Performance Evaluation Template for Portugal (2026)

Copy the evaluation form below, adapt the criteria to your company and share them with workers before the cycle starts. That order of events, not the paper itself, is what gives a performance evaluation legal value in Portugal.

What this template is for

Sofia runs a shop with 9 staff. She wants to pay a fair end of year bonus without it looking like favouritism. Rui manages an agency with 14 technicians and knows that if he ever has to make a position redundant, the law will ask him for documented selection criteria. Both need the same piece of paper: an evaluation form with clear criteria, communicated at the start of the year and signed at the end.

This template covers both cases. If you are a worker and just received an evaluation that smells wrong, jump to the final section on your rights.

What Portuguese law says (and does not say)

The Labour Code has no chapter called "performance evaluation". In the private sector, each company designs its own system. The mandatory, regulated evaluation system, SIADAP, exists only in public administration.

But the Code mentions evaluation at decisive moments:

Practical translation: you may never need the evaluation for any of this. But on the day you do, either the criteria already existed in writing and were known, or the evaluation is worthless. A form invented in December to justify a decision already taken is exactly what courts and the labour inspectorate (ACT) look for.

The 5 rules before you evaluate

Breaking one of these rules turns the evaluation into a legal problem instead of a management tool:

[Common interpretation:] there is also an unwritten sixth rule. Using evaluations to punish workers who claimed their rights, filed an ACT complaint or held union roles comes close to the logic of abusive sanctions in Art. 331 CT and is one of the patterns that looks worst in court. If someone's score drops right after a complaint, be ready to explain why with facts.

How to use the template in 6 steps

1. At the start of the cycle (January, not December): fill in sections A and B with criteria, weights and objectives. Give the worker a copy and keep proof of delivery.
2. Technical or management roles: sign the objectives and have the worker sign them. That paper is what Art. 374(2) CT requires for the inadaptation route to exist.
3. During the year, record concrete facts: numbers, dates, situations. "Arrived 40 minutes late to 3 client meetings in March" carries weight; "has a bad attitude" does not.
4. At the end of the cycle: hold a meeting, fill in the scores, listen to the self-assessment and write your comments in front of the worker, not in secret.
5. Signatures: evaluator and worker. Leave space for the worker to disagree in writing on the form itself.
6. Filing: store the form with restricted access (management and HR only) and give the worker a copy. They have the right to consult it and request corrections (Art. 17(3) CT).

Performance evaluation form (copy and adapt)

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION FORM
Period: [YEAR or SEMESTER]

A. IDENTIFICATION
Company: [COMPANY NAME]
Worker: [FULL NAME], category: [PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY]
Evaluator: [NAME AND ROLE OF THE PERSON EVALUATING]
Evaluation cycle: from [START DATE] to [END DATE]
Criteria communicated to the worker on: [DATE, START OF THE CYCLE]

B. OBJECTIVES (weight: 60%)
| Objective | Indicator | Target | Result | Score (1 to 5) |
| [e.g. increase shop sales] | [monthly revenue] | [up 8%] | [___] | [_] |
| [e.g. reduce complaints] | [complaints per month] | [down 20%] | [___] | [_] |
| [objective 3] | [indicator] | [target] | [___] | [_] |

(For technical or management roles: these objectives were agreed
in writing on [DATE], under Art. 374(2) of the Portuguese
Labour Code.)

C. COMPETENCIES (weight: 40%)
| Competency | What is observed | Score (1 to 5) |
| Quality of work | errors, rework, deadlines met | [_] |
| Teamwork | collaboration, mutual help, conflicts | [_] |
| Autonomy | solves problems without escalating everything | [_] |
| Customer service | client feedback, attitude | [_] |

D. OVERALL RESULT
Final score (weighted average of B and C): [X.X]
Scale: 1 = insufficient | 2 = needs improvement | 3 = good | 4 = very good | 5 = excellent

E. EVALUATOR COMMENTS
[CONCRETE FACTS WITH DATES AND NUMBERS, NOT VAGUE OPINIONS]

F. SELF-ASSESSMENT AND WORKER COMMENTS
[SPACE FOR THE WORKER TO WRITE, INCLUDING DISAGREEMENT]

G. DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Planned training: [COURSE OR AREA AND DEADLINE]
Follow-up: [NEXT CHECK-IN DATE]

H. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Date of the evaluation meeting: [DATE]
Evaluator signature: ________________________
Worker signature: ______________________
(The worker's signature counts as acknowledgment of the
evaluation, not as agreement with its content.)

Three notes on the template:

• Careful with attendance criteria. Lowering scores for absences due to parental leave, breastfeeding breaks or family care falls squarely under Art. 25(7) CT, which treats attendance bonuses and unfavourable evaluations linked to work-life balance as discriminatory. If you want to measure presence, measure only unjustified absences, which already have their own consequences.
• The weights (60/40) are an example. Adjust them to the role. For roles without measurable objectives, invert them or evaluate competencies only.
• Section G is not decorative. Every worker in Portugal is entitled to a minimum of 40 hours of continuous training per year. Use the evaluation to plan it, as explained in the hiring guide.

What the evaluation is for afterwards (and what it is not for)

It works for: deciding bonuses and raises with criteria, planning training, supporting promotions, and building the written record the law demands if you ever need individual redundancy or dismissal for inadaptation, where, without changes to the role, the law also requires warning the worker in writing, giving at least 5 working days to respond and issuing concrete instructions to correct course (Art. 375(2) CT).

It does not work for: cutting the base salary of someone with a low score (pay is protected by law, see the payslip guide); automatic dismissal (a bad score is not just cause, the disciplinary route demands facts and process, as shown in the disciplinary procedure guide); or retaliating against someone who claimed their rights (Art. 331 CT). Before any major decision, compare the legal routes in the guide on how to dismiss an employee.

Are you the worker? Your 4 rights in the evaluation

1. Know the criteria in advance. If you never saw the parameters and the company wants to use your "worst evaluation" to select you in a redundancy, Art. 368(2) CT is on your side.
2. See your form and correct wrong data (Art. 17(3) CT). Ask for a copy in writing.
3. Not to be evaluated by camera or discriminated against, whether by managers or by algorithms (Arts. 20(1), 24(3) and 25 CT). If your score dropped after parental leave, the burden of proving it was not discrimination falls on the employer (Art. 25(5)).
4. Disagree in writing on the form itself. Signing counts as acknowledgment, not agreement [Common interpretation]. If the bad score arrived right after a complaint or leave, also read the workplace bullying guide and keep everything in writing.

If bonuses are recurring, also check how bonuses and commissions are taxed in the bonus and commissions guide and what must appear on the payslip.

This template and guide summarise the Portuguese Labour Code rules in force as of July 2026. Sector collective agreements may set their own evaluation and career rules; check the applicable CCT before finalising your system.