Brazil Night Shift Premium Calculator (2026)
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Brazilian labor law pays night work twice over: a premium on top of the hourly rate, and a shorter "night hour" that credits more hours than the clock shows. This calculator applies both, so payroll teams and expat employees can check the adicional noturno line on a Brazilian payslip.
How Brazil pays for night work
Article 73 of the CLT — Brazil’s consolidated labor code — sets a minimum night-shift premium of 20% over the daytime hourly rate for urban employees. The statutory night window runs from 10:00 pm on one day to 5:00 am on the next. Collective bargaining agreements often raise the rate above 20%, so the legal figure is a floor, not a ceiling.
The premium applies to the hourly rate, not to the full salary. The hourly rate is the gross monthly salary divided by the contracted monthly hours: 220 hours for the standard 44-hour week, 200 for a 40-hour week, 180 for a 36-hour week.
The reduced night hour — the part most calculators miss
Article 73 §1 states that an hour of night work counts as 52 minutes and 30 seconds. This is not a shorter shift: it is a fictional, compressed hour that makes the clock run faster during the night window.
The conversion factor is 60 ÷ 52.5 = 1.142857. Every clock hour worked between 10:00 pm and 5:00 am is paid as 1.142857 night hours. The classic case is a full night: 10:00 pm to 5:00 am is 7 clock hours, or 420 minutes, and 420 ÷ 52.5 = 8 night hours. The employee earns one extra hour per night before the 20% premium is even applied.
Skipping this step understates the premium by roughly 14.3% — a common error in payroll spreadsheets and in generic online calculators.
| Clock hours (10pm–5am) | Night hours paid | Gain from conversion |
|---|---|---|
| 1 hour | 1.14 | +0.14 |
| 5 hours | 5.71 | +0.71 |
| 7 hours (full night) | 8.00 | +1.00 |
| 35 hours | 40.00 | +5.00 |
| 40 hours | 45.71 | +5.71 |
Worked example and rural rules
An employee earning R$2,200 gross on a 220-hour month works five full nights, or 35 clock hours. The hourly rate is R$10.00. The 35 clock hours convert to 40 night hours, and the 20% premium of R$2.00 per hour produces R$80.00 for the month. Without the reduced-hour conversion, the same payroll run would show only R$70.00.
Rural employment follows a separate statute, Law 5,889/1973. The minimum premium is 25% instead of 20%, the night window depends on the activity — 9:00 pm to 5:00 am for crop work and 8:00 pm to 4:00 am for livestock — and there is no reduced night hour: the rural hour stays at a full 60 minutes. Select the rural option in the calculator and the conversion is switched off automatically.
Payroll consequences for HR teams
When paid habitually, the night premium has salary nature under TST Precedent 60 and feeds into the paid weekly rest (DSR), vacation pay plus the constitutional one-third, the 13th salary, the FGTS severance deposits and the overtime base. Budget for the premium as a recurring cost, not as a one-off line.
Two further rules matter when scheduling. If a shift starts inside the night window and continues past 5:00 am, the premium remains due for the extended hours. And when a night hour is also an overtime hour, the correct method is to apply the night premium to the base hourly rate first, then apply the overtime premium on top of the increased rate — compounding, not adding the percentages.
This calculator returns the monthly night premium only. It does not add the DSR reflex, because that figure depends on the number of working days, Sundays and public holidays in each specific month.
Frequently asked questions
What is the "reduced night hour" in Brazil?
Under CLT article 73 §1, one hour of urban night work is legally counted as 52 minutes and 30 seconds. Multiply clock hours by 1.142857 to get the hours that must actually be paid. Seven clock hours between 10pm and 5am are paid as eight night hours.
Is the 20% night premium mandatory?
Yes, 20% is the statutory minimum for urban employees and 25% for rural employees. Collective bargaining agreements frequently negotiate higher rates, and those prevail when more favorable to the employee.
Does the premium apply to hours worked after 5:00 am?
Only when the shift began inside the night window and continued past 5:00 am. In that case TST Precedent 60 extends the premium — and the reduced-hour computation — to the extended hours.
Can an employer stop paying the premium after moving someone to a day shift?
Yes. TST Precedent 265 confirms that transferring an employee to daytime work lawfully ends the premium. It is paid while the night condition lasts and is not permanently incorporated into the salary.
Sources
Based on CLT article 73 (20% premium, 10pm–5am window, 52.5-minute night hour) and Law 5,889/1973 for rural work, verified for 2026. Collective agreements may set higher rates; the result excludes the DSR reflex.
Related calculators
Also available in Portuguese: Calculadora de Adicional Noturno 2026