What is employment termination?

Employment termination (rescisão de contrato) is the formal end of the employment relationship, with the settlement of everything owed up to the departure date. What the worker receives depends on the type of termination: dismissal without cause, resignation, dismissal for cause, mutual agreement (art. 484-A of the CLT) or the end of a fixed-term contract.

In a dismissal without cause — the most common case — the worker receives the salary balance, prior notice, accrued and proportional vacation plus 1/3, the pro-rated 13th salary, the FGTS withdrawal with the 40% penalty and unemployment insurance forms. On resignation, they lose the penalty, the withdrawal and the unemployment insurance. For cause, only the salary balance and accrued vacation remain.

Payment must be made within 10 calendar days of the end of the contract; delay triggers a penalty of one month's salary in the worker's favor (art. 477 of the CLT). The termination must also be reported to eSocial.