Class hours and planning hours
Calculating pay per class, with weekly rest and the planning-hour percentage set in the collective agreement. Errors here spread to all entitlements.
Schools · teachers and staff
Labor law for schools: how to hire, pay and dismiss teachers without creating liabilities
Teachers have their own rules under Brazil's labor code and collective agreements: class hours, planning hours, class limits, workload reduction and dismissal with end-of-year guarantees. Most school liabilities come from applying the general rule where a special rule exists.
Straight answer: the specific rules that apply to teachers
Brazil's labor code limits teachers to four consecutive or six alternating classes per day at the same school, sets pay per class with weekly rest included, provides for planning hours for preparation and grading, requires payment of the school vacation period as if working, and treats workload reduction as a change that, as a rule, depends on agreement and the collective agreement. Dismissal at the end of the school year has guarantees provided in the category's collective agreements, which usually set deadlines and additional compensation.
This page is for sponsoring entities, principals and HR departments of Brazilian basic education schools, courses, language schools and private higher education institutions. We serve companies throughout the State of São Paulo, Brazil, with meetings at our Paulista or Tatuapé offices or by video call, and act before the São Paulo courts (TJSP), the labor courts (TRT-2, TRT-15), the federal court (TRF-3) and administrative bodies.
Topics that concentrate school labor liabilities
Workload reduction
Cutting a teacher's classes reduces pay and is treated as a harmful change, except in cases provided for in the collective agreement, with formalities.
Vacations and recess
30 days of vacation and school recess are treated differently. Recess does not replace vacation, and pay during the period follows its own rules.
End-of-year dismissal
Collective agreements provide guarantees such as notice on a specific date and additional compensation. Dismissals outside those rules generate differences.
Fixed-term and substitution contracts
A temporary contract is valid for substitution and specific projects, not for the school year's entire regular demand.
Non-teaching staff
Assistants, monitors, supervisors and administrative staff follow general rules and their own collective agreements, with attention to job accumulation and hours.
Where schools usually err
Applying the general rule to teachers
Paying a fixed salary not based on classes or ignoring planning hours generates retroactive wage differences for five years.
Reducing classes without formalizing
Workload reduction without agreement and without support in the collective agreement is reversed in court with payment of differences.
Dismissing without consulting the collective agreement
Each agreement has its own deadline and compensation for end-of-year dismissals. Ignorance is costly in collective dismissals.
How the advisory works
1. Labor audit
Checking contracts, payroll, planning hours and application of the collective agreement.
2. Adjustment
Adjusting contracts, workload policy and dismissal calendar according to the agreement.
3. Defense
Action in labor claims and negotiation of settlements, using the school's documentation.
Before any teacher dismissal, check the collective agreement in force for the period. Dates and compensation change with each annual negotiation.
Frequently asked questions about school labor law
Can a teacher be hired through a company?
If there is subordination, fixed hours and personal work, an employment relationship will be recognized, with all entitlements. Contracting through a company only holds in genuinely independent activities.
Can the school reduce a teacher's workload at the start of the year?
Only in the cases and with the formalities provided in the collective agreement, such as a proven reduction in classes, and without prejudice to guarantees. Otherwise the reduction is considered a harmful change.
Is a teacher dismissed at the end of the year entitled to any extra payment?
Under the collective agreement, they may be entitled to additional compensation or job security until a certain date. The instrument in force must be checked.
Official references and related pages
Brazilian rules of reference for teaching work. The school's collective agreement is indispensable for calculating each entitlement.
Want to review your school's labor relations?
Send the contracts and the collective agreement through the secure channel. The screening identifies the risk points and the adjustment plan.