What are my rights at work?
Portugal’s Labour Code (Código do Trabalho) sets minimum rights for employees, and collective agreements often add more. A big reform of the Code was rejected by Parliament in June 2026, so the rules below are the ones in force.
In 30 seconds
- The normal maximum is 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week, with at least 22 working days’ paid holiday and 13 national public holidays
- Sick pay comes from social security, not your employer: nothing for the first 3 days, then 55% of your reference pay, rising the longer you are off
- If your job is made redundant you get 14 days’ base pay per year worked. You usually have 60 days to challenge a dismissal in court
Hours and rest
Normal working time can’t be more than 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week. A collective agreement can set fewer hours without cutting your pay. Other rules:
- A break of 1 to 2 hours, so you don’t work more than 5 hours in a row
- At least 11 hours’ rest between one working day and the next
- At least one day off a week, usually Sunday
- Your employer must keep a record of the hours you work
- Overtime (trabalho suplementar) is capped at 175 hours a year in micro and small companies and 150 in medium and large ones, and 2 hours on a normal working day. A collective agreement can raise the cap to 200
- Overtime pay for the first 100 hours a year: 25% extra for the first hour and 37.5% for later hours on a working day, and 50% on a rest day or public holiday. Above 100 hours: 50%, 75% and 100%
Holiday and public holidays
You get at least 22 working days of paid holiday a year, Monday to Friday excluding public holidays. It can’t be swapped for money, but you can give up any days above 20 and be paid for working them. In the year you start, you earn 2 working days per month of your contract, up to 20, and can take them after 6 months.
There are 13 compulsory public holidays: 1 January, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, 25 April, 1 May, Corpus Christi, 10 June, 15 August, 5 October, 1 November, and 1, 8 and 25 December. Carnival Tuesday and your town’s municipal holiday are also days off if your collective agreement or contract says so. See How do public holidays and school holidays work?
Paid leave for life events
| Reason | Paid absence |
|---|---|
| Getting married | 15 days in a row |
| Death of a spouse or partner, or a child or stepchild | Up to 20 days in a row |
| Death of a parent, parent-in-law or other first-degree relative | Up to 5 days in a row |
| Death of a grandparent, grandchild, sibling or brother- or sister-in-law | Up to 2 days in a row |
| A school visit about your child | Up to 4 hours a term |
| Carrying out a legal duty | The time needed |
Days off sick also count as justified absences, but your employer doesn’t pay them: social security does.
Sick pay
When a doctor signs you off with a temporary incapacity certificate (Certificado de Incapacidade Temporária, CIT), social security pays sick pay (subsídio de doença) automatically. You need at least 6 months of contributions. For employees the first 3 days aren’t paid, unless you are in hospital. Then it is a share of your reference pay (your average registered pay, without the holiday and Christmas payments):
| Days off sick | Share of reference pay |
|---|---|
| Up to 30 days | 55% |
| 31 to 90 days | 60% |
| 91 to 365 days | 70% |
| Over 365 days | 75% |
The 55% and 60% rates go up by 5 points for low earners and some larger families. Check whether your collective agreement or contract adds anything.
Parental leave (licença parental)
After a birth, parents share an initial parental leave of 120 or 150 days in a row, paid by social security as parental benefit (subsídio parental). You don’t need your employer’s permission, but you must tell them in writing within 7 days of the birth.
| Choice | Benefit |
|---|---|
| 120 days | 100% of reference pay |
| 150 days, not shared | 80% |
| 180 days (150 plus 30 extra days for sharing) | 83%, or 90% if both parents share it under the rules. Each parent must take at least 30 days, or two blocks of 15, alone after the mother’s compulsory period |
- The mother must take 42 days in a row straight after the birth
- The father must take 28 days within the first 42 days, the first 7 straight after the birth, and can take 7 more while the mother is on leave
- Apply for the benefit to social security within 6 months of the birth
Dismissal, notice and compensation
Compensation (compensação) is worked out in days of base pay per full year worked, with part years counted pro rata.
| Situation | What you get |
|---|---|
| Collective dismissal or your job is abolished (extinção do posto de trabalho) | 14 days’ base pay per year. The monthly pay used is capped at 20 times the minimum wage, and the total at 12 months’ pay (or 240 times the minimum wage). Notice of 15 days (under 1 year’s service), 30 days (1 to 5 years), 60 days (5 to 10 years) or 75 days (10 years or more) |
| Dismissal ruled unlawful by a court | Your job back, or instead compensation set by the court of 15 to 45 days’ base pay per year, and at least 3 months’ pay |
| End of a fixed-term contract by the employer | 24 days’ base pay per year |
| During the trial period | Nothing; either side can end the contract |
| You resign | No compensation. Give 30 days’ notice in writing (60 days after 2 years). Fixed-term: 30 days, or 15 if the contract is under 6 months |
The right to disconnect
Since a 2021 change to the Labour Code, your employer must not contact you during your rest time, except in cases of force majeure. Treating you less favourably for using this right counts as discrimination. The rejected 2026 reform would have added exceptions, for example for messages that say no reply is needed, but it is not law.
Getting help
- Start with your contract, your payslip (recibo de vencimento) and your collective agreement
- A union or a labour lawyer can advise on your case
- The labour inspectorate, ACT (Autoridade para as Condições do Trabalho), investigates unpaid pay, missing contracts, excess hours and harassment. A complaint is free. You must give your name, but ACT keeps your identity confidential. You can complain online, in person at an ACT office or by post
- ACT offices are on the mainland. If you work in Madeira or the Azores, check which regional service covers your island
See What’s it like to work in Portugal? for everyday workplace culture.
What to do next
- Find out which collective agreement covers your job and read the holiday and sick pay sections
- Keep your contract, payslips and a note of your hours
- If you are dismissed, get advice within days: the usual deadline is 60 days
Keep going
- Procuradoria-Geral Regional de Lisboa: Código do Trabalho (Lei 7/2009), consolidated text
- Montepio: Sick pay (subsídio de doença), rules, amounts and deadlines (updated 28 Dec 2025)
- gov.pt: Apply for sick pay (updated 2 Oct 2026)
- gov.pt: Having a child, parental leave and benefit in Portugal (updated 4 Sep 2026)
- e-konomista: How to make a confidential complaint to the ACT (Sep 2024, secondary)
- RTP: After advances and retreats, what is at stake in the labour law package (May 2026)
- Renascença: Labour package rejected in Parliament (19 Jun 2026)