Starting work in Portugal: the essentials you must know

Starting a job in Portugal? You need two numbers (NIF and NISS), a contract with the right paperwork, and half a dozen rules nobody explains on day one. This guide covers all of it.

It is written for you, arriving from abroad, but it works for anyone starting their first job in Portugal. In 2026, the minimum wage is 920 euros paid 14 times a year, the legal maximum is 8 hours per day, and the minimum paid holiday is 22 working days. Let's go in order.

First things first: do you have the right to work in Portugal?

Citizens of the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland do not need a visa to live and work in Portugal; identification from your home country is enough.

Citizens of other countries need a visa or residence permit that allows work. The rules, visa types and applications are handled by AIMA, the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum, and explained on the gov.pt portal for migrants. This guide does not cover visas: it assumes that part is settled (or under way) and focuses on the employment side.

The two numbers you need: NIF and NISS

The NIF (tax identification number) is your number with the tax authority. It is mandatory for anyone who works and pays taxes in Portugal, and you will need it to open a bank account or sign a lease. It is free and requested at a tax office (booking line: 217 206 707). Documents: if you already live in Portugal, your home country ID or passport plus your residence permit; if you are not a resident yet, you need a fiscal representative living in Portugal. If you present a passport, you also show your entry visa.

The NISS (Social Security identification number) is what connects you to the welfare system: sickness, unemployment and parental benefits all depend on it. You request it online through a form on the Social Security portal, with three types of documents: identification (passport, work visa and residence permit for non-EU citizens; home country ID is enough for EU citizens), proof of your work situation (your contract works) and proof of your residence application. It is free. You then receive a registered letter to collect the NISS in person.

Two useful shortcuts: your employer can request the NISS on your behalf, acting as your legal representative for that request, and if you already have an address in Portugal you can request the NIF, NISS and national health service number all at once.

The contract and the paperwork the company must give you

In Portugal, a permanent contract (being "efetivo") is valid even without paper (Art. 110 of the Labour Code). That does not mean you get nothing in writing: the company must hand you, in writing and signed, the essential conditions of your job (Arts. 106 and 107):

• by the 7th day: company identification, workplace, duties, dates, pay, schedule and the length of the probation period;
• within 1 month: the rest, including holidays, notice periods, the applicable collective agreement, the work accident insurance policy number and insurer, and social protection.

Three rules that protect you from day one:

• An unwritten probation period does not exist. If its length is not communicated to you in writing, the law presumes it was excluded (Art. 111(4)), and a dismissal "during probation" becomes an unlawful dismissal. The normal lengths are in the probation period guide.
• Fixed-term contracts must always be written, with a concrete reason; otherwise they convert into a permanent contract.
• Your hiring is reported to Social Security before your first day (Art. 29 of the Contributions Code). In your first days, check on Seguranca Social Direta that the employment is registered; that report is what secures your future benefits.

If you are offered "recibos verdes" (freelance invoices) for a job with a fixed schedule, a boss and company equipment, be careful: it may be false self-employment, and the law has tools to reclassify it as an employment contract.

Pay: the minimum, the allowances and the deductions

• Minimum wage 2026: 920 euros gross, fourteen times a year. Nobody can be paid less for full-time work; the details (net value, autonomous regions, part-time) are in the minimum wage guide.
• Holiday and Christmas allowances: they are mandatory pay, not a bonus. How they work: holiday allowance and Christmas bonus.
• Meal allowance: many companies pay it (through collective agreements or practice), but general law does not require it. In 2026 it is tax-free up to 6.15 euros/day in cash or 10.46 euros/day on a card; see the meal allowance guide.
• Deductions: 11% of gross for Social Security plus income tax withholding according to your bracket. The payslip must itemise everything.

Hours, rest and holidays: your minimums

• Schedule: a maximum of 8 hours per day and 40 per week (Art. 203 of the Labour Code). Special regimes and exceptions are in the working hours limits guide.
• Rest: at least 1 rest day per week (Art. 232), usually Sunday in many sectors, but not necessarily.
• Overtime: work outside your schedule is paid with uplifts (25% to 100%) and must be logged; the company is required to keep working time records of your hours.
• Holidays: a minimum of 22 working days per year (Art. 238), paid and with an allowance on top. In your first year of contract the right builds up gradually: 2 working days per month, up to 20, which you can take after 6 months. Check how many days you get in the 22 or 25 days guide.
• Absences: justified absences (sickness, family bereavement, medical appointments) cannot cost you your job; the full map is in the guide on justified and unjustified absences.

Health, insurance and your social protection

Before you start (or within the first 15 days, for urgent hirings), the company sends you to the admission medical exam with the occupational doctor. It is part of its health and safety obligations, and you never pay for any of it.

The company must also hold work accident insurance for you from day one (Art. 79 of Law 98/2009); the policy number comes in the mandatory contract paperwork.

Your deductions buy real protection: after 6 months of contributions you qualify for sick pay (see the sick leave payment table), and involuntary unemployment entitles you to unemployment benefit after 360 days of contributions in 24 months. That is why working off the books is always a bad deal.

If something goes wrong

Save this paragraph. If the company does not hand you the paperwork, does not pay you, does not register you with Social Security or demands hours that are never logged or paid, you can file a complaint with ACT, the labour inspectorate. It is free, can be anonymous and works online. And to know your full baseline of rights, start with the 10 basic rights of working in Portugal.

Are you an employer hiring someone from abroad? The other side of this guide is how to hire an employee in Portugal, including the Social Security report and the NISS request made by the company.

This guide summarises the general rules for starting employment in Portugal. Visas and residence permits have their own rules (AIMA), and collective agreements can improve on the minimums described here.