How to Hire Workers in Portugal | Employer of Record (EOR) in Portugal

In Portugal, Workers recognize up to 13 public holidays. Workers are entitled to a paid day off in recognition of public holidays. Workers that work on a public holiday are entitled to 150% of wages or time off in lieu depending on the employment agreement. Public Holidays include New Year's Day, Good Friday, Easter, Freedom Day, Labor Day, Portugal Day, Corpus Christi, Assumption of Mary, Republic Day, All Saints' Day, Restoration of Independence, Immaculate Conception Day, and Christmas Day

In the first year of employment, vacation is accrued at rate of two days per month up to a maximum of 20 days. Subsequent to that, Workers are entitled to 22 workdays of vacation annually.

There are no subcategories of workers in Portugal.

The maximum probationary period for most Workers is 90 days and can be greater for Workers in technical or managerial positions. Either party can terminate the contract without providing notice during a probationary period of less than 60 days. However, if the probationary period has lasted longer than 60 days, the Worker must be provided a minimum of 7 days’ notice. If the probationary period exceeds 120 days, a minimum notice period of 30 days is required.

Eligible Workers are entitled to up to 1,095 days of sick leave, payable by the government (either directly or via the employer) at 55% to 75% of ordinary wages.

A standard workweek is 40 hours per week, eight hours per day. The average working time including overtime cannot exceed 48 hours per week.

Overtime is limited to a maximum of 2 hours per day and up to 8 hours per week. Overtime is capped at various annual limits depending upon the size of the business and whether the Worker is full-time or part-time. Overtime compensation typically includes a premium of 25% for the first hour on weekdays, increasing to 37.5% for subsequent hours. Overtime on weekends and holidays carries a 50% premium. Overtime must be justified by reasons let forth in Portugal's Labor Code.

All Workers are entitled to a "Holiday Allowance" equal to one month's pay which must be taken before the Worker's annual leave (typically in June), and "Christmas Bonus" equal to one month's pay, which must be paid by December 15 each year.

Just cause is required for termination in Portugal. The notice period the Worker is entitled to varies depending on years of service as outlined below: 15 days’ notice for Workers with less than one year of service 30 days’ notice for Workers with one to five years of service 60 days' notice for Workers with five to ten years of service 75 days’ notice for Workers with more than ten years of service For Workers under fixed-term contracts, the amount of severance pay is 24 days of base salary and seniority pay per each complete year of seniority. For Workers under indefinite contracts, the Worker is entitled to severance payments generally corresponding to tenure-based increments for every complete year of seniority. The total amount of non-taxable severance payments is capped at the average of the regular remunerations subject to tax received over the previous 12 months, multiplied by the number of years or fraction of service.

Workers are required to provide at least 30 days notice if they choose to resign. This length of notice will vary based on years of service, contract specifics and if anything additional is outlined in a Collective Bargaining Agreement. 

Portugal has a 13th and 14th salary payments. These are paid out to the worker in June and December each year. 

Statutory Maternity/Paternity pay, Temporary Sickness/Incapacity, Long Term Sickness/Disability Benefit, Unemployment benefit, pension benefit