Adoption leave in Portugal: days and pay (2026)

You get the same days as initial parental leave. If you adopt a child under 15 in Portugal, you are entitled to 120 or 150 consecutive days of adoption leave (Art. 44 of the Labour Code). Social Security pays a benefit equal to the initial parental benefit: 100% of the reference pay for 120 days.

An example: Sofia adopts Leonor

Sofia works in a pharmacy in Braga. She earns 1,400 EUR a month. In March, the court places Leonor, aged 4, in her care.

Sofia tells the pharmacy 10 days before and hands in the placement decision. She chooses 120 days. Social Security works out the reference pay: total pay for 6 months divided by 180 (Art. 28(1) of Decree-Law 91/2009). With 1,400 EUR a month, that is 8,400 EUR ÷ 180 = 46.67 EUR per day.

• 120 days at 100%: 46.67 EUR per day, about 5,600 EUR in total.
• 150 days at 80%: 37.33 EUR per day, also about 5,600 EUR in total, spread over a longer time.

Holiday and Christmas bonuses do not count in this calculation (Art. 28(4)). To see your take-home pay when you return, use the net salary calculator.

How many days you get

Art. 44(1) applies Art. 40(1) to (3), the initial parental leave, to adoption. In practice:

The points are from Art. 30 of Decree-Law 91/2009, applied to adoption by Art. 34. [Common interpretation:] point (e) refers to the father; in adoption it applies with the necessary adaptations (Art. 17(1) of Decree-Law 91/2009), so check your case with Social Security. The 30 exclusive days can be one period of 30 consecutive days or two of 15 consecutive days (Art. 40(3)). Between 120 and 150 days, both can be on leave at the same time (Art. 40(2)).

Multiple adoptions. If you adopt siblings, 30 days are added for each adoption beyond the first (Art. 44(3)). Those extra days are paid at 100% (Arts. 32 and 34 of Decree-Law 91/2009).

The other adopter's leave. Art. 44(2) also gives the prospective adopter the father's exclusive parental leave in Art. 43: 28 days that are mandatory plus 7 days that are optional. For multiple adoptions, 2 more days for each adoption beyond the first (Art. 44(3)). The benefit for these days is 100% (Art. 31 of Decree-Law 91/2009). [Common interpretation:] in adoption, the 42 day window in Art. 43 is counted from the placement, with the adaptations in Art. 44.

The minimum benefit is 80% of one thirtieth of the IAS (Art. 38(1)). In 2026, with the IAS at 537.13 EUR, that is 14.32 EUR per day.

When it starts and how to tell your employer

The leave starts from the judicial or administrative placement of the child (Art. 44(9)).

Before that, there is often a transition and follow-up period, when the child and the family get to know each other. You can take up to 30 days of the leave in that phase (paragraph 6). You tell your employer 10 days in advance and hand in the document proving the transition period (paragraph 7).

For the rest of the leave, the notice is the same: 10 days before, or as soon as possible in a proven emergency (paragraphs 12 and 13).

• If you share it, each of you gives your own employer the joint declaration with the start and end of each person's periods, and proof of the judicial or administrative placement and of the child's age (paragraph 12).
• If you do not share it, the person taking the leave tells the employer how long it lasts and when it starts (paragraph 13).

If you or the child are admitted to hospital, the leave is suspended for as long as the stay lasts. You tell your employer and hand in the hospital's statement (paragraph 11). If the prospective adopter dies or becomes incapacitated during the leave, the spouse who is not a prospective adopter and lives with the child is entitled to the time that was left, with a minimum of 14 days (paragraph 8).

Foster families: Art. 44 applies, with the necessary adaptations (paragraph 14).

Time off for the adoption process

Before the placement there are interviews, assessments and meetings. Art. 45 gives you the right to time off work for the assessment and for the legal procedures of the adoption or foster care process. You give your employer the justification.

Watch your pay. This time off removes no rights, except pay (Art. 65(1)(k)). In other words, the law does not require your employer to pay those hours. This is different from antenatal appointments, which remove no rights at all (Art. 65(2)). [Depends on the case:] your collective agreement or your employer may pay more than the law requires.

Refusing this time off is a serious administrative offence (Art. 45(2)).

Your rights during the leave

• It counts as if you were working. Adoption leave removes no rights, except pay, and counts as actual work (Art. 65(1)(e)).
• Holidays: if the leave overlaps booked holidays, the remaining days are taken afterwards, even in the following year (Art. 65(3)(a)).
• Your employer cannot suspend the leave for its own convenience (Art. 65(4)(b)).
• You return to your job: at the end, you have the right to resume the work in your contract (Art. 65(5)).
• Additional parental leave: afterwards, each parent can ask for additional parental leave to care for a child or adopted child up to age 6: for example, 3 months of extended leave or 12 months at half time, among other options (Art. 51(1)). You give 30 days' written notice (paragraph 5).
• Dismissal: the law requires a prior opinion from CITE to dismiss a worker on parental leave (Art. 63(1)). [Common interpretation:] as adoption leave matches initial parental leave (Art. 44(1)), this protection is understood to apply too. See the guide Can my employer fire me?.

Preventing you from taking adoption leave is a very serious administrative offence (Art. 44(15)). You can file a complaint with the ACT.

How to claim the adoption benefit

You ask your employer for the leave. You ask Social Security for the benefit. These are two steps.

1. Check the qualifying period: you need 6 calendar months with recorded pay, consecutive or not (Art. 25(1) of Decree-Law 91/2009).
2. Apply on Segurança Social Direta or at an office, within 6 months from the event giving rise to protection (Art. 66(2)), which is the first day you are unable to work (Art. 23(2)).
3. Do not be late. If you apply late, but still during the leave, you lose the days of delay (Art. 66(3)).

If you do not have enough contributions, the social adoption benefit exists until 30/12/2026, with its own income rules. Decree-Law 166/2026 repeals it with effect from 31/12/2026, when the Single Social Benefit takes over. See the Single Social Benefit guide.

For employers: you cannot refuse, postpone or interrupt adoption leave (Arts. 44(15) and 65(4)(b)). The benefit is paid by Social Security, not by you. You must grant the time off in Art. 45 for the assessment in the adoption process, against justification. And, to dismiss a worker in this situation, ask CITE for its opinion first (Art. 63(1)).

This guide explains the law in plain language and does not replace legal advice for complex or disputed cases.