Direct answer: CLT refers to the Consolidação das Leis do Trabalho, the Brazilian federal law that regulates formal employment relations, covering both urban and rural work. It was instituted by Decreto-Lei nº 5.452 on May 1, 1943, during Getúlio Vargas’s government, with the aim of unifying and standardizing labor rules to protect workers and provide a legal framework for employers. Key points:
- What it is: A comprehensive set of norms that governs individual and collective labor relations in Brazil, including hiring, wages, benefits, working hours, vacations, overtime, and termination.
- Purpose: To protect workers, ensure predictable rules for employers, and promote fair, standardized labor practices across the formal economy.
- Core protections commonly associated with the CLT:
- Working hours and overtime rules
- FGTS (Fundo de Garantia do Tempo de Serviço)
- 13th salary
- Paid vacations and vacation pay
- Social security contributions (INSS) and related benefits
- Notice requirements and severance basics
- Scope: Applies to most formal employment contracts in Brazil, with specific provisions for special categories and sectoral considerations; rural and urban workers are both covered, though some nuances exist.
- Modern relevance: The CLT remains the main instrument for regulating work relationships in Brazil, though reform discussions and updates have sought to modernize and simplify some aspects, particularly to ease compliance for small and medium enterprises.
If you’d like, I can summarize the key rights and obligations of employees and employers under the CLT, or compare the CLT to other forms of employment in Brazil (e.g., CLT vs. temporary or MEI arrangements).
