The working time in Brazil is the period established in an employment relationship for the employee to be at the employer’s disposal. In other words, it determines the time during which the employee will perform his or her work.
To fully understand working time in Brazil, jump straight to a key chapter:
Table of Contents
Working time In Brazil
Definition
The labor legislation establishes that the normal workday is eight hours (8) per day and forty-four hours (44) per week. Therefore, it is quite common for some employees to work on Saturdays or to extend their workday by 48 minutes during the week. So that they can fulfill the 44-hour week.
For example, if an employee works 8 hours from Monday to Friday, there will be 4 hours left. The employee can distribut these 4 hours throughout the week or complete it on Saturdays, depending on the employment contract.
So, it would look like this:
- Without compensation: 8-hour workday from Monday to Friday and 4 hours on Saturdays.
- With compensation: 8 hours and 48 minutes from Monday to Friday with weekends off.
The legislation also states that the five (5) minutes before and five (5) minutes after the workday will not be computed in the normal daily workday, observing the maximum limit of ten (10) minutes per day.
Travel time between home and work:
In Brazil, an employee’s regular commute to and from work will not be counted as working time.
Similarly, travel during the day for personal reasons in a personal vehicle is not compensable time.
Night Hours
The night period is from 10pm to 5am. Night hours and shifts must be paid at a higher rate than day shift.
Also, according to paragraph 1 of article 73 of the CLT, 1 hour at night is composed of 52 minutes and 30 seconds, and not 60 minutes.
Breaks and rests
Paid weekly rest
The paid weekly rest (DSR) is also one of the mandatory aspects related to the working day. All employees are entitled to a weekly rest period of one day.
This should preferably take place on Sundays.
WorKday breaks and Lunch time:
According to article 71 of the CLT, having a lunch break is a right of all employees who works at least 4 hours a day. This lunch break must be at least one hour and at most two hours unless there is a written agreement or collective bargaining agreement stating otherwise.
Daily rest
There must be a rest period of at least 11 consecutive hours between the end of one work day and the beginning of another.
What about remote work ?
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, home office has grown significantly in Brazil. However, the rules are still not very clear. Among these doubts are the breaks and lunch time for those working away from the office.
It is important to point out that for employees working under the CLT regime have the same working hours. Therefore, they have the same rights.
Frequent questions
Is it possible to reduce lunch break time?
The lunch break can be reduced by means of an agreement or convention, as long as the minimum limit of 30 minutes is respected.
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We are an Employer of Record (EOR) company in Brazil. With our EOR and Payroll Services, we hire and onboard your candidates while managing compliance. Besides, we manage your payroll in Brazil. Do you have a project in Brazil ? Contact us now!
