Brazil: dismissed without cause, what to do step by step

Notice period

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See whether the notice is worked or paid in lieu and note the date of your last day.
Paid in lieu: the company pays the days and you leave at once. Worked: you serve the days before leaving.
Check the days of notice: 30 days, plus 3 for each full year at the company, up to 90.
Law 12,506/2011. With 4 full years it is 42 days.
If the notice is worked, choose: leave 2 hours earlier each day or miss the last 7 calendar days.
CLT, art. 488: applies when the company dismisses, with no loss of pay.
Have the termination medical exam, which the company schedules and pays for.
CLT, art. 168, II: the Ministry of Labor defines the cases in which it is required.
If you are pregnant or had a work accident, see the union or a lawyer before signing.
Pregnant workers and those who had a work accident have special protection against dismissal (ADCT, art. 10, II, b; Law 8,213/1991, art. 118).

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Ask for the termination statement and check that each item appears with its name and amount.
CLT, art. 477, § 2: the discharge covers only the items itemized in the statement.
Check the entry of your departure in the digital work card.
The company must record the departure in the work card and report the dismissal to the competent bodies (CLT, art. 477).
Receive the unemployment insurance application form, with its number, and keep it.
The company sends the dismissal data to the Ministry and gives you the form (CODEFAT Resolution 957/2022, art. 40).
You do not have to go to the union to validate the termination: assistance is no longer mandatory.
The labor reform (Law 13,467/2017) repealed § 1 of art. 477 of the CLT.

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Check that the payments and documents arrive within 10 days after the contract ends.
CLT, art. 477, § 6. If it is late, the company owes a penalty of one salary, unless you caused the delay (§ 8).
Compare the statement with the termination calculator: salary balance, notice, 13th and proportional vacation.
Each year at the company increases the notice; the 13th and vacation are 1/12 per month worked. The calculation is on the site.
See whether there is overdue vacation not taken: each period pays one salary plus 1/3.
On leaving, whatever the cause, vacation already acquired is paid (CLT, art. 146), with the constitutional one-third.
Check the deductions: INSS and income tax apply to the salary balance and the 13th.
Notice paid in lieu and vacation paid in lieu with the one-third do not pay income tax (Federal Revenue Service, IRPF 2026 questions 178 and 275).
Only sign after checking; if something is wrong, ask for the correction in writing.
Your category’s union or a labor lawyer can help check the statement.

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Check that the 40% penalty has been deposited in your FGTS account.
It is 40% of all the contract’s deposits (Law 8,036/1990, art. 18, § 1), paid by the company.
See the FGTS statement and check the deposits for every month.
In the FGTS app you follow the deposits, the balance and the withdrawal.
Register a bank account in the FGTS app and request the withdrawal for dismissal without cause.
With the dismissal reported by the company and the account registered, the money arrives within 5 working days after the FGTS account is debited.
If you opted for the birthday withdrawal, know that on dismissal only the penalty is released.
The rest of the balance follows the other FGTS withdrawal rules, according to the official FGTS page.

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Work out the amount and number of installments of the unemployment insurance.
The site’s calculator uses the 2026 table: from R$1,621.00 to R$2,518.65 per installment, 3 to 5 installments.
Note the application deadline: from the 7th to the 120th day after dismissal.
CODEFAT Resolution 957/2022, art. 41: count from the day after the dismissal.
Apply through the Digital Work Card app or gov.br.
Without digital means, go to a Regional Labor Superintendency or the SINE, with a photo ID, CPF and NIS. The 158 phone line answers questions.
Follow the 1st installment: it comes 30 days after the application, and the others every 30 days.
Each installment waits for you for 67 days; then it goes back to the FAT, and you can ask for it to be reissued within 2 years (arts. 12 and 21).
Remember that a new job suspends the unemployment insurance.
If you are dismissed again without cause within 16 months, you resume the balance of the installments (arts. 22 and 37).

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If you paid part of the company health plan, ask HR how to keep the plan.
Those who contributed have the right to keep the plan by taking on the full payment (Law 9,656/1998, art. 30).
Reply in writing within 30 days of the company telling you about your right.
ANS deadline: with no reply, the company may remove you from the plan.
Note how long it lasts: a third of the time you paid for the plan, from 6 to 24 months.
Registered family members continue. The right ends if you take a new job with a health plan (art. 30, § 5).

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Redo the budget for the coming months and see how long your emergency reserve lasts.
The emergency reserve covers the months without salary; unemployment insurance arrives only 30 days after the application.
Watch the SINE vacancies: applying for unemployment insurance already registers you for job placement.
Refusing a job compatible with your qualifications and previous salary cancels the benefit (Resolution, art. 23, I).
Keep the termination statement, the payslips, the FGTS statement and the proofs of payment.
Whoever wants to claim something in the Labor Court has up to 2 years after the end of the contract (Constitution, art. 7, XXIX).
If something does not add up, see the category’s union or a labor lawyer.