You found someone great. The interviews went well. Their portfolio checks out. Now you need to put something in writing before they start.
Here’s where a lot of employers trip up before they even begin: they treat this like an employment contract.
It’s not.
Brazilian remote workers hired by US, EU, or AU companies are almost always engaged as independent contractors. T
hat distinction matters because it changes everything about what your offer letter needs to say, and what it doesn’t.
Contractor vs. Employee: Get This Right First
This isn’t just a label. It has real implications for both sides.
Brazil has strong employee protections under the CLT (Consolidação das Leis do Trabalho).
The 13th month salary, FGTS contributions, 30-day vacation entitlements, those are all employment obligations. They don’t apply to independent contractor arrangements.
As a contractor, your hire is responsible for their own taxes in Brazil. You’re not withholding anything. You’re not contributing to their social benefits.
You’re paying them for services rendered, under agreed terms, on a schedule you both decide.
Your offer letter should make this explicit. Something like: “This agreement is for independent contractor services and does not constitute an employment relationship.” One sentence. Don’t skip it.
Brazil does have rules around what qualifies as a legitimate contractor relationship versus disguised employment (a concept called “vínculo empregatício”).
If someone works exclusively for you, follows a fixed schedule you dictate, and is fully dependent on your company for income, a Brazilian court could reclassify that as employment.
Keep the relationship structured correctly from the start.
Currency and Payment Terms
Pay in USD.
Your hire is working for an international client. USD is standard for remote contractor work in Brazil and across Latin America. It’s stable, widely accepted, and what they’re expecting. They handle their own currency conversion on the receiving end.
Spell out:
The rate (hourly or fixed monthly)
How often you pay (weekly, biweekly, monthly)
How you pay (bank transfer, Wise, etc.)
What triggers payment (invoice submission, end of month, etc.)
The invoice piece matters more than people think. Contractors submit invoices. You review and pay them. Build that into your process from day one so there’s no confusion about who initiates what.
One thing worth noting for Brazil specifically: some Brazilian contractors operate as MEI (Microempreendedor Individual) or through a registered company (CNPJ). They may issue a nota fiscal (an official Brazilian invoice) for their services. This is normal and professional. Your offer letter doesn’t need to mandate it, but knowing it exists means you won’t be confused when it shows up.
Scope of Work
Be specific about what you’re actually hiring them to do.
Vague descriptions cause problems later. “Marketing support” means something different to everyone. “Managing social media content calendar, writing 10 posts per week across Instagram and LinkedIn, and reporting on engagement monthly” leaves no room for misinterpretation.
Include:
Primary responsibilities
Any recurring deliverables
Tools and platforms they’ll be working in
Who they report to
This protects you if the relationship ever goes sideways. It also sets your new hire up to actually succeed.
Hours and Availability
Remote doesn’t mean available at all hours.
Be clear about what you actually need. If you need four hours of overlap with US Eastern time, say that. If you’re fully async and just need deliverables by end of week, say that too.
Brazil runs on BRT (Brasília Time), which is three hours behind New York and one to two hours ahead of most US time zones depending on daylight saving.
Brazil does observe daylight saving time, but not on the same schedule as the US, so the offset shifts during parts of the year. Factor that into your overlap windows.
Cover:
Core hours or overlap windows
Expected response time for messages
Whether weekend availability ever applies
How public holidays are handled (theirs and yours)
Brazil has a full calendar of national holidays including Carnaval, which effectively shuts down the country for several days in February or March. That’s not a sick day. Plan around it.
Trial Period
Consider building in a trial period before the full engagement kicks in.
This gives both sides a clean exit if things aren’t working. Thirty to 90 days is reasonable for a contractor arrangement.
A better approach before even getting to the offer letter stage: use a paid trial task to evaluate their actual work. It’s the clearest signal you’ll get about how someone performs before committing to a longer engagement.
Intellectual Property
Any work created during the engagement belongs to your company.
This is not automatically assumed in contractor relationships the way it might be in traditional employment. You need to say it explicitly.
Also define what “confidential” means in practice. Can they mention they work with you publicly? Can they use work samples in their portfolio later? These feel like small details until they’re not. Define the boundaries upfront.
Termination Terms
You’re excited about this hire. Thinking about termination feels premature.
Do it anyway.
Outline:
Notice period for both sides (two to four weeks is standard for contractors)
What happens to work in progress
Whether any kill fee applies for early termination
How final payment is handled
Nobody wants to have this conversation in the middle of a dispute. Having it on paper before work starts keeps things professional regardless of how the engagement ends.
Equipment and Remote Setup
Don’t assume this is obvious.
Clarify who provides the laptop and whether you’re covering any equipment costs.
Internet quality varies across Brazil, especially outside major cities like São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Curitiba. If reliable connectivity is non-negotiable for the role, consider a small monthly stipend for it.
List the tools they’ll need access to from day one. Slack, Notion, Google Workspace, your project management tool, whatever it is. Don’t make them ask.
What a Good Offer Letter Actually Does
Beyond covering the basics, a well-written offer letter signals something important.
It tells your new hire you’ve done this before. That you’re organized. That you’ve thought about their situation as a Brazilian contractor specifically, rather than copying a template designed for a US employee.
That confidence travels. Someone who receives a clear, professional contractor agreement starts the job with trust in you already established.
Answer questions before they’re asked. Eliminate ambiguity. Make the terms so clear that day one is about the work, not about figuring out the arrangement.
That’s what a good offer letter does.
