What Crédito do Trabalhador is

The margin sets the ceiling for any simulation. The programme limits CLT payroll credit to 35% of available pay, minus instalments already withheld.

Only then do we ask: at this PMT, rate and term, what principal fits? That inversion is the worker-credit calculator.

No bank ranking, no approval promise, and no treating FGTS as checking-account cash. FGTS may secure some operations; the birthday-withdrawal table is a different calculation.

MTE Ordinance 435/2025 provides that workers can simulate the credit through the Digital Work Card app or through lenders’ own channels. Offers generated through the Digital Work Card must show net amount released, each instalment, total paid at the end, interest rate and total effective cost. Compare those five figures across offers, not just the instalment.

The law also allows offering, optionally, up to 10% of the FGTS balance and up to 100% of the FGTS severance fine as collateral. The collateral is only triggered on dismissal without cause, including indirect dismissal, or on mutual fault or force majeure (Law 10.820/2003, article 1, paragraphs 5 and 6).

• Crédito do Trabalhador (Ministry of Labour and Employment, Portuguese)
• MTE Ordinance 435/2025 (consolidated text, Portuguese)
• Law 10.820/2003 (Planalto, Portuguese)

With available margin of R$1,200.00 a month and an illustrative 2.10% a month (not a bank’s offer), the maximum principal over 36 instalments is about R$30,101.08. Total paid is R$43,200.00, of which R$13,098.92 is interest. Over 24 instalments the maximum principal falls to R$22,441.69; over 60 it rises to R$40,721.18, with a total paid of R$72,000.00.

At the Central Bank’s August 2026 average for private-sector payroll loans (3.79% a month, SGS series 25466), the same R$1,200 supports R$23,364.84 over 36 instalments.

Notice that stretching the term from 24 to 60 months raises the amount released, but raises the cost far more: total paid goes from R$28,800.00 (24 instalments) to R$72,000.00 (60 instalments).

Confusing the instalment with the loan, as if a R$1,200 instalment meant R$1,200 of credit. Borrowing right at the margin limit with no buffer: if available pay falls, the withholding may be partial. Accepting bundled insurance or fees without checking CET. And believing FGTS collateral is mandatory or removes the risk: it is optional and the debt is still yours.