Category: Doing Business

Comments on Brazils labour laws: Employer, beware | The Economist

Comments on Brazils labour laws: , beware | The Economist.

Brazil’s labour laws

Employer, beware, an archaic labour code penalises businesses and workers alike

Mar 10th 2011 | SÃO PAULO | from the print edition

IN 1994 Ricardo Lemos (not his real name) and two friends bought a chain of pharmacies in Pernambuco, in Brazil’s north-east. Immediately afterwards they were taken to court by four former employees of the pharmacies who claimed they were owed 500,000 reais (then $570,000) for overtime and holidays. Since the new owners lacked the payroll records, the labour court ruled against them—even though they had only just bought the business and the claimants had been in charge of payroll and work scheduling. The court froze their bank accounts, so they had to close the stores, with 35 redundancies. Seventeen years later three of the cases have been settled, for a total of 191,000 reais. The last drags on as the claimant’s widow and son squabble over how much to accept.

Living and Doing Business in Brazil

Living and Doing Business in Brazil.

Why salary-related expenses can be very high in Brazil

Many foreign businessmen coming to Brazil are somewhat shocked to learn that the real cost of an employee is twice his gross salary or even more. In other words, if someone earns R$ 1000 per month (pre-tax), the all-included cost for his employer would be R$ 2000. Furthermore, they often (mis)understand that a big part of this additional cost are for taxes and other tax-like expenses of little benefit for the employee himself. Next, they interfere: if someone earns R$ 7000, his real cost must be R$ 14’000! This is wrong as I shall explain later on in this post, whose intention is to bring some clarification about the calculation of these costs. I have a growing feeling that misunderstanding the true cost of labor here leads to bad management decisions, more of the sort of lost opportunities for fear of risks or costs that may not exist at all.

BBB – Business in Brazil Blog: Guides to doing business in Brazil

BBB – Business in Brazil Blog: Guides to doing business in Brazil.

 

  • US Country Commercial Guide for Brazil 2011  – This website has a collection of published reports designed to help US companies understand the opportunities and challenges of doing business in Brazil.
  • Doing Business 2010, Brazil – PDF file published by the World Bank that gives details of doing business in Brazil and rankings compared to other countries.
  • Doing Business in Brazil – Prepared by the legal writer, Elísio de Souza, this guide provides an overview of the early legal issues foreign investors face upon market-entry in Brazil.
  • Guide to Doing Business in Brazil – PDF file from Pinheiro Neto Advogados that presents a comprehensive guide to the legal norms ruling foreign investments and corporate activity in the country, and is an important support for foreign businesspeople willing to invest in Brazil.
  • Doing Business in Brazil – PDF file published by UHY Moreira – Auditores in Porto Alegre. This detailed report provides key issues and information for investors considering business operations in Brazil.

Doing business in Brazil – UK Business Forums

Brazilian Imports

via Doing business in Brazil – UK Business Forums.

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