Brazil severance pay calculator: how much you receive when you leave a job

How each item is calculated

• Salary balance (saldo de salário): the salary divided by 30, times the days worked in the last month; a whole month counts as 30 days. It is the 30-day month that the CLT (Brazil's labor code) uses for the hourly wage of those paid by the month (art. 64).
• Notice (aviso prévio): 30 days for those with up to 1 year at the company, plus 3 days per complete year, up to 90 days (Lei 12.506/2011). With 1 complete year, it is 33 days, according to Nota Técnica 184/2012 of the Ministério do Trabalho, Brazil's Ministry of Labor (TRT-MG, a regional labor court). Worked notice lasts up to 30 days; the extra days are paid in lieu (TRT-MG). Notice paid in lieu counts toward the length of service (CLT, art. 487, § 1º), starting the day after the notice (Súmula 380 of the TST, settled case law of Brazil's Superior Labor Court). An employee who resigns (pedido de demissão) gives 30 days' notice; if they do not serve it, the employer may deduct that salary (art. 487, § 2º).
• 13th salary (13º salário): 1/12 for each month with 15 days or more of work in the year, counting the projection of the notice paid in lieu, on any exit except dismissal for cause (Decreto 10.854/2021, arts. 76 and 82). The advance already received is deducted.
• Vacation (férias): the complete periods not taken, with the oldest one paid double when the deadline for granting it has passed (CLT, arts. 134 and 137), and the incomplete period, at 1/12 per month or fraction above 14 days (art. 146, sole paragraph), always plus one third (Constitution, art. 7º, XVII). An employee who resigns with less than 1 year also receives the proportional vacation (Súmula 261 of the TST). The calculator assumes 30 days of vacation (up to 5 absences in the period, CLT, art. 130).
• Agreement (acordo): half of the notice paid in lieu and an FGTS fine of 20%; the other items in full; withdrawal of up to 80% of the deposits and no unemployment insurance (seguro-desemprego; CLT, art. 484-A). The law does not say how much of the halved notice counts toward the length of service; the calculator counts half of the days.
• Dismissal for cause (justa causa): only the salary balance and the accrued vacation plus one third (CLT, art. 146). On September 15, 2025, the Third Panel of the TST recognized the right to proportional vacation of an employee dismissed for cause, based on ILO Convention 132 (TST); Súmula 171 of the TST, which denies it, remains in force, and the question is not settled.

INSS and income tax

The INSS (social security) contribution is deducted from the salary balance and, separately, from the 13th salary, by the month's table (Decreto 3.048/1999, art. 214, §§ 6º and 7º). It is not charged on the notice paid in lieu (STJ, Tema 478, according to the PGFN) nor on vacation paid out and its third (art. 214, § 9º, IV).

Income tax (Imposto de Renda) on the salary balance follows the monthly table; on the 13th salary it is calculated separately (IN RFB 1.500/2014, art. 13), with R$ 189.59 per dependent or the simplified discount of R$ 607.20, and the reduction of Lei 15.270/2025. On termination, the notice not worked, vacation paid out, the FGTS and the fine are exempt (Receita Federal, Brazil's tax authority; IN RFB 1.500/2014, arts. 7º, III, and 62).

FGTS

The employer deposits 8% of the salary balance, the 13th salary and the notice, worked or not (Súmula 305 of the TST). On dismissal without cause, the fine (multa do FGTS) is 40% of the balance for termination purposes (saldo para fins rescisórios), the sum of all the contract's deposits with their monetary correction, plus the termination deposits (Caixa's FGTS manual, item 3.4.3; Lei 8.036/1990, art. 18, § 1º). Whoever opted for the saque-aniversário (birthday withdrawal) does not withdraw the balance when dismissed, only the fine (Lei 8.036/1990, arts. 20-A and 20-D, § 7º).

Deadline for payment

The employer has up to 10 days after the end of the contract to pay the severance and hand over the documents; if it pays late, it owes a fine equal to the employee's salary (CLT, art. 477, §§ 6º and 8º). See also the unemployment insurance calculator.

What the calculator does not consider

Overtime, premiums, commissions and other variable pay; absences; alimony; probationary and fixed-term contracts; job-security protections (pregnancy, work accident, the CIPA accident-prevention committee); and anything more that the category's collective agreement guarantees. The result is an estimate: the amount that counts is the one on the termination statement (termo de rescisão).