Brazil: first day at work, documents, contract, payslip

Before signing

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Ask for the offer in writing: gross salary, benefits, position, hours, workplace and type of contract.
Work out how much reaches your account each month: INSS and income tax come out of the gross.
The gross is what is in the offer; less reaches your account. See the net salary calculation.
Find out which collective agreement applies to your category and read the pay floor, hours and benefits.
The collective agreement can improve on what the law provides. Your category’s union has the text.
Check the type of contract: indefinite term, fixed term or trial.
A fixed-term contract cannot exceed 2 years, and a trial contract 90 days (CLT, art. 445).
If it is a trial contract, read its length and whether it can be extended.
Extended more than once, the contract becomes indefinite-term (CLT, art. 451).
Note the promised benefits: meal voucher, transport voucher, health plan.
On the transport voucher, the company pays whatever exceeds 6% of your base salary (Law 7,418/1985, art. 4).

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Bring your CPF and a photo ID.
Have the Digital Work Card on your phone, or give your CPF to the company.
Giving the CPF is equivalent to presenting the digital work card (CLT, art. 29, § 6).
Bring proof of address and a 3×4 photo, if the company asks.
Bring the details of a bank account in your name.
It is the account the salary will be paid into.
If you have dependants, bring their documents.
Each dependant lowers the income tax base by R$189.59 a month when the legal deductions exceed the simplified discount.
Bring the diplomas, certificates and cards the position requires.
Have the pre-employment medical exam: the employee’s exam is at the company’s expense.
The medical exam is mandatory and at the employer’s expense, also on hiring (CLT, art. 168).

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Ask for the employment contract in writing.
The contract can be verbal or written, but in writing you know what was agreed (CLT, art. 443).
Ask whether your employee registration has already been done.
Employee registration is mandatory for the employer (CLT, art. 41).
Within 5 working days, check in the Digital Work Card app that the employment has appeared, with date and salary.
The company has 5 working days to record the hiring and salary, and you must see the data within 48 hours of the entry (CLT, art. 29).
Ask what your working hours are and how time is recorded.
In establishments with more than 20 workers, recording the start and finish time is mandatory (CLT, art. 74, § 2).
Ask about the safety training and protective equipment, if the job requires them.
Ask how to request vacation and days off and how to report when you are sick.
Keep the contact of HR and of whoever handles the payroll.

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Check that you get the payslip every month.
Salary is paid against a receipt; the deposit slip for an account opened in your name has the force of a receipt (CLT, art. 464).
See the payment date: monthly salary must be paid by the fifth working day of the following month.
It is the CLT limit (art. 459, § 1); the company may pay earlier.
Check the gross salary, the position and the days worked.
Find the INSS: it is progressive, from 7.5% to 14% by bracket, up to the R$988.09 ceiling in 2026.
The calculation is by bracket (MPS/MF Ordinance 13/2026): a R$5,000 salary pays R$501.51.
Find the income tax withheld at source: up to R$5,000 of salary it comes out at zero in 2026.
It is the reduction in Law 15,270/2025; between R$5,000.01 and R$7,350 it shrinks until it ends.
Check in the FGTS app that the deposit of 8% of salary arrives every month.
The deposit is the company’s and does not come out of your salary; it falls due by the 7th of the following month (Law 8,036/1990, art. 15).
If you get a transport voucher, see the deduction: at most 6% of base salary.
The rest of the commuting cost is the company’s (Law 7,418/1985, art. 4).
Compare the payslip’s net with the amount that reached your account.
Note when the 13th salary (by December 20) and vacation (after 12 months) come.
The 13th follows Law 4,749/1965, with an advance between February and November; vacation, 30 days with the one-third bonus, comes after every 12 months (CLT, art. 130).

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A month from now, see the first deposit in the FGTS app.
At the start of the following year, request and keep the company’s income statement.
It is used for the income tax return.
See whether you need to file the income tax return the following year.
The rules change every year: check the Federal Revenue Service’s.
If the salary is late or does not match what was agreed, talk to HR; then the union.
Your category’s union and the Labor Inspectorate can help when talking to the company does not solve it.