Late wages in Portugal: what you can do, step by step (2026)

What "late wages" means under Portuguese law

The law is very direct: salary is paid in money, on a fixed date and for the agreed amount (Art. 278 CT). Any deviation from this — a few days late, partial payment, "we will sort it by month end" — is non-compliance. There is no such thing as an acceptable delay.

In labour case law, a delay is considered material once it goes more than 15 days past the normal payday. From that point you can refuse to work without it counting as an absence (Art. 325) and you can start preparing the written formal demand.

The path in 4 steps

There is not one single step to take. Each case has the right moment for each action. The right order is this:

1. Formal demand letter — request payment in writing, give 8 days.
2. Resignation with just cause — if they still do not pay, leave with compensation.
3. ACT complaint — in parallel, for inspection pressure and a fine.
4. Unemployment benefit — apply to Social Security within the following 90 days.

The four steps combine and reinforce each other. Skipping one weakens your position. Rushing them without documentation weakens it too.

Step 1 — Formal demand: 8 days to pay (Art. 323)

Before any drastic decision, pin the problem down in writing. The formal demand (interpelação) is a letter to the employer requiring payment within 8 days. It does three things at once:

• Places the employer in default — from the moment of receipt, statutory default interest (4 per cent per year) starts to run.
• Creates documentary proof — if you later go to court or to ACT, you have a clear time marker.
• Pressure without resigning — many employers pay just because the demand arrived.

What must be in it: your identification and the employer's, breakdown of months in arrears and amounts, the 8-day payment demand, reference to Arts. 278 and 323. Send it by registered post with acknowledgement of receipt. That is the only safe way to prove they received it.

Step 2 — The 60-day rule that changes everything (Art. 394 n.º 5)

This article is short but decisive. It says the following: if the delay goes beyond 60 days, employer fault is presumed. Translation: it is no longer up to you to prove anything.

Below 60 days, in court, you have to show that the employer could pay. That is hard — it means accessing accounts, bank statements and sales records. Above 60 days, the employer has to show they could not pay despite every reasonable effort. That is much harder and they rarely succeed.

The practical takeaway: if you can wait until you cross 60 days without putting your basic needs at risk, wait. The position you have afterwards is worth ten times the position you have before. If you cannot wait, still move — but back it up with the prior formal demand, witnesses and bank evidence.

Step 3 — Resigning with just cause (Arts. 394 and 396)

When you decide to leave, this is not an ordinary resignation. It is a resolution of the contract with just cause — a specific legal route that gives you three things ordinary resignation does not:

• Compensation: 15 to 45 days of base pay plus seniority pay for each year of service. Never less than 3 months (Art. 396).
• Unemployment benefit: treated as involuntary unemployment by Social Security.
• Immediate exit: no notice. On the date you indicate, you stop working.

The resignation letter must be in writing, delivered to the employer, briefly state the facts (months overdue, the formal demands sent, the refusal to pay) and be sent within 30 days from the moment you knew the facts (Art. 395). For ongoing late wages, each new unpaid month resets this clock — but do not let months drift by.

How much you will receive

The compensation is calculated like this:

Compensation = (Base salary + seniority pay) / 30 x days/year x years of service

The "days/year" figure is set by the court between 15 and 45, depending on how serious the breach is. In long-running unpaid wages cases (more than 60 days), the trend is toward mid to high values (30 to 45 days per year).

Step 4 — Complaint to ACT (Lei 107/2009)

The Authority for Working Conditions (ACT) is the administrative regulator. It will not pay your salary itself — but it prosecutes the employer, fines them and applies pressure. File the complaint in parallel with steps 1 to 3, not at the end.

Failure to pay wages on time is a very serious misdemeanour (Art. 278 n.º 4 CT). Fines reach €61,200 for large companies. Often, the mere news that ACT is on the way is enough for the company to find the money.

The complaint can be:

• Identified, with a confidentiality request — the recommended route. ACT does not share your identity with the employer during the inspection. Stronger position, with Art. 331 protection against retaliation.
• Anonymous — ACT can still act but usually gives lower priority. No procedural protection.

Unemployment benefit: treated as involuntary

The general rule at Social Security is that someone who resigns has no right to the benefit. There is one clear exception: someone who resigns with just cause for a reason attributable to the employer (Art. 9 DL 220/2006). Late wages fit this exception perfectly.

To claim the benefit you need:

• Form RP-5044 — declaration of unemployment status, signed by the employer. You must request it in the resignation letter (the template ticks this by default).
• Work certificate — listing your role and dates (Art. 341 CT).
• IEFP registration — within the first 90 days, otherwise you lose entitlement days.
• Copy of the resignation letter — proof of just cause. Social Security reviews it and may ask for more documents.

The benefit value is 65 per cent of your reference earnings (Art. 28 DL 220/2006), capped at 2.5 x IAS (in 2026, around €1,342 per month). The duration depends on age and contribution history — from 150 days (younger workers) up to 540 days (50 plus with a long career).

Interest, deadlines and going to court (Art. 337)

Even after you leave, you still have the right to the wages owed. The employer must pay at the moment the contract ends (Art. 269). If they do not pay, there are two routes:

Administrative route (ACT). Covered in Step 4 above. It leads to a fine, but it does not recover the money for you.

Judicial route (labour court). A claim where you ask the court to order payment. You have 1 year from the end of the contract (Art. 337). After that, the debt expires. The formal demand interrupts the limitation period — one more reason to send it early.

The court claim can ask, all bundled together, for:

• Wages in arrears
• Default interest at 4 per cent per year (Art. 323)
• Compensation (if you already resigned with just cause)
• Pro-rata holiday, holiday bonus and Christmas bonus
• Unused holiday days
• Moral damages (in cases of proven impact)

Labour courts are free for workers in many situations (legal aid). A case usually takes 8 to 18 months. Most employers settle before that.

How to wire it all together: the recommended flow

Next steps

• If you want to send the formal demand now, use the demand letter template — it calculates default interest and the 60-day flag.
• If you are leaving on just cause, use the resignation template and the compensation calculator.
• If you want the ACT pressure, use the ACT complaint template.
• If you want to know your benefit, run the unemployment benefit diagnostic.
• Related reading: constructive dismissal in Portugal and termination of employment in Portugal.