Hiring workers in Brazil? The first question you’ll face is whether they’ll be independent contractors or employees. In another article, we explained why Brazilian companies prefer hiring independent contractors.

But if an employee is what you need, you’ll be hiring them CLT. The Consolidação das Leis do Trabalho (CLT) is the main statute on employment and labor law matters in Brazil and it sets forth the various types of employment regimes.

The default regime is Carteira Assinada. Remember That Little Blue Book? It’s what you sign when you hire a full-time employee - meaning eight hours per day. The length of employment can be set in the contract or it can be left open-ended. Each month you’ll pay a fixed salary plus benefits.

Another regime is Intermitente. This is a good option for companies with fluctuating demand. In this case, compensation is based on either the number of hours worked or a list of predetermined goals. The contract term is left open and the employee can provide services to other companies at the same time.

Now, say you need a seasonal worker for a temporary job. Here you might hire them as a Temporário. This means the employee is hired to work for a maximum of 180 days although the term can be extended for another 90 days. This is a good option during peak sales periods such as Christmas.

While there are more regimes to choose from, these three are the most common. There’s no one size fits all, so you’ll want to pick the regime that best fits your specific business needs.