Brazil: unemployment insurance, who qualifies and how to apply

Who is entitled

Unemployment insurance gives temporary financial assistance to those who lost their job without cause: dismissal by the company, including indirect termination (CODEFAT Resolution 957/2022, art. 35). Resignation and dismissal with cause give no right; neither does an agreement between employee and company (CLT, art. 484-A), and those who join a voluntary dismissal plan are left out (art. 38).

In addition, you must be unemployed, not have enough income of your own to support the family and not receive a continuing social security benefit, such as a pension; accident benefit and survivor’s pension are exceptions (Law 7,998/1990, art. 3).

And you must have been paid a salary for a minimum number of months before the dismissal: at least 12 of the last 18 months for the 1st application; at least 9 of the last 12 for the 2nd; each of the last 6 months from the 3rd on. A fraction of 15 days or more counts as a month (art. 11).

How much each installment is

The installment comes from the average of the salaries of the three months before the dismissal, the contribution salary the company reported to the INSS, in a three-bracket table. In 2026, with the values in force since January 11: up to R$2,222.17, the installment is 80% of the average; from R$2,222.18 to R$3,703.99, it is R$1,777.74 plus 50% of what is above R$2,222.17; above that is the ceiling, R$2,518.65. The benefit is never less than the minimum wage, R$1,621.00.

With an average of R$3,150.25, the installment is R$2,241.78. With an average of R$2,000.00, the calculation gives R$1,600.00 and the benefit rises to the floor of R$1,621.00.

How many installments

There are 3 to 5 installments in each 16-month acquisition period, counted from the dismissal that gave rise to the last benefit. The number depends on the application and the months worked in the 36 months before the dismissal, not counting months that already served for an earlier benefit (art. 36):

• 1st application: from 12 to 23 months of work, 4 installments; 24 months or more, 5 installments.
• 2nd application: from 9 to 11 months, 3 installments; from 12 to 23, 4; 24 or more, 5.
• 3rd application onward: from 6 to 11 months, 3 installments; from 12 to 23, 4; 24 or more, 5.

How and when to apply

The deadline runs from the 7th to the 120th day, counted from the day after the dismissal (art. 41). The company sends the dismissal data to the Ministry and gives you the application form. The application is made through the Digital Work Card app or the gov.br portal, with your gov.br account; without digital means, at a Regional Labor Superintendency or a SINE unit, with a photo ID, CPF and NIS (art. 5). The 158 phone line answers questions.

The 1st installment is available 30 days after the application, and the others every 30 days, in an account in your name, at no cost to you. 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, 20 and 21).

When the benefit stops

Three situations suspend the benefit: starting a new job, starting to receive a continuing social security benefit or refusing without reason the job placement actions (art. 22). If you are dismissed again without cause within the same acquisition period, you resume the balance of installments (art. 37).

The benefit is cancelled, and the right is suspended for two years, if you refuse a job compatible with your qualifications and previous salary, if you give false information or if there is fraud (art. 23). What was received improperly goes back to the FAT (art. 25).

MEI, own income and other questions

Whoever is a MEI does not lose the right just for that: MEI registration, on its own, does not prove enough income to support the family, unless that appears in the MEI’s annual declaration (Law 7,998/1990, art. 3, § 4). But any own income enough to support the family, of any kind, prevents the benefit.

The domestic employee has their own rules: at least 15 months of work in the last 24, application from the 7th to the 90th day and, at most, 3 installments of one minimum wage (arts. 44, 46 and 47). The artisanal fisher receives the insurance in the closed season, with separate rules.

If the application is denied or the amount looks wrong, an administrative appeal is possible, followed through gov.br (arts. 27 to 31). The system uses CNIS and eSocial data: if they are wrong, you can ask for them to be corrected (art. 4, § 2).