salário is R$ 15.000,00 gross. The example treats it as a separate payment with its own deductions:

• Employee INSS: R$ 988,09, the 2026 maximum, since pay is above the R$ 8.475,55 ceiling.
• IRRF: R$ 2.944,55, using the 2026 monthly table with no dependants.
• Net to the employee: R$ 11.067,36, the same as a normal month.

The 13º salário is paid on statutory deadlines. Confirm the current dates with your payroll provider each year and build them into the cash-flow plan, because the money leaves in addition to the regular monthly salary.

The sector’s convenção coletiva de trabalho (CCT) may add its own rules on top of the statute, so ask the payroll provider which agreement applies before relying on a template. For a fixed monthly salary like the one in the example, the arithmetic is simple: one month’s pay per full year.

New starters are the main exception to that simple picture. Someone who joins part-way through the year receives a smaller, proportional 13º salário in their first December, so the first-year budget for a mid-year hire should show a reduced amount, with the full month’s pay arriving from the first complete calendar year.

When an employee takes férias, they receive their normal pay for the leave plus an extra one-third of it. For 30 days of leave on R$ 15.000,00 a month, the bonus is R$ 5.000,00.

CLT art. 130 grants the leave itself: 30 calendar days for every 12 months of service. The entitlement shrinks on a sliding scale if the employee has more than five unjustified absences in the period. Weekends inside the leave count as leave days, because the unit is calendar days.

In the worked example, the employee takes all 30 days within one calendar month, so that month’s payroll shows R$ 20.000,00 gross: R$ 15.000,00 salary for the leave and R$ 5.000,00 bonus. The example deducts:

• Employee INSS: R$ 988,09, the capped amount.
• IRRF: R$ 4.319,55.
• Net pay for the month: R$ 14.692,36.

The bonus is tied to leave actually due, so it also appears in exit payments. On a dismissal without cause, completed but untaken leave and the proportional period for the current year are both paid out with their one-third. Managers who postpone leave do not save the bonus; they only move it to a later payroll or to the final settlement.

Timing in the first year catches many new employers out. Because the right to leave is earned over a 12-month acquisition period, a new hire normally takes their first 30 days, and receives their first one-third bonus, only in the second year of employment. The cost still builds up from day one, which is why the accrual described below starts with the first payroll.

In our worked example the two extras together cost the employer R$ 27.160,00 a year once employer charges are added, about 10% of the total annual employer cost of R$ 271.600,00. The charges are the reason the figure is larger than the R$ 20.000,00 of gross pay.

The example applies the full employer rate of 35.8% to both payments: 20% employer INSS, 2% RAT, 5.8% terceiros and 8% FGTS, as borne by a company on lucro real or lucro presumido in FPAS 515. On that basis:

• 13º salário: R$ 15.000,00 gross plus R$ 5.370,00 in charges, R$ 20.370,00.
• Holiday bonus: R$ 5.000,00 gross plus R$ 1.790,00 in charges, R$ 6.790,00.

Across the year the employee receives R$ 200.000,00 gross, and employer charges on that base come to R$ 71.600,00. That is why the annual cost is 1.51 times twelve monthly salaries, whereas a monthly quote would suggest 1.358 times. The full calculation, checked by two methods, is in our São Paulo CLT hire cost breakdown.

FGTS deserves a note. Because the 8% deposit is calculated on the 13º salário and the holiday pay too, these payments also enlarge the FGTS balance on which a 40% fine would be calculated after a dismissal without cause.

All of these figures scale in a straight line with salary. Employer charges have no ceiling, so a role paid twice as much costs exactly twice as much in 13º salário, holiday bonus and charges. The cap on employee INSS changes the employee’s net pay, but it does not reduce anything the employer pays.

The simplest method is to accrue one-twelfth of both payments every month, together with their employer charges, so the monthly budget matches the true annual cost. In the example that adds R$ 2.263,33 a month to the R$ 20.370,00 cost of a normal payroll month.

The arithmetic, using the same São Paulo assumptions:

• 13º accrual: R$ 15.000,00 ÷ 12 = R$ 1.250,00 a month.
• Holiday bonus accrual: R$ 5.000,00 ÷ 12 = R$ 416,67 a month.
• Charges on both at 35.8%: R$ 596,67 a month.
• Total provision: R$ 2.263,33 a month, giving a smoothed monthly cost of R$ 22.633,33.

Without the accrual, the budget looks healthy for most of the year and then shows two spikes: the holiday month, when the one-third bonus is paid, and the month or months in which the 13º salário is paid. For a company funding Brazilian payroll from another currency, those spikes also bring exchange-rate exposure on larger transfers.

The payroll mechanics sit inside the normal monthly cycle, reported on eSocial, with contributions settled via DCTFWeb and FGTS Digital. Our guide to Brazilian payroll, eSocial and FGTS explains how each monthly run is filed.

When a CLT contract ends through a dismissal without cause, the employer settles the part-year 13º salário and any holiday owed, each with the one-third bonus, as part of the final settlement. CLT art. 477 gives the employer 10 days from termination to pay it.

The holiday element can include two pieces: a completed acquisition period that the employee has not yet taken, and the proportional entitlement for the period in progress. Both carry the bonus. The 13º element covers the months already worked in the calendar year.

On a dismissal without cause these amounts sit alongside the other exit items, such as aviso prévio (notice) and the 40% FGTS fine after a dismissal without cause. A company that has been accruing monthly will find most of this money already set aside.

For budgeting, the practical point is that neither payment simply disappears when someone leaves before December or before taking leave. The proportional amounts usually follow the employee out of the door, so any exit estimate should list them separately from notice and the FGTS fine.

The most frequent mistake is quoting an annual salary divided by twelve, which leaves no room for the 13º salário and the holiday bonus and produces a package the employee cannot legally receive in that form. Brazilian offers should start from a monthly salary.

• Dividing by twelve. An annual budget of R$ 200.000,00 in gross pay supports a monthly salary of R$ 15.000,00 rather than R$ 16.666,67 once both extra payments are included.
• Forgetting the charges. The 35.8% in the example applies to the extras as well as to monthly pay.
• Delaying leave to save cost. The bonus follows the leave and is normally paid in the final settlement if it was never taken.
• Ignoring the CCT. A sector agreement can add benefits that interact with these payments, so ask which one applies.

If Employer of Record Brazil employs your hire, both calculations happen inside our Brazilian payroll, as the legal employer. The monthly invoice then carries them next to salary, charges and the starting fee, from USD 560, per employee, which was about R$ 2.901,24 on 24 September 2026 ECB rates. The pricing page explains how the invoice is built.