Student Worker Rights in Portugal: The Full Statute

Working in Portugal while you study? The Labour Code gives you a dedicated package of rights: paid time off to attend classes, paid exam leave, holidays scheduled around your course and 10 days of unpaid leave per year (Articles 89 to 96-A). This guide shows you how to activate the student worker statute (estatuto de trabalhador-estudante), what it is worth in practice and how to keep it.

Who counts as a student worker

The definition is broad (Article 89(1)). You are a student worker if you attend:

• any level of school education, from basic to secondary to higher education;
• a postgraduate course, master's or doctorate at a teaching institution;
• a vocational training course or a youth occupation programme, as long as it lasts 6 months or more.

Your age, contract type and seniority do not matter. One thing does: keeping the statute depends on having passed the previous academic year (Article 89(2)). More on what "passing" means below.

How to apply for the statute, and renew it every year

The statute does not switch itself on. Three steps (Article 94):

1. At work: hand your employer proof that you are a student (enrolment certificate) plus the timetable of the classes you will attend (paragraph 1).
2. At school: prove you are a worker by any legally admissible means, such as your employment contract, a payslip or a company declaration (paragraph 2).
3. Choose your class schedule carefully: among the available options, you must pick the one most compatible with your work schedule. If you do not, you lose the rights (paragraph 3).

Then, every year: prove your academic results to your employer at the end of each academic year (Article 96(1)). What counts as passing? The law defines it (Article 94(4)): moving up a year or passing at least half the subjects you are enrolled in, or half the modules on modular courses. You are still protected without meeting those targets if the cause was a work accident, occupational disease, prolonged illness or parental leave of at least 1 month (paragraph 5).

One important note: you cannot combine the Labour Code rights with other schemes serving the same purpose, such as other exam leave or study leave regimes (Article 94(6)). It is one regime or the other, not both.

Time off for classes: 3 to 6 paid hours per week

Rule number one is adjustment: your work schedule must, whenever possible, be adjusted so you can attend classes and travel to school (Article 90(1)). When adjustment is not possible, you get time off work to attend classes, with no loss of rights, counting as effective work (paragraph 2). In other words: paid.

The maximum depends on your normal weekly working time (paragraph 3):

You can use the time off in one block or in parts, at your choice (paragraph 3). If you work under 20 hours per week, the table gives you no time off, but the duty to adjust your schedule (paragraph 1) still applies.

The rest of the schedule package (Article 90):

• Shift work: if it is impossible to adjust your working time to your shift pattern, you get preference for a post compatible with your qualifications and your classes (paragraph 4).
• Overtime: you cannot be forced to work it, except force majeure (paragraph 6). If you do work it, on top of normal overtime pay, see how overtime is paid, you are entitled to compensatory rest equal to half the hours worked (paragraph 8).
• Flexible time, hours banks and concentrated schedules: you cannot be forced into them when they clash with classes or exams (paragraph 6). If you do work under those regimes, you get 1 paid day off per month (paragraph 7).
• What if the company says no? If the adjustment or the time off clearly compromises the running of the company, for instance because there are many student workers, the employer must seek an agreement with you and worker representatives. Failing agreement, it must give a reasoned decision and inform you in writing (paragraph 5). It cannot simply ignore the request.

Breaching the schedule and time off rules is a serious administrative offence (Article 90(9)). The work schedule guide explains the general rules that stack on top of these.

Exam leave: justified and paid

The rules (Article 91):

• You can miss work on the day of the exam and the day immediately before it (paragraph 1(a)).
• With exams on consecutive days, or more than one exam on the same day, the prior days are as many as the exams (subparagraph b). Prior days include rest days and public holidays (subparagraph c), so you gain no extra days when the exam is on a Monday.
• Cap: 4 days per subject in each academic year (subparagraph d), and the right only exists for 2 academic years per subject (paragraph 2).
• ECTS courses (the European credit system, standard in higher education): as an alternative, you can accumulate up to 3 days, consecutive or not, or the equivalent in half days (paragraph 3). To accumulate you must give the notice required for unpaid leave: 48 hours for 1 day, 8 days for 2 to 5 days (paragraph 4, referring to Article 96(4)).
• Travel to sit exams: absences strictly needed for the journey are justified and paid up to 10 absences per academic year (paragraph 6).
• What counts as an exam: a written or oral test, and also presenting coursework when it replaces or complements a test and determines your result (paragraph 7).

What about pay? Absence to sit an assessment is justified (Article 249(2)(c)) and is not on the list of justified absences that lose pay (Article 255(2)). A justified absence affects none of your rights (Article 255(1)). If the company docks your pay, it is breaking the law. See the justified and unjustified absences guide and, if needed, how to file a complaint with ACT.

Holidays around your course and 10 days of unpaid leave

Two rights that matter in exam season (Article 92):

• Holidays: you are entitled to schedule your holiday period according to your school needs, including taking up to 15 days of split holidays, as far as compatible with pressing operational needs of the company (paragraph 1). Breach is a serious offence. The general scheduling rules are in the guide on who schedules holidays.
• Unpaid leave: in each calendar year, 10 working days of leave, consecutive or not (paragraph 2). It is unpaid, but the employer cannot refuse it. Ask in advance: 48 hours for 1 day, 8 days for 2 to 5 days, 15 days for more than 5 days (Article 96(4)). Compare it with the general unpaid leave regime, which requires agreement.

Failed the year? What you lose and how you get it back

The statute has annual maintenance (Article 95):

• If you fail the year in which you used the rights, you immediately lose the four big ones: adjusted schedule or time off for classes, holiday scheduling and unpaid leave (paragraph 1).
• The remaining rights, such as exam leave, only end if you fail 2 consecutive academic years or 3 non-consecutive ones (paragraph 2).
• False statements about enrolment or results, or using the rights for other purposes, end everything immediately (paragraph 3).
• Recovery: you can exercise the rights again in the academic year after the one in which they ended, but this can only happen twice (paragraph 4).

Summer jobs: no statute needed

Since Law 13/2023, the Labour Code has a dedicated route for students working during holidays (Article 89-A): an employment contract with a student, in force during school holidays or a break in the school year, does not need to be in writing (paragraph 1), and this regime does not depend on the student worker statute (paragraph 2). The employer must report the contract to Social Security through an electronic form (paragraph 3), and a fixed term or temporary agency contract still needs the legal grounds of Articles 140 and 180 (paragraph 4). Starting your first job in Portugal? The guide on starting work in Portugal walks you through every step.

Are you an employer? The statute is not a favour: time off for classes, exam leave and holiday scheduling for student workers are legal duties, and breaching most of them is a serious administrative offence (Articles 90(9), 91(8) and 92(3)). Ask for proof of enrolment and annual results (Articles 94 and 96) and log the time off in your working time records. The remaining hiring duties are in the guide on how to hire an employee.

This guide is general information and does not replace legal advice for your specific case. Questions? ola@despacho.pt