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Brazil: Employee registration; whether such information is publicly available (2000 - Agusut 2002)

In a 23 August telephone interview, a representative of the consular section of the Embassy of Brazil, Ottawa, stated that every employee, to be eligible for benefits, must have their present employer sign a carteira de trabalho or carteira ("work card" or "work booklet") to "register their employment." Upon entering the workforce, the individual must obtain a carteira from his or her regional Ministry of Labour office (ibid.). The carteira has many pages and, with each new job, a new entry is made in the booklet in the next available space (ibid.). According to the representative, the carteira stays with the employee at all times, although the employer may take the carteira for a number of days to register his employees with the Ministry of Labour for the purposes of payroll deductions, tax, etc., (ibid.).

A Brazilian translator who has an interest in Brazilian legal terminology explains the following in an article published in the New York-based Translation Journal:

...Registration involves making an entry in a pocketsize booklet that all workers must have. This is now officially known as Carteira de Trabalho e Previdência Social – CTPS, formerly as Carteira Profissional or, colloquially, a carteira. Factory workers usually carry their carteira with them at all times, because it is believed that they will get a better deal from the police if they can show they are working persons, not vagrants. The higher the pay, the better the clothes and the lower the chance of someone carrying a profissonal in his/her pocket/purse. The police supposedly does not bother with well-dressed persons. So, not carrying your carteira with you is a status symbol (Apr. 1999).

By not registering their employees, employers are able to avoid the "high costs of payroll and benefits imposed by the current labour legislation, known as Consolidação das Leis Trabalhistas (CLT)" (Brazzil Feb. 1998). According to Brazzil,

It is well known that, in order to avoid CLT's excessive regulations and the costly payroll contributions, numerous companies have resorted to irregular contracting practices. The most common infraction is the lack of employees' registration. By law, employers must sign the Carteira de Trabalho, an official type of card that guarantees social welfare and other benefits to Brazilian workers. However, enforcement of the law is lax, bribery is rampant among inspection teams, and companies prefer to subject themselves to fines or extortion rather than put up with the high payroll costs. It is estimated that the mass of unregistered workers has increased by 17% over the past decade, and that constitutes half of Brazil's current labor force (Feb. 1998).

Please note that, according to a 12 December 2001 Brazil-U.S. Business Council publication, since its enactment in 1943, the CLT has undergone only minor changes.

Information on whether the contents of an individual's carteira is publicly accessible could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Brazil-U.S. Business Council Trade and Economic Update. 12 December 2001. Vol. 6, No. 8. "Brazilian Chamber of Deputies Approves Changes to the Labour Code (CLT)." <http://www.brazilcouncil.org/memberarea/periodcialview2.asp?ID=266> [Accessed 26 Aug. 2002]

Brazzil [Los Angeles]. February 1998. Marta Alvim. "Temps for Hire." <www.brazzil.com/ecofeb98.htm> [Accessed 23 Aug. 2002]

Translation Journal [New York]. Danilo Nogueria. "Legal Workshop: Working in Brazil." <http://accurapid.com/journal/08legal1.htm> [Accessed 23 Aug. 2002]

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB Databases

LEXIS/NEXIS

World News Connection (WNC)

Internet sites including:

Brazil Trade Net

The Canadian Embassy in Brazil, InfoExport: Business Climate

Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Trade and Investment in Brazil

Export Development Corporation

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU)

International Labour Organization (ILO)

US Department of Commerce, Brazil Desk

US Embassy in Brazil

The World Bank