Outsourced workers in Brazil: your rights and who pays if the service provider doesn't

Since 2017, the law has allowed outsourcing of any activity, including a company's core business (Law 6,019/1974, art. 4-A), a view confirmed by the Federal Supreme Court (STF). The outsourced worker is an employee of the service provider, but the client company is secondarily liable for labor amounts for the period in which the worker provided services to it — meaning it pays if the provider does not.

Quick summary

• Broad outsourcing: allowed in support and core activities (STF, ADPF 324 and Theme 725).
• Employer: the service provider.
• Client company's liability: secondary for amounts owed for the period (art. 5-A, §5).
• Equal conditions with the client's employees: cafeteria, transport, medical care, training and safety, when services are provided on the client's premises (art. 4-C).
• Cooling-off period: a former employee cannot be rehired as an outsourced worker by the same company for 18 months (art. 5-D).
• Direct subordination to the client company may lead to recognition of a direct employment relationship.

Your rights as an outsourced worker

1. A work card registered by the provider, with all CLT rights (the CLT is Brazil's Consolidated Labor Laws).
2. Health and safety guaranteed by the client company at the workplace.
3. Access to the same meal and transport facilities.
4. Pay equal to the client's employees is not mandatory, unless agreed between the companies or provided in a collective rule.

When the provider disappears or does not pay

It is common for an outsourcing firm to shut down without paying wages and severance. In that case:

1. File a claim against both the provider and the client company.
2. The client company is secondarily liable for the period in which it benefited from your work.
3. In the public sector, liability depends on proof of failure to oversee the contract (STF, Theme 246).

See also Enforcement of labor judgments and Employer bankrupt.

Outsourcing vs. pejotização

Outsourcing means hiring a company that has its own employees. Hiring a person as a "PJ" (through a company) to work as an employee is something else — see Pejotização.

Frequently asked questions

Can an outsourced worker sue the company where they work?

Yes, as the secondarily liable party, together with the provider.

Are outsourced workers entitled to the client company's profit sharing?

As a rule, no, unless provided in a collective rule or contract.

Read more in this series

• Temporary work: rights and deadlines
• Pejotização: when a PJ contractor has an employment relationship
• Enforcement of labor judgments: how to get paid
• Employer bankrupt or in judicial reorganization
• Index: complete guide to labor rights