Can I have two jobs in Portugal? What the law allows in 2026

Yes, you can have two jobs in Portugal. Since 2023 the Labour Code says the opposite of what many people assume: your employer is the one who cannot stop you from having another professional activity, except on objective grounds (Art. 129(1)(k)). The real limit is a different one: you cannot work for a competitor or use company information (Art. 128(1)(f)). And if you work in the public sector, you need authorisation before you start.

The rule since 2023: your employer cannot forbid it

Miguel is a maintenance technician at a factory in Leiria, 8am to 5pm. On Saturdays he wants to work in a restaurant. His manager tells him "we do not accept second jobs here". Can the company do that?

No. Law 13/2023 added a new item to the list of things an employer is forbidden to do. The employer may not:

"Prevent the worker from exercising another professional activity, except on objective grounds, namely health and safety or professional secrecy, or treat the worker unfavourably because of that activity." (Art. 129(1)(k), our translation)

Three things follow:

• It cannot stop you. Not in writing, not "because we say so", not through internal rules.
• It cannot treat you worse for having another job: no losing your bonus, being passed over for promotion or getting the worst shifts because of it.
• It can only forbid it on objective grounds. The law gives two examples: health and safety (a lorry driver who does night shifts elsewhere) and professional secrecy (a worker with access to trade secrets who wants to work for a supplier). The list is not closed, but the reason has to be concrete and linked to your job.

Breaching this guarantee is a very serious offence (Art. 129(3)). The rule comes from Directive (EU) 2019/1152, which requires Member States to ensure that "an employer neither prohibits a worker from taking up employment with other employers, outside the work schedule established with that employer, nor subjects a worker to adverse treatment for doing so" (Art. 9 of the Directive). Portugal transposed the Directive through Law 13/2023 (Art. 1(a)).

Miguel can take the Saturday job. If the company punishes him for it, the sanction is unlawful and he can file a complaint with the ACT, the labour inspectorate.

The limit that remains: no working for a competitor

The same law that gives you freedom reminds you that it has a limit. Art. 129(2) says that point (k) "does not release the worker from the duty of loyalty" or from "incompatibilities" laid down in special legislation.

The duty of loyalty is in Art. 128(1)(f). You must be loyal to your employer, "namely by not trading on your own or someone else's behalf in competition with the employer, nor disclosing information about its organisation, production methods or business".

In practice, two limits:

1. Do not compete. Working for a company that sells the same thing to the same customers, or setting up your own business in that field, breaches the duty of loyalty. This applies whether the second activity is an employment contract, freelance work or your own company.
2. Do not use company information. Customer lists, prices, methods, projects. Even if the second job is not with a competitor.

Sara is a sales rep at an invoicing software company in Porto. She is offered evening work doing demos for another invoicing software company. That is direct competition: it breaches Art. 128(1)(f). If instead Sara teaches English in the evenings, there is no problem at all.

The consequence of breaching loyalty is serious. Art. 351(2)(e) lists "serious harm to the company's financial interests" as an example of just cause for dismissal. The employer has to prove that your behaviour made it impossible to carry on (351(1)), but working for a competitor is usually enough. See how the process works in disciplinary procedure step by step.

Do not confuse this with a non-compete clause. That clause is for after the contract ends, must be in writing, with a time limit and compensation (Art. 136). It is explained in non-compete clause in Portugal. While the contract lasts, what binds you to the company is the duty of loyalty, with no clause needed.

Exclusivity clauses: what holds and what does not

Many contracts contain a line such as "the employee undertakes to work on an exclusive basis". Since Law 13/2023, a clause like this only holds if it has an objective ground (Art. 129(1)(k)). A general exclusivity requirement with no concrete reason is a ban the law no longer allows.

In current interpretation, a clause that only requires you to notify the employer of a second job, or to ask for authorisation where there is a risk of conflict, tends to be valid, because it lets the employer check the objective grounds the law mentions. A clause that says "no other job, full stop" does not.

What to do if your contract has such a clause:

• Read it. See whether it talks about notifying, authorising or forbidding.
• If it requires notice, notify in writing, with the company, the hours and the field of the second job. Keep a copy.
• If it forbids without a reason, you can go ahead with the second job. But write to your employer first, saying you will do so, that there is no competition or safety risk, and that a blanket ban breaches Art. 129(1)(k). If the company reacts, you have everything on record.

If you are on unpaid leave, the rules are the same: you can work elsewhere, but not for a competitor.

Hours, rest and your health

The Labour Code sets the normal working period at 8 hours a day and 40 a week (Art. 203(1)). This limit applies to each contract. In current interpretation, for an adult the law does not add the schedules of the two employers together. The proof is Art. 80: the law only requires the working periods to be added and the rest days to coincide when the worker is under 18. If it needed to say that for minors, it is because no such rule exists for adults.

That does not mean you can do anything:

• Each employer must give you 11 hours of rest between the end of one working day and the start of the next (Art. 214) and one rest day a week, within its own schedule. See the limits in working hours limits in Portugal.
• Fatigue is an objective ground of health and safety. If you work 8 hours in one job and 6 in another every day, the first employer can rely on Art. 129(1)(k) to restrict the combination, especially in risky roles (driving, machinery, healthcare).
• If you are under 18, the two schedules combined cannot exceed the limits and the weekly rest days must coincide. You must inform the new employer in writing before starting and the others whenever something changes (Art. 80(2)). More in working under 18 in Portugal.

Income tax and social security with two salaries

This is where most people get a surprise in May.

Income tax (IRS). Each employer applies the withholding tables to the salary it pays you, as if it were your only income. Neither knows what the other pays. In April or May, when you file your return, the tax authority adds both salaries together. Because IRS is progressive, the final rate can be higher than the one each employer applied. Depending on your case, instead of a refund you may owe tax.

Miguel earns 1,300 euros at the factory and 400 euros at the restaurant. Each employer withholds as if he earned only that amount. At the restaurant, on 400 euros, the withholding may even be zero. In the annual return, the 1,700 euros a month count together. Rule of thumb: set aside part of the second salary until the year's IRS is settled. To see what each salary leaves you, use the net salary calculator.

Social security with two employment contracts. Each employer deducts 11% from your salary and pays its own share. Both records go into your contribution record. There is no cap and no duplication: you pay on both and both count for your pension, sick pay and unemployment benefit.

Employment contract plus freelance work. Here there is a rule in your favour. According to Social Security, anyone who combines self-employed activity with employment is exempt from contributing as self-employed while the average monthly relevant income stays below 4 times the IAS, that is 2,148.52 euros in 2026 (IAS 2026: 537.13 euros). Conditions: the two activities are for different entities with no group relationship between them; the employment covers all contingencies; and the average salary from that employment is at least 1 IAS (537.13 euros). Above the limit, you contribute only on the excess. Details in social security for the self-employed.

What happens to sick leave, holidays and unemployment

Sick leave. Sick leave belongs to you, not to the job. If you are on sick leave, you are on sick leave in both: with a temporary incapacity certificate (CIT) you cannot do any professional activity anywhere. Going to work at the second job while on sick leave from the first means returning the benefit and gives the employer grounds for disciplinary action. See sick leave pay in Portugal.

Holidays and bonuses. Each contract gives you its own 22 working days of holiday, its own holiday bonus and its own Christmas bonus. Nothing is deducted for having another job. You just have to line up the dates so the holidays match in both places, which no employer is obliged to guarantee.

Accident on the way between the two jobs. It counts as a work accident. The employer you were travelling to is liable (Art. 9 of Law 98/2009). Explained in work accidents in Portugal.

Losing one of the two jobs. Here the answer is less clean. Unemployment benefit assumes you are left without work. Social Security has a partial unemployment benefit for people who have claimed or receive the benefit and work part time on a salary lower than the benefit. Depending on your case, if you keep the second job, your entitlement and the amount depend on the hours and pay you keep. Run the simulation on Segurança Social Direta and read how to apply for unemployment benefit.

Public sector: the exception with its own rules

If you work for the State, a municipality, a public hospital or a state school, the rule is reversed. The General Law on Public Employment (Law 35/2014, known as the LTFP) says that "public functions are, as a rule, exercised on an exclusive basis" (Art. 20). This is the "special legislation" on incompatibilities that Art. 129(2) of the Labour Code preserves.

Combining public employment with a private job or activity is possible, but only if (Art. 22(3)):

• the activity is not legally incompatible with public functions;
• the hours do not overlap, not even partly, with the public job;
• it does not compromise independence and impartiality;
• it does not harm the public interest or citizens' rights.

You can never combine public functions with a private activity that is competing, similar or conflicting with them (Art. 22(1)). The law treats as competing any activity with identical content, carried out habitually, for the same kind of recipients (22(2)).

And you always need prior authorisation from the competent authority (Art. 23(1)). The request must state the place, the hours, the pay, whether the work is employed or self-employed, the justification that there is no conflict and a commitment to stop if a conflict arises (23(2)). Working without authorisation, or acting against the interests of your service, revokes the authorisation and is a serious disciplinary offence (Art. 22(5)).

Ana is a nurse at a public hospital (SNS). She wants to do weekend shifts at a private clinic. She has to request authorisation in writing before starting, show that the hours do not overlap and that there is no conflict. Without authorisation, she risks disciplinary proceedings.

Table: can I or can I not?

How to go ahead without problems

Four steps, in this order:

1. Read your contract. Look for "exclusivity", "accumulation", "other activity", "authorisation". If there is nothing, the law is enough: you can go ahead.
2. Check for competition. Does the second job sell the same thing, to the same customers, as the first? If yes, stop. If not, carry on.
3. Notify in writing when the clause requires it, or whenever you want to be protected. A short email: "I inform you that from [date] I will work as [role] at [company], on Saturdays from 10am to 4pm. There is no competition with our activity and no overlap of hours." Keep a copy.
4. Sort out tax and social security. Set aside part of the second salary for the IRS settlement. If the second job is freelance, register the activity with the tax office and check the exemption on Segurança Social Direta.

If your employer punishes you, takes away bonuses or threatens you because of the second job, that is forbidden unfavourable treatment (Art. 129(1)(k)). Complain in writing and, if nothing changes, file a complaint with the ACT. If the sanction is formal, read disciplinary sanctions in Portugal.

For employers: what you can still require

Since Law 13/2023, forbidding an employee from having another professional activity is only lawful on objective grounds, and the law gives health and safety and professional secrecy as examples (Art. 129(1)(k) of the Labour Code). A generic exclusivity clause with no concrete reason linked to the role is no longer valid, and enforcing it is a very serious offence (129(3)). What you can still require: that the employee does not compete with you or disclose company information (Art. 128(1)(f)), that they comply with health and safety rules, including enough rest between shifts, and, where there is an objective ground, that they notify you of the other activity so you can assess the risk. If you want protection after the contract ends, the right tool is the non-compete clause of Art. 136, in writing and with compensation. If you detect competition during the contract, the route is disciplinary proceedings, explained in how to dismiss an employee in Portugal.