Remote work in Portugal: the 2026 reform and current rights

The Trabalho XXI labour reform bill was rejected by the Assembly of the Republic on 19 June 2026, at its general vote. That bill did not change your remote work rights. When deciding what to ask your employer for, start with the Labour Code in force.

The Government presented adapting the law to hybrid work as a reform objective. Several arrangements associated with that debate already exist in law, including alternating on-site and remote days and setting compensation for expenses.

Hybrid work already exists in law

Remote work is employment performed through information and communication technologies under Art. 165. The agreement must identify the usual workplace; changing that location requires a written agreement with the company (Art. 166 no. 4(b) and no. 8). It is not permission to decide unilaterally to work from anywhere.

In its communication of 28 May 2026, the Government described adapting to hybrid work as an objective. That announcement alone does not establish new conditions for your contract.

Written form serves as proof

Art. 166 no. 2 provides for a written agreement, within the original contract or separately. No. 5 specifies that written form is required for proof. Working remotely without a document therefore does not automatically mean there is no remote work arrangement or no entitlement to expenses and legal protection.

Formalise the agreement and keep communications about the arrangement actually followed. The document must identify, among other things, the location, working periods and schedule, duties, pay, equipment and in-person contacts. Tax exclusion for certain compensation also requires a written agreement under Ordinance 292-A/2023.

See Do I have the right to remote work in Portugal?

Contact during rest periods

Art. 199-A requires employers to refrain from contacting workers during rest periods, except in force majeure. Breaching this duty is a serious administrative offence. Treating a worker less favourably for exercising the right to rest constitutes discrimination under that article and Art. 25.

Assessing a particular contact requires the schedule, rest period and circumstances. Keep messages and their context, rather than assuming every contact at 10 pm necessarily has the same legal outcome.

Requesting remote work and receiving a refusal

• If the company proposes it, you may refuse without giving reasons. That refusal cannot justify dismissal or a sanction (Art. 166 no. 6).
• If you propose it, and the activity is compatible with remote work in light of company operations and resources, refusal must be in writing and give reasons (no. 7).

Art. 166-A establishes specific rights. Subject to compatible duties and company resources, it covers parents of children up to age three and a child of any age with a disability, chronic illness or cancer. In these cases, the child must live in the worker's household. Extension up to eight requires the situations in no. 3: both parents alternating equal periods within a reference period of no more than 12 months, a single-parent family or only one parent demonstrably able to work remotely. This extension excludes microbusinesses.

Where the statutory conditions in nos. 1 to 3 are met, the company cannot oppose the request. Domestic violence victims have the specific conditions in Arts. 166-A no. 1 and 195 no. 1. Recognised non-principal informal carers may request up to four consecutive or non-consecutive years if duties are compatible and the company has the resources. Opposition because these conditions are not met or on imperative operational grounds follows the procedure in Art. 57 nos. 3 to 10. That refusal ground does not apply to all parental requests.

Expenses: agreed amounts and tax treatment

The company is responsible for providing the necessary equipment and systems under the agreement. Art. 168 no. 2 requires full compensation for the additional expenses it covers, including increased energy and network costs and maintenance.

The wording resulting from Law 13/2023 already provides for the individual contract and applicable collective instrument to set the compensation amount. Without an agreed fixed amount, no. 4 covers goods or services the worker did not previously have and comparison with corresponding expenses in the last month of on-site work. Agreeing an amount is not a possibility that depends on a future reform.

No. 6, rather than no. 5, covers tax treatment. Exclusion from taxable income and the contribution base depends on the limits and conditions in Ordinance 292-A/2023: goods and services not supplied by the employer, a written agreement and remote working days meeting the statutory definition. It does not make any amount labelled “remote work expenses” fully exempt.

What you should do now

• Check your agreement: location, alternating arrangement, hours, expenses, equipment and in-person contacts.
• Identify the basis of your request: parents, carers and other workers do not have identical conditions.
• Keep evidence of contact during rest and additional expenses.
• Check the applicable collective instrument, which may contain relevant rules.
• Before acting on a reform, check the legislation and its commencement. Rejection of one bill does not predict every future legislative change.

Art. 169 guarantees equal rights in remote work by reference to workers with the same category or identical duties, including the rules on pay, training and career progression.

See How to file an ACT complaint.

For the wider reform, see The 2026 labour reform and dismissal.

Updated on 19 September 2026: corrected the consequences of lacking a written agreement, expense rules and the scope of special rights; removed claims about proposed changes insufficiently supported by the legislative text consulted.