Platform work in Portugal: courier and driver rights

Do you deliver food, drive for a ride app or work through any platform in Portugal? Since 2023, Portuguese law presumes you have an employment contract with the platform when it controls your work (Article 12-A of the Labour Code). This guide shows you the 6 signs, what you gain with a contract and how to claim it.

An example before the law

What does "presumed" mean? It means that in court, or in an inspection by ACT (the Portuguese labour inspectorate), the starting point is that an employment contract exists. Rui does not have to prove subordination: the platform has to prove his autonomy. This is known as the presumption of employment.

What about the paper you signed saying "independent service provider"? It changes nothing. Article 12-A(3) says the presumption applies whatever name the parties gave the relationship.

This regime has existed since 1 May 2023: Law 13/2023 (the Decent Work Agenda) created Article 12-A. Before that, couriers and drivers only had the general presumption of Article 12, which still applies to everyone and is explained in our guide to false self-employment.

The 6 signs in Article 12-A

The presumption applies when some of these characteristics are present in the relationship between you and the platform:

The law says "some of the following characteristics" and does not give a number. Under the current interpretation, mirroring the general regime of Article 12, 2 signs are enough for the presumption to apply.

Notice something: almost everything delivery apps do by default (setting prices, rating, tracking, blocking accounts) is on the list.

Account deactivated: the sign that hurts most

It is every courier's fear: waking up to a blocked account. No account, no orders. No orders, no money.

The law looks at this head on. Deactivating an account is, in the words of Article 12-A, an exercise of disciplinary power, including "exclusion from future activity on the platform through account deactivation" (point (e)). And disciplinary power belongs to employers, not to clients.

In practice:

• Always save a screenshot of the blocking message, with the date and the reason (or lack of one).
• Every block or suspension strengthens your evidence that an employment contract exists.
• If the contract is recognised, the platform can only "dismiss" you with just cause and a disciplinary procedure, never with a click.

Working through a fleet or "partner"? The law thought of that

Many platforms do not contract directly: they put a fleet, a "partner" or a management company in the middle. The idea is simple: if the formal employer is the fleet, the platform washes its hands.

Article 12-A closes that door with four rules:

1. The presumption still applies when you work through an intermediary, with the necessary adaptations (Article 12-A(6)).
2. The court determines who the employer is: the platform, the intermediary, or both (Article 12-A(6)).
3. The platform cannot treat direct workers worse than those coming through intermediaries, including in algorithmic management (Article 12-A(7)).
4. They are all jointly liable. Platform, intermediary, their directors and group companies answer together for your labour credits, social security contributions and fines from the last 3 years (Article 12-A(8)).

What you gain if the presumption applies

Once the employment contract is recognised, the Labour Code rules compatible with your activity apply (Article 12-A(9)). The article gives concrete examples:

• Minimum wage: 920 euros per month in 2026, paid 14 times a year.
• Paid holidays: 22 working days per year.
• Working time limits: 8 hours a day, 40 a week.
• No dismissal without just cause: the days of "deactivated, done" are over.
• Work accidents: compulsory insurance paid by the employer.
• Equality and non-discrimination: including in the algorithm's criteria.

On top of these come the general rules: holiday and Christmas allowances, employer social security contributions of 23.75%, and access to unemployment benefit if you lose your job.

TVDE drivers: the law closes the loophole

Some argued that Uber and Bolt drivers were excluded because the TVDE sector has its own law. Article 12-A(12) answers directly: the presumption applies to digital platform activities, "including those regulated by specific legislation on individual paid passenger transport".

In other words: delivery couriers, TVDE drivers, and any other work organised through a platform, online or on the street, is covered (Article 12-A(2) defines digital platform broadly).

The platform can fight back, and you may prefer to stay as you are

Be realistic: the presumption can be rebutted. Article 12-A(4) says the platform may prove that you work with real autonomy, free of control, direction and disciplinary power.

[It depends on the case:] someone who works on several apps at once, freely chooses when to log on and off, declines orders without any penalty and uses their own equipment looks much closer to a genuinely independent worker.

And one simple truth: nobody forces you to claim the contract. If the independent model works for you, you can keep it. In that case, make sure your social security as a self-employed worker is in order: sick pay, parental leave and pension all depend on your contributions.

What is coming: the EU directive

Directive (EU) 2024/2831 on platform work entered into force on 1 December 2024. Portugal has until 2 December 2026 to transpose it into national law.

The directive reinforces two points: the presumption of employment across all member states, and transparency in algorithmic management. Important automated decisions (such as account blocks) will have to be explained and reviewable by humans. Part of these rights already exists in Portuguese law today: see our guide on AI and algorithms at work.

When the transposition law is published in the official gazette, we will update this guide.

How to claim, step by step

1. Gather evidence. App screenshots: set prices, ratings, sanction or blocking messages, conduct rules. Payment statements. The contract or terms you accepted.
2. File a complaint with ACT. It can be identified, confidential or anonymous. We explain the process in how to file an ACT complaint. If ACT confirms the signs, it notifies the company to regularise the situation and can take the case to court.
3. Or bring your own claim in the labour court, with legal aid if your income is low.
4. Know what the platform risks: a very serious administrative offence (Article 12-A(10)) and, for repeat offences, loss of public support and EU funds for up to 2 years and exclusion from public tenders (Article 12-A(11)).

Connect the pieces

• General signs of disguised employment: false self-employment: 8 signs.
• Your rights before algorithms: AI and algorithms at work.
• While self-employed: social security for the self-employed.
• New to Portugal? Starting work in Portugal.
• Numbers: net salary calculator and severance calculator.

This guide is general information and does not replace legal advice for your specific case.