Vacation Pay Calculator (Brazil)

How is vacation pay calculated under CLT?

Once each accrual period (12 months of work) is completed, the employee earns 30 days of paid vacation. The amount paid is the monthly salary plus the 1/3 constitutional bonus set out in art. 7, XVII of the Brazilian Constitution.

Part of the time off can also be sold. Up to 1/3 of the days may be turned into a cash bonus, so the worker gets 10 days in cash and takes the remaining 20 days off.

INSS and IRRF are charged on the vacation pay plus the 1/3. The cash bonus, however, stays outside that taxation.

Brazilian CLT vacation — how it works

Under the Brazilian Labour Code (CLT, arts. 129-153), every employee earns 30 calendar days of paid vacation after each 12 months on the job. That 12-month stretch is the acquisition period, or período aquisitivo, and the vacation has to be taken in the 12 months that follow, known as the concession period. What you get paid is your monthly salary plus the 1/3 constitutional bonus set out in art. 7º XVII of the Federal Constitution. So someone on a R$ 3,000 salary taking the full 30 days receives 3,000 + 1,000 = R$ 4,000 gross.

You can also sell up to one third (10 days) as an abono pecuniário, which means taking 20 days off and cashing in the other 10. After the 2017 labour reform (Law 13,467/2017), vacation may be broken into as many as three periods. At least one of them has to run for 14 consecutive days, and none can be shorter than 5. Unjustified absences cut into the entitlement: 6-14 absences → 24 days; 15-23 → 18 days; 24-32 → 12 days; more than 32 → forfeits the right.

Brazilian context

The full amount — vacation plus the 1/3 — has INSS and IRRF withheld from it, following Supreme Court Súmula 688 and STJ case law. Even though the 1/3 bonus looks indemnity-like, it is not tax-free, the one exception being vacation indemnified at termination. An employer can also grant collective vacation (férias coletivas) to everyone or to specific sectors, provided it gives prior notice to the Ministry of Labour and the union.

FAQ

When must vacation pay be deposited? No later than 2 days before the vacation begins, per art. 145 CLT. Pay it late and the employee is owed double.

Can the employer refuse to grant vacation? No. Let the 12-month concession period run out without granting it and the vacation has to be paid double (art. 137 CLT).

Does the abono pecuniário (selling vacation) pay tax? No. Sold days are tax-exempt because they count as indemnity. INSS/IRRF only hit the days you actually take off.

How do absences affect vacation? Rack up 6-14 unjustified absences and vacation drops to 24 days; 15-23 brings it to 18; 24-32 to 12; past 32 you lose the right for that acquisition period.