Job Abandonment in Portugal: Rules, Costs and Defence

Job abandonment in Portugal is not about missing too many days: it is disappearing without a word. After 10 consecutive working days with no news, the law lets your employer presume you are not coming back (Article 403 of the Labour Code). That costs you money, your job and your unemployment benefit.

This guide explains what counts as abandonment, what you pay if you walk away, how to defend yourself if you received the letter, and, if you are an employer, how to invoke abandonment without creating an unfair dismissal.

What counts as job abandonment (Article 403)

The law gives two routes to abandonment:

• Proven abandonment (paragraph 1): absence combined with facts that show, "in all likelihood", the intention not to return. The employer has to prove those facts.
• Presumed abandonment (paragraph 2): absence for at least 10 consecutive working days without the employer being informed of the reason. Here the employer does not need to prove your intention: your silence is enough. Only working days count, so Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays are excluded.

The detail that changes everything: the presumption only works if the employer was not informed of the reason. If you texted your manager, if your sick leave certificate entered the Social Security system, or if a family member called to explain, the employer was informed and the presumption collapses.

What abandoning your job costs

Abandonment is the most expensive way to leave a job. It counts as termination by the worker, a resignation on your initiative, but without notice. The law makes you compensate the employer for exactly the notice you failed to give (Article 401):

The company can also claim higher compensation if it proves bigger losses, for example a stopped machine or a shift covered with overtime (Article 401(1)). Exception: workers with recognised domestic violence victim status owe no notice and no compensation (Articles 400(6) and 401(2)).

On the other side of the ledger, you keep your final credits: accrued untaken holidays plus the proportional holiday and Christmas allowances for the exit year. [Common interpretation:] in the final settlement, the employer deducts the missing notice compensation from those credits. See the full breakdown in the final pay guide.

Unemployment benefit? Forget it. Article 9 of Decree-Law 220/2006 requires involuntary unemployment, and abandonment is treated as a voluntary exit, just like a normal resignation. If you are thinking of leaving, read what happens to unemployment benefit when you quit.

The alternative costs zero: a resignation letter with proper notice (Article 400). You pay nothing and leave with a clean record. See which resignation letter to use and the notice period guide.

I missed a few days without notice. Is that abandonment already?

No. Fewer than 10 consecutive working days without news does not trigger the presumption. But watch the trap: unjustified absences carry their own punishment, through a different route.

• You lose the pay and the seniority for the missing days.
• Five consecutive unjustified absences, or ten non-consecutive ones in the same year, amount to just cause for dismissal (Article 351(2)(g)). In that case the employer does not invoke abandonment: it opens disciplinary proceedings with a formal accusation and your right to reply.

In short: vanishing for a week may not be abandonment, but it can still be just cause. The consequences of unjustified absences are covered in a dedicated guide. And if the absence had a reason, report it now: even an unforeseeable absence must be notified as soon as possible.

One important note: being on communicated sick leave is never abandonment. The employer knows the reason, so the presumption never starts running. The same goes for any absence whose reason the employer knows about, even if it disputes it.

I received an abandonment letter. How do I defend myself?

The 10 day presumption is rebuttable: it can be knocked down with proof to the contrary (Article 403(4)). What you must prove is a case of force majeure that prevented you from communicating the reason for your absence.

Mind the detail: it is not enough to prove you could not work. You must prove you could not give notice. Being ill at home with your phone in hand will not do it; being in intensive care, detained, or cut off after an accident will.

The steps, in order:

1. Reply in writing, immediately. Registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt (or email with read receipt, on top of the letter) explaining the reason for the absence and since when you were unable to communicate.
2. Attach proof. Emergency room records, hospital admission note, official certificate: whatever document shows the force majeure. If you had actually informed the company (messages, emails, sick leave in the system), attach that proof too, because without "lack of information" the presumption does not even apply.
3. Demand reinstatement of the contract. If your proof is solid, the contract stands. Report back to work and state in writing that you never abandoned it.
4. If the company keeps the termination, go to court. [Common interpretation:] a termination based on a badly invoked abandonment, with no registered letter or with the presumption rebutted, is treated by the courts as unfair dismissal, with compensation or reinstatement on the table. Use the shortest dismissal deadline as your reference, 60 days (Article 387), and do not let it slip. See what to do about a dismissal that looks illegal and how unfair dismissal compensation works.

Employer? How to invoke abandonment without creating an unfair dismissal

If one of your workers has disappeared, resist the shortcut of simply removing them from payroll. Abandonment only takes effect with the right procedure, and a badly invoked abandonment turns into an unfair dismissal, with back pay and reinstatement on the table. The safe path:

1. Document your contact attempts. Calls, messages, emails, with dates. The law does not require it, but it is your good faith evidence if the case reaches court.
2. Count 10 consecutive working days of absence without any information about the reason. Weekends and public holidays do not count. Or gather unequivocal facts showing the intention not to return (paragraph 1), for example the worker already has another job.
3. Confirm nobody was informed. A sick note in the Social Security system, a message to the supervisor, word from a family member: any information about the reason kills the presumption. Check before sending the letter.
4. Send a registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt to the worker's last known address (Article 403(3)), stating the facts: the days of absence, the lack of information and the invocation of abandonment. Without this letter, the abandonment does not legally exist.
5. Close the accounts. The contract ends as a termination by the worker. Pay the final credits (holidays and proportional allowances), calculate the compensation for the missing notice (Article 401) and hand over the work certificate.
6. Report the termination on Segurança Social Direta by the 10th of the following month. Miss it and you keep owing contributions for a worker who is no longer there.

If the worker replies with proof of force majeure, stop and reassess: insisting on abandonment with the presumption rebutted means signing your own unfair dismissal case. For repeated absences without a full disappearance, the right tool is different: the disciplinary procedure step by step.

Abandonment, resignation and dismissal for absences: the differences

This guide is general information, not legal advice for your specific case. If an abandonment has already been invoked and serious money is at stake, it is worth confirming your strategy with a lawyer or at an ACT service desk.