Social Security Benefits: A Complete Guide to Every INSS Benefit

This page is a translation of the original Portuguese text, provided for convenience. It deals with Brazilian law. If there is any discrepancy, the Portuguese version prevails. Read the original in Portuguese

INSS offers more than 30 social security and social assistance benefits covering situations such as retirement, incapacity, maternity, death, accidents, and the need for rehabilitation. Knowing each type is essential to exercising your rights correctly.

Overview of the INSS Benefits System

The INSS benefits system is divided into two broad categories: social security benefits, which require prior contributions to the system, and social assistance benefits, which do not depend on contributions and serve as a minimum level of social protection. Understanding this distinction is the first step in identifying which category you can access as an insured person.

Social security benefits include retirement pensions (by age, for permanent incapacity, special, for persons with disabilities, and for teachers); allowances (for temporary incapacity and for accidents); survivor’s pension (pensão por morte); maternity pay (salário-maternidade); and family allowance (salário-família). Social assistance benefits mainly consist of the BPC/LOAS (the Continuous Cash Benefit under Brazil’s Social Assistance Organic Law), but they also include vocational rehabilitation and services that INSS provides in coordination with the Social Assistance system.

Enrollment in INSS happens automatically when a worker begins paid activity. Employees with a formal work record, independent dock and casual workers (trabalhadores avulsos), and domestic workers are mandatory insured persons. Self-employed workers, service providers, and independent professionals must also enroll as long as they carry out paid activity. If you do not work, you can join voluntarily as an optional insured person.

Retirement Pensions: The Available Types

Retirement by age is the most common type. Under the permanent rule, it requires age 65 for men and 62 for women, along with 20 years of contributions. The benefit starts at 60% of the benefit base salary (salário de benefício), plus 2% for each year of contributions above the minimum.

Retirement for permanent incapacity (formerly called disability retirement) is owed when the insured person permanently loses the ability to perform any work activity. The base amount is 60% of the benefit base salary, plus 25% (the additional for severe disability) for those who need permanent assistance from another person, as provided in art. 45 of Law 8.213/91.

The accident allowance can be received at the same time as your job salary, because it is paid for a permanent sequela and does not require you to stop working.

Special retirement benefits those who worked exposed to harmful agents for 15, 20, or 25 years. Retirement for persons with disabilities (LC 142/2013) reduces the required contribution time according to the degree of disability. Teacher retirement lowers the requirements by 5 years for those who work in basic education.

Incapacity and Accident Benefits

The temporary incapacity allowance (formerly called sickness allowance) is paid when the insured person is temporarily unable to work for more than 15 days, after meeting the minimum contribution period (carência) of 12 contributions (except for accidents and illnesses that are exempt from this requirement). The amount is 91% of the benefit base salary.

The accident allowance (auxílio-acidente) is paid to those who suffered an accident and were left with a permanent sequela that reduces their capacity to work. It equals 50% of the benefit base salary and can be received together with your salary, since it does not require you to stop working.

Vocational rehabilitation is an INSS service that provides guidance, support, and referrals for job placement to insured persons with physical or mental limitations resulting from an accident or illness. It is not a direct cash benefit, but a service that accompanies the period of incapacity.

Survivor’s Pension, Maternity Pay, and Other Benefits

The survivor’s pension is owed to the dependents of a deceased insured person. Spouses, partners, children under 21 (or with disabilities), and economically dependent parents and siblings are entitled to the benefit. The amount varies according to the number and status of the dependents, under the rules of the 2019 Reform.

Maternity pay is paid to insured women who are pregnant, who adopt, or who obtain judicial custody for adoption. The payment period varies: 120 days for employees, independent dock and casual workers, and individual contributors, and a variable period for special insured persons (seguradas especiais, such as rural workers in family farming). The amount corresponds to the average salary, or to the minimum wage for special insured persons.

Family allowance is paid to low-income employees and independent dock and casual workers who have children up to age 14 or children with disabilities. The income threshold and the amount per child are updated annually by ministerial ordinance. It is a supplementary benefit with a low individual amount, but it matters for low-income families with several children.

BPC/LOAS and Social Assistance Benefits

The BPC/LOAS is the main social assistance benefit. It is paid to people age 65 or older and to people with disabilities of any age, as long as per capita family income is below one quarter of the minimum wage. It does not require contributions to INSS.

To understand each benefit in detail and how to apply for them, see the firm’s specific articles, such as the guide on documents for the BPC/LOAS and the firm’s article on rights in case of a workplace accident.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I receive more than one INSS benefit at the same time?

The general rule prohibits receiving more than one benefit of the same type. There are exceptions, however: the accident allowance can be received together with your salary and with other short-term benefits. A survivor’s pension can be combined with your own retirement pension, subject to limits introduced by the Reform. Family allowance and maternity pay have their own rules on combining benefits.

Do MEIs have access to all INSS benefits?

A MEI (Microempreendedor Individual, or individual microentrepreneur) has access to retirement by age (but not retirement by contribution time), temporary incapacity allowance, retirement for permanent incapacity, maternity pay, and survivor’s pension for dependents. To qualify for retirement by contribution time, a MEI must top up the contribution rate to 20% by paying the 15% difference on the minimum wage.

What is the difference between the minimum contribution period and contribution time?

The minimum contribution period (carência) is the minimum number of monthly contributions required for an insured person to be entitled to a benefit, a kind of minimum waiting period. Contribution time is the total number of months or years of contributions over your entire career, which determines the type of retirement and the benefit amount. The minimum contribution period is an access requirement; contribution time is a requirement for calculating the benefit and for qualifying for specific types of retirement.

As informações deste artigo são de caráter informativo e não substituem consulta jurídica individualizada. Cada caso possui particularidades que exigem análise específica.