False self-employment in Portugal: 8 signs you are being exploited (2026)

You issue green receipts every month. But you go to the office, you have a fixed schedule, you have a manager, you use a company email. Deep down you know something is off. The law agrees with you.

Portugal has a name for this: false self-employment (often called "falsos recibos verdes" in Portuguese). The form is service provision (green receipts), but the substance is an employment contract. The company gains: it pays less social security, gives you no paid holidays, no holiday or Christmas allowances, and can let you go any time without severance. This guide shows you the 8 signs that you are in that situation, and what you can do about it.

Before the signs: what is "false self-employment"?

In Portugal there are two ways to earn money working for someone:

• Employment contract. You are an employee. You get a salary, 22 working days of holidays, holiday and Christmas allowances, you pay 11 percent to Social Security, and the employer pays 23.75 percent on top of your salary.
• Service provision (recibos verdes / green receipts). You are independent. You issue receipts on the Portal das Finanças, pay 21.4 percent to Social Security yourself, get no paid holidays, no allowances, and you can have multiple clients and decide how and when you work.

The essential difference is not tax. It is legal subordination. In an employment contract you take orders, you follow a schedule, someone tells you how to work. In genuine service provision you have autonomy: you sell a result, not your time.

False self-employment happens when the company makes you issue green receipts but, day to day, treats you like an employee. It is fraud that has existed for decades because it saves the company a lot of money.

Sign 1: you follow a fixed schedule set by the company

If you have set hours to start and finish, if missing work means notifying and justifying, if the schedule is the same every day of the week, you are subject to a working schedule.

A genuine independent worker:

• Decides their own start time.
• Can work at night if they want to.
• Does not need permission to take a day off.
• Sells a result (deliverables), not the time spent making it.

If the company tracks attendance through a punch system, digital login, mandatory check-in times, or simply "everyone in by 9", that is a sign of subordination.

Legal basis: Art. 12 paragraph 1 (c) CT — "the activity is performed within an observed work schedule".

Sign 2: you work in the company's space using their equipment

Company laptop. Email with the company's domain. Desk in the company office. Phone paid by the company. Access to internal systems.

All of this together shows that the company provides the means of work. A genuine independent worker has their own equipment because they control their own activity.

Legal basis: Art. 12 paragraph 1 (a) and (b) CT — "the activity is carried out at a place belonging to or designated by the beneficiary" and "equipment and instruments of work used belong to the beneficiary of the activity".

Sign 3: you have a direct manager who gives you orders

There is someone at the company who tells you what to do today. Who reviews your performance. Who approves your time off (yes, even on green receipts many people ask for permission). Who assigns tasks. Who decides on raises or promotions.

This is legal subordination — the heart of an employment contract.

A genuine independent worker gets an initial brief, executes autonomously, and delivers a result. There is no boss looking over the shoulder saying "now do this", "now change that", or "now go to meeting X".

Practical signs:

• You have a manager or direct supervisor.
• There are weekly or monthly 1:1 meetings.
• The company evaluates your performance like an employee's.
• You receive formal feedback on how you work.
• You appear in internal org charts.

Legal basis: Art. 11 CT (definition of employment contract) plus Art. 12 (presumption).

Sign 4: you work exclusively (or almost) for that company

A real independent has multiple clients. Revenue is spread out. If one client drops, the others hold up.

If 80 percent or more of your annual invoicing comes from a single company, that is economic exclusivity. Worse if there is an explicit clause "no working for competitors" or if the company tells you "do not take other projects without permission".

Social Security has a specific category called "economically dependent self-employed worker" (Art. 140 Social Security Contributions Code): if more than 50 percent of your annual invoicing comes from a single entity, there are reinforced obligations. It can also be evidence of false self-employment.

Sign 5: the relationship has lasted a long time, always the same routine

You have been at the company for 2, 3, 5, 10 years. Always the same work, the same schedule, the same chain of command. Automatic monthly renewal, no end in sight.

Real service provision has a clear endpoint. There is a project, a delivery, and it ends. There may be renewals, but the relationship does not look like "permanent employment in disguise".

When the relationship lasts many years with full regularity, duration changes the form: what looked like a one-off project becomes, in substance, a continuous employment contract.

Note: duration alone is not enough to reclassify. But combined with a fixed schedule, a manager and exclusivity, it weighs heavily.

Sign 6: you receive a fixed amount every month (and on the same day)

If the company pays you 1,800 EUR on the 5th of every month, always the same amount, always the same day, that is regular fixed remuneration. It is not payment for services rendered — it is disguised salary.

A real independent invoices by deliverable or by hour worked. The amount varies with the workload. Payments can be biweekly, monthly, quarterly, but they depend on what was done.

Double sign if:

• You always receive the same amount regardless of the workload.
• You receive even during weeks when you took unpaid "holidays".
• The payment date is the same as for employees.
• The amount is described internally as "salary".

Legal basis: Art. 12 paragraph 1 (d) CT — "a certain amount is paid to the provider with a defined periodicity, as consideration for the activity".

Sign 7: you are subject to internal company rules

You must follow the internal regulation. The code of conduct applies to you. You comply with email, security and social media policies. There are disciplinary procedures if you miss work or do something wrong.

All of this belongs to the world of employment contracts. An independent is not subject to internal regulations: they have their own business.

Practical signs:

• You signed a code of conduct.
• You attend mandatory internal training.
• There are rules on how you respond to clients in the company's name.
• You receive briefings on company policy.
• There are sanctions for non-compliance.

Sign 8: you cannot refuse tasks or have someone replace you

If the company tells you to do X and you have to do X, you have no autonomy. If you cannot send someone else to do the job for you (substitution), the company hired you personally.

Real service provision works the other way around: you are hired for a result, not for who you are. A freelance designer can subcontract part of a project to another designer, as long as the final result is delivered. If you cannot do this, you are an employee.

Practical signs:

• You must accept anything the manager assigns.
• You cannot refuse projects without consequences.
• The company refuses to accept a substitute.
• You must do the work personally, every time.

The key rule: 2 of 5 criteria = presumption of employment

Art. 12 CT does not require all signs. Just 2 of the 5 official criteria are needed for the law to presume there is an employment contract:

If 2 of these are present in your case, the presumption applies automatically. The company has to prove it is not an employment contract — not you.

The other signs (4, 5, 8 — exclusivity, duration, lack of autonomy) are not directly in the 5 criteria but they reinforce the case in court. Portuguese labour case law has used all of them as converging clues.

What you can do

You have three paths. Choose based on your situation.

Path A: file a complaint with ACT (lighter, can be anonymous)

The Authority for Working Conditions accepts identified, confidential or anonymous complaints. When it detects signs of false self-employment, it notifies the employer to regularise the situation within 10 business days (Art. 15-A of Law 107/2009).

If the company does not voluntarily fix it, ACT can:

• File administrative misdemeanour proceedings with fines.
• File a court action directly to obtain recognition of the employment contract — at no cost to you.

When this makes sense: you are still working at the company, you want pressure without exposing your name, or you have already left and want to leave a trail for others.

Path B: individual court action (heavier, with compensation)

You file a case in the Labour Court asking for recognition of the employment contract. If you win, the company must pay:

• Holiday and Christmas allowances for every year of the relationship.
• 22 unpaid working days of holidays per year.
• The difference in social security contributions.
• Late payment interest on everything.
• Severance if you have already been dismissed.

Typical costs: lawyer between 2,500 and 7,000 EUR if billed by the hour; some take a percentage of what you recover (15 to 25 percent). Free legal aid is available if your income is low — check with Social Security.

Path C: renegotiate with the company

Before going to ACT or court, you can confront the company. A meeting with prepared facts changes a lot. Some companies regularise on their own when they see you know the law.

How to approach it:

1. Gather evidence of the signs (messages, emails, photos, receipts, schedule).
2. Ask for a meeting with HR or directly with management.
3. State the facts: "I have worked here X years, with a schedule, a manager, in your space, exclusively. By the criteria of Art. 12 CT this is an employment contract. Shall we regularise?"
4. Negotiate: transition to contract, possible retroactive payment, maintaining your net income.

If the company dodges or threatens, move to Path A or B with everything documented.

What you gain if the relationship is reclassified

Retroactive reclassification can be worth a lot of money. Run the numbers in your case:

Practical example. Maria from the start of the guide: 1,800 EUR per month, 4 years on green receipts. If reclassified:

• 4 holiday + 4 Christmas allowances = 8 × 1,800 = 14,400 EUR
• 4 years of unpaid holidays (22 days × 4 = 88 days) ≈ 6,500 EUR
• Severance if she had already left: 12 days × 4 years = 48 days ≈ 2,880 EUR
• Approximate direct total: 23,780 EUR

On top of this, the company has to pay retroactive social security. This is why companies push back so hard. It is not the form. It is the money.

What if I work for Uber, Glovo or another platform?

Article 12-A of the Labour Code (added by Law 13/2023) created a specific presumption for digital platform workers, with its own criteria:

• The platform sets the pay, or its upper and lower limits.
• The platform controls and supervises the activity, including in real time, by electronic means or algorithmic management.
• Your autonomy is restricted (refusing tasks, choosing schedule, using substitutes) through sanctions.
• The platform exercises disciplinary power, including account deactivation.
• The equipment belongs to the platform or is rented out by it.

The law says "some" of these characteristics are enough (2, under the current interpretation), and the presumption also covers TVDE drivers and people working through fleets or intermediaries. We have a dedicated guide: platform work in Portugal: courier and driver rights.

The path: complaint to ACT or direct court action.

How it all connects

Summary of the possible journey:

Identify signs → gather evidence → choose path (ACT / court / negotiation) → reclassification or compensation → contract or unemployment benefit.

You do not have to do everything. Choose the piece that helps you now:

• If you want to compare the numbers: calculator: green receipts vs. contract.
• If you also have unpaid wages issues: 10 basic rights working in Portugal.
• If you want to file with ACT: template ACT complaint.
• If you have left and want to estimate severance: calculator severance.