Can I refuse an order from my employer in Portugal?

You must follow your employer's orders about how the work is done, discipline and safety. But only those that do not go against your rights (Art. 128(1)(e) of the Portuguese Labour Code). An illegal, dangerous or out of contract order can be refused. Refusing a legitimate order is just cause for dismissal (Art. 351(2)(a)). Punishing you for refusing an illegitimate order is an abusive sanction (Art. 331(1)(b)). Everything depends on which side of that line the order falls.

Which orders you must follow

Rui stocks shelves at a supermarket in Coimbra. The store manager moves him from fresh produce to drinks, tells him to start at 7am instead of 8am within the posted schedule, and orders him to wear cut resistant gloves when opening boxes. Rui dislikes all three orders. He has to follow all three.

The law gives the employer management power: setting the terms in which work is done, within the limits of the contract and the rules that govern it (Art. 97 Labour Code). On your side, the duty of obedience covers three areas (Art. 128(1)(e)):

• How the work is done: what, how, with which tools, in which order.
• Workplace discipline: schedule, uniform, conduct rules, phone use.
• Health and safety: protective equipment, procedures, training.

The duty is not only towards the company owner. It applies equally to your superior, within the powers the employer gave them (Art. 128(2)). The store manager's order counts as the employer's order.

Legitimate orders do not have to be friendly, fair or clever. An annoying but legal order is an order you follow.

When you can say no

The same point that makes you obey also sets the limit: you only follow orders that are not contrary to your rights or guarantees (Art. 128(1)(e)). These rights come from the law, the collective agreement and your contract. The most common cases:

Three of these deserve their own explanation.

Dangerous order. Sofia works in a garage in Leiria. The car lift has an oil leak and has already failed twice. The foreman tells her to work under it. Sofia reports the fault immediately, as the law requires (Art. 17(1)(e) Law 102/2009), and moves away. She cannot be prejudiced for it: no pay cut, no sanction (Art. 17(2)). More than that: the employer must have measures and instructions in place so the worker can stop work or move away in case of serious and imminent danger that cannot be technically avoided (Art. 15(6)). If those do not exist, that is the employer's problem, not Sofia's.

Order outside your duties. The contracted activity includes related or functionally linked duties (Art. 118(2)). An order within that scope is legitimate. An order to do something else is only temporary, in the company's interest and without a substantial change to your position (Art. 120). Read change of duties and category before refusing, because the grey area is wide.

Order to change workplace. This is not a free refusal. Relocation has its own rules and deadlines, and leaving may count as termination with compensation. See workplace relocation.

[Common interpretation:] the law gives no closed list of illegitimate orders. The test is always the same: does the order breach a right or guarantee you have? If yes, it does not bind you. If the answer is "I am not sure", obey and complain.

The risk of refusing badly: just cause

Pedro is a driver for a distribution company in Setubal. His manager assigns him the Almada route instead of the Barreiro one. Pedro finds it unfair, because the Almada route is longer, and refuses. He stays home for two days. The company opens disciplinary proceedings for illegitimate disobedience.

The law is clear: illegitimate disobedience to orders from superiors is one of the listed examples of just cause for dismissal (Art. 351(2)(a)). The Almada route is within Pedro's duties. The order was legitimate. The refusal was not.

But just cause is not automatic. There must be culpable conduct which, by its seriousness and consequences, makes it immediately and practically impossible to keep the employment relationship (Art. 351(1)). The assessment weighs the harm to the employer's interests, the nature of the relationship between the parties and the other circumstances of the case (paragraph 3). One isolated refusal, with no loss, by a worker with 15 clean years may justify a reprimand and not a dismissal. Repeated refusals, with customers left unserved, are a different story.

There is a second path to just cause that many people forget: culpable failure to follow health and safety rules (Art. 351(2)(h)). Refusing to wear the helmet or the cut resistant gloves the company gives you is not exercising a right. It is disobeying a safety order you are bound to follow (Art. 128(1)(j) and Art. 17(1)(a) and (c) Law 102/2009). And if your conduct helps create a dangerous situation, you are liable both disciplinarily and civilly (Art. 17(5)).

If you have already received a disciplinary notice for disobedience, read received a disciplinary notice, what to do. You have 10 working days to reply.

Punished for refusing an illegal order? Abusive sanction

Marta is an administrative assistant at a clinic in Braga. The manager tells her to record appointments that never happened in the system, to bill the insurer. Marta refuses in writing. Three weeks later she is suspended for 10 days "for lack of diligence".

The law calls this an abusive sanction: a sanction motivated by the worker refusing to follow an order they did not have to obey (Art. 331(1)(b), with an express reference to Art. 128). The employer is forbidden from punishing or treating worse anyone who exercises their rights (Art. 129(1)(a)). What Marta gets:

• Presumption in her favour: any sanction applied within 6 months of the refusal is presumed abusive (Art. 331(2)(a)). The company has to prove otherwise.
• Minimum compensation: for a fine or suspension, at least 10 times the fine or the lost pay (paragraph 5). Marta earns 1,200 euros. Ten days of suspension cost her 400 euros (1,200 / 30 x 10). Minimum compensation is 4,000 euros.
• If it is a dismissal: she chooses between reinstatement and the compensation of Art. 392(3), between 30 and 60 days of base pay per year of service, never below 6 months (paragraph 4).
• Fine for the company: applying an abusive sanction is a very serious offence (paragraph 7). Breaching the guarantees of Art. 129 is too (paragraph 3).

The general caps on sanctions and the deadlines to challenge them are in disciplinary sanctions: types, caps and appeals.

How to refuse without getting burned

Refusing well is a matter of form. Four steps, in this order:

1. Ask for the order in writing or confirm it yourself by email: "Just confirming you asked me to do X. Is that right?". A verbal order denied later does not exist.
2. Refuse in writing, with the reason and the article: "I cannot follow this order because it breaches Art. 17 of Law 102/2009: the lift has a reported fault and poses a serious and imminent danger." Short, no insults, no threats.
3. Offer to do the rest: "I remain available for the other tasks of my role." This kills the argument that you abandoned work.
4. Keep everything: emails, messages, photos of the site, names of witnesses. If there is a danger, also tell the health and safety representative, if there is one.

If the company insists or punishes you, file a complaint with ACT. Abusive sanctions and breaches of the worker's guarantees are very serious offences. And if the situation makes it impossible for you to stay, a culpable breach of your guarantees can be just cause for you to terminate the contract with compensation. See constructive dismissal: how to prove it.

Special cases: heat, overtime, minors and illness

Some cases have their own rule and their own guide:

• Extreme heat: there is no maximum temperature in the law, but serious and imminent danger applies. Read working in the heat: your rights.
• Overtime: the rule is that you must; the exception is being excused for a valid reason (Art. 227(3)). Read overtime pay and rules.
• Minors: no overtime and no night work, with narrow exceptions. Read working under 18.
• Disability or chronic illness: exemption from overtime and from flexible schedules that harm your health. Read workers with a disability or chronic illness.
• Orders about what you wear, say or post: they fall under workplace discipline but are limited by personality rights. The ten basic rights of working in Portugal are the starting point.

For employers: giving orders that get followed

An order is only enforceable within the contract and the law (Art. 97). Before giving one, check four points. First, authority: does the person giving the order have delegated powers for it (Art. 128(2))? An order from a colleague without hierarchical powers binds no one. Second, content: does the order fit the contracted activity (Art. 118) or, if it goes beyond it, does it meet the requirements for functional mobility (Art. 120)? Third, safety: if the worker invokes serious and imminent danger, stop, assess and document; punishing them for moving away is both an offence and an abusive sanction (Art. 17(2) Law 102/2009 and Art. 331 Labour Code). Fourth, records: give the order in writing and keep the refusal. A well documented illegitimate disobedience supports disciplinary proceedings; a disputed verbal order supports nothing. And remember the 6 month presumption: any sanction applied within that period after a legitimate refusal or complaint is presumed abusive, and the burden of proof is yours.