BRAZIL Law and Practice Contributed by: Caio Medici Madureira, Rodrigo Souza Macedo and Nestor dos Santos Saragiotto, Tortoro, Madureira & Ragazzi Advogados
Tortoro, Madureira & Ragazzi Advogados Alameda Santos 787, 7th floor
Jardim Paulista São Paulo - SP 01419-001 Brazil Tel: +55 113 018 4848 Email: comunicacao@tortoromr.com.br Web: www.tortoromr.com.br
1. Employment Terms 1.1 Employee Status
1.2 Employment Contracts As for their duration, individual employment contracts can be concluded for an indefinite or fixed term. As the name suggests, indefinite contracts have no defined duration and can last for decades, following the prin - ciple of continuity of employment. This is the stand - ard contract under Brazilian labour law. An exception to the rule is the fixed-term employment contract, which can only be entered into if there is transience in the employee’s service or the employer’s activity, with a maximum term of two years, and in cases of probationary periods, which cannot exceed 90 days. Employment contracts can be tacit or express, verbal or written. Although not required by law, case law has estab - lished the need for fixed-term contracts to be formal - ised in writing. For their validity and effectiveness, employment contracts must have a capable agent, a lawful, possible, determined or determinable object, and a form prescribed or not prohibited by law. It will be necessary to include: • the identification of the parties; • the position and function; • the workplace; • the working hours and schedule; • the salary and benefits; • the start date (and end date, if determined); • the conditions of termination; and • specific clauses (such as confidentiality, telework - ing, possibility of transfer, agreement to travel, time bank, on-call duty, reimbursement of losses, etc).
It has become customary to refer to workers who perform operational, technical or manual activities as “blue-collar” employees. They are also called “work - ers” or “manual labourers” and work in industry, con - struction, services, health, agriculture, etc. They are plumbers, electricians, nursing technicians, mechan - ics, craftsmen, bricklayers, petrol station attendants, painters, bakers and many others. Their work requires manual skills or technical training. In turn, “white-collar” employees are workers in administrative and managerial areas, which require intellectual activities and usually require higher edu - cation. They are bosses, managers, superintendents, lawyers, accountants, economists, etc. Over time, as a spin-off from the above, other catego - ries have been created, such as “pink-collar” for tra - ditionally female activities (manicurists, beauticians); “green-collar” for activities related to the environment and ecology (forest engineers); “gold-collar” (highly qualified and highly paid professionals); “black-collar” for clandestine or illegal activities (gambling, prostitu - tion); “new-collar” for technology and start-up sector personnel (developers, UX designers). Regardless of the “colour of the collar”, Brazilian labour laws apply equally to all categories, respect - ing the natural specificities of each one.
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