Brazilian severance: the termination-type × entitlement matrix

The type decides everything: the matrix

Two entitlements appear in every termination, without exception: the salary balance (the days already worked in the exit month) and any accrued vacation plus one-third, if there is a completed acquisition period not yet taken. These are vested rights, paid even in just cause. Everything else changes with the door you leave through. The table below is the heart of this guide: it crosses the five termination types with the six entitlements that vary. Read it by row to grasp a whole exit, or by column to see how a single entitlement behaves.

Notice the pattern: indirect termination is, in practice, a dismissal without cause triggered by a serious fault of the employer, which is why its row is identical. The agreement is the middle ground the 2017 reform created: it keeps the proportionals in full but halves the notice and the penalty and shuts the door on unemployment insurance. And just cause is the one row that is almost all "No". A common trap shows up in resignation: many believe that whoever quits loses proportional vacation, they do not, by force of TST Precedent 261. Build the exact scenario in the severance calculator or in the CLT severance tool.

Dismissal without cause

The employer ends the contract with no fault by the employee. It is the most complete exit: all proportionals, paid notice, 40% FGTS penalty, full withdrawal and unemployment insurance (arts. 477 and 487).

Resignation

The employee ends the contract. Gets salary balance, proportional 13th and vacation, but there is no FGTS penalty, the account stays locked and there is no insurance. Notice is owed by the employee to the employer.

Just cause

Dismissal for a serious fault by the employee, under the closed list of art. 482 (dishonesty, negligence, insubordination, abandonment, etc.). All proportionals are lost; only salary balance and accrued vacation remain.

Mutual agreement (art. 484-A)

Termination by mutual agreement created by Law 13,467/2017. Half the notice (if indemnified), a 20% FGTS penalty, 80% withdrawal and all other entitlements in full, but no unemployment insurance.

Indirect termination (art. 483)

The "employer’s just cause": the worker asks a court to end the contract for a serious fault by the company (excessive rigor, unpaid wages, harassment). If recognized, it grants the same rights as dismissal without cause.

1. 1943CLT (Decree-Law 5,452)

   The Consolidation sets the skeleton of the entitlements: a 30-day notice, salary balance, vacation and 13th, deadlines, and the grounds for just cause (art. 482) and indirect termination (art. 483).

2. 2011Law 12,506, proportional notice

   Notice stops being a flat 30 days: 3 days are added per full year of tenure, up to a 90-day cap, regulating the proportionality promised in the 1988 Constitution.

3. Nov 2017Law 13,467, the Reform

   The Labor Reform creates termination by mutual agreement (art. 484-A) and unifies the payment deadline at 10 calendar days (art. 477, §6).

4. 2020Law 13,932, end of the 10%

   From January 1, 2020, it ends the 10% FGTS social contribution the employer paid to the Union on dismissal without cause, without touching the worker’s 40%.

Notice period: 30 days + 3 per full year

Until 2011 the notice period was a flat 30 days for any tenure. Law 12,506/2011 made it proportional: 30 base days, plus 3 days per full year of service at the same company, with a maximum add-on of 60 days, reaching the 90-day cap. Technical Note 184/2012 from the then Ministry of Labor set the official reading, confirmed by the labor courts: the 3-day add-on already applies upon completing the first year. So someone with 1 full year is entitled to 33 days, not 30; and the 90-day cap is reached at 20 years of tenure.

In dismissal without cause the employer chooses between a worked notice and an indemnified one. In the worked notice, the employee serves the period with a guarantee from art. 488: a 2-hour daily reduction, or 7 consecutive days off at the end of the notice, with no salary loss, the time is meant for job hunting. In the indemnified notice, the company pays the days and waives attendance. In resignation the logic flips: it is the employee who owes the notice; if they do not serve it, the company may deduct the equivalent from the entitlements. In the art. 484-A agreement, if the notice is indemnified, only half the days are paid.

FGTS: penalty and withdrawal change with the exit

Every month the employer deposits 8% of the gross salary into a linked FGTS account in the worker’s name. At termination, two numbers depend on the type: the penalty (an indemnity on the deposited balance, paid by the employer) and how much of the balance can be withdrawn. In dismissal without cause and indirect termination, the penalty is 40% and the withdrawal is full. In the art. 484-A agreement, the penalty drops to 20% and the withdrawal is capped at 80% (art. 484-A, §1). In resignation and just cause there is no penalty, and the account stays locked, the balance can only be moved under the other grounds of art. 20 of Law 8,036/1990, such as retirement or buying a first home.

Balance, 13th and vacation: counting the twelfths

Proportional entitlements follow the twelfths logic: 1/12 per month worked. The salary balance is the value of the days already worked in the exit month (salary ÷ 30 × days). The proportional 13th counts the months of the current year up to the exit, treating a fraction of 15 days or more as a full month, the same rule explained in the 13th salary guide. Proportional vacation adds 1/12 per month of the current acquisition period, always plus the constitutional one-third. Since the 13th counts by calendar year and vacation by the acquisition period (which starts on the hiring date), it is normal for the two sets of twelfths to differ in the same termination.

Two identical scenarios: without cause vs. agreement

Same worker, same company, two exit doors. João earns R$ 3,000.00 a month, has 4 full years of tenure (vacation up to date, no overdue period) and an accumulated FGTS balance of R$ 12,000.00. He is let go on July 31, 2026, with indemnified notice. Proportional notice for 4 full years is 30 + 3 × 4 = 42 days, which project the exit to September 11, 2026 (art. 487, §1). With the projection, the 13th reaches 8 twelfths (Jan to Aug) and proportional vacation reaches 7 twelfths of the current acquisition period. The proportional entitlements are identical in both types, art. 484-A pays the other entitlements in full. What changes is the notice, the FGTS penalty and withdrawal, and the insurance.

The total difference is R$ 17,733.30 in favor of dismissal without cause, broken down as: R$ 2,100 of notice, R$ 2,400 of FGTS penalty, R$ 2,400 of locked FGTS balance (the 20% left in the account) and R$ 10,833.30 of unemployment insurance, by far the largest item. And since the two taxable entitlements (salary balance and 13th) are equal in both scenarios, the R$ 17,733 is essentially net: indemnified notice, indemnified vacation, the FGTS penalty and withdrawal, and the insurance are free of both social security and income tax. That is why the art. 484-A agreement only makes sense when both sides genuinely want to end the contract: whoever "accepts an agreement" thinking it is a disguised dismissal is giving up nearly eighteen thousand reais here. The insurance installment comes from the CODEFAT table in force since January 11, 2026, check your own case in the simulator below.

Payment deadline and how to check the TRCT

Since the 2017 reform there is a single deadline: payment of the entitlements and delivery of the documents (insurance forms, FGTS key, TRCT) must happen within 10 calendar days of the contract end, whether the notice was worked or indemnified (art. 477, §6). Non-compliance triggers a penalty in the worker’s favor equal to one salary, unless the worker caused the delay (§8). The Employment Contract Termination Statement (TRCT) is the document that itemizes each entitlement, checking it, field by field, is what separates being paid correctly from being shortchanged.

1. Confirm the type and the datesCheck that the termination code on the TRCT matches the real exit (without cause, agreement, resignation). With indemnified notice, the exit date must be the projected one, not the last day worked.
2. Recompute the salary balanceSalary ÷ 30 × days worked in the exit month. Verify the day count.
3. Check the 13th and vacation twelfthsCount the months with 15 days or more, including the indemnified-notice projection. See if there is any overdue vacation period, and whether it is doubled (art. 137).
4. Verify the FGTS penalty and withdrawalThe penalty rate should be 40% (without cause/indirect) or 20% (agreement). The withdrawal code should release 100% or 80% as applicable.
5. Add the deductionsSocial security and income tax fall on the salary balance and the 13th; indemnified notice, indemnified vacation, the FGTS penalty and withdrawal are not taxed. Cross-check with your pay slip.
6. Check the 10-day deadlineFrom the contract end to the payment, at most 10 calendar days may pass. If it lapses, the §8 penalty applies.