10 basic rights every worker in Portugal should know

Portugal has some of the strongest worker protections in the EU. The rules come from the Código do Trabalho (Labour Code), which applies to everyone working in Portugal regardless of nationality. Here are the ten things you most need to understand.

1. You are entitled to a written contract

Your employer must give you a written employment contract within 20 working days of you starting work (Art. 102 CT). It must state your salary, working hours, job title, and start date. If they do not give you one, your contract is presumed to be open-ended and full-time — which actually works in your favour.

Fixed-term contracts exist but are strictly regulated. They cannot last more than 2 years (with renewals) and require a genuine temporary reason. If your employer keeps renewing short contracts without a valid reason, the contract can become permanent by law (Art. 147 CT).

2. The minimum wage is €920 per month in 2026

The national minimum wage (salário mínimo nacional, or SMN) is €920 gross per month in 2026 on the mainland. No employer can pay less than this, regardless of sector, contract type, or agreement. Madeira and the Azores apply small regional increases on top.

Importantly, this is paid 14 times a year — 12 monthly salaries plus the Christmas bonus and holiday bonus (see right #4). So the effective annual minimum is €12,880 gross.

At this wage level, IRS (income tax) withholding is zero because the tax-free threshold (mínimo de existência) was also updated. Net pay is roughly €818.80/month after the 11% Social Security deduction.

The minimum wage increases every year. Portugal has committed to reaching €1,020/month by 2028.

3. You get 22 holiday days per year

Every worker in Portugal is entitled to 22 working days of paid annual leave per year (Art. 238 CT), plus 13 national public holidays. This is a legal minimum — your contract may give you more, but never less.

In your first year of employment, the rule is different: you earn 2 working days of holiday for each month you work, up to a maximum of 20 days. You can normally only take those days after 6 months of employment.

From year two onwards, you have the full 22 days from 1 January.

Holiday days do not expire at the end of the year — unused days can be carried over to 30 April of the following year (Art. 245 CT). After that, they lapse. Your employer must allow you to take your holiday; they cannot simply not grant it and refuse to pay out.

4. You receive two mandatory bonuses every year

This surprises most expats. In Portugal, you are paid 14 months' salary per year, not 12.

• Christmas bonus (subsídio de Natal): equal to one month's base salary, paid by 15 December (Art. 263 CT).
• Holiday bonus (subsídio de férias): equal to one month's base salary, paid before or during your annual leave period, usually in June (Art. 264 CT).

Both are mandatory. If you start or leave mid-year, you receive a proportional amount. Your employer cannot replace these bonuses with a monthly supplement or include them in your headline salary without a specific legal framework.

5. Social Security is mandatory — and generous

Both you and your employer must contribute to Segurança Social (Social Security):

• You pay 11% of your gross salary each month.
• Your employer pays 23.75% on top of your salary.

These contributions are automatic — deducted from your payslip and paid directly by your employer. In return, you build entitlement to sick pay, unemployment benefit, parental leave, and eventually a state pension.

You need at least 6 months of contributions (180 days) to access most benefits. Register with Social Security as soon as you start work if your employer does not do it automatically (they are legally required to, but check).

6. Sick pay is paid by Social Security, not your employer

If you are ill and have a certified sick note (CIT — Certificado de Incapacidade Temporária), Social Security pays you a daily benefit starting from day 4 of sick leave (DL 28/2004). The first 3 days are unpaid unless you have an exception (hospital admission, cancer, tuberculosis, outpatient surgery, occupational disease).

The rates depend on how long you have been off sick:

Your employer is not required by law to top up sick pay to 100%, unless your contract or collective agreement says so.

Your employer cannot fire you while you are on certified sick leave (Art. 338 CT). This protection lasts for the duration of the sick leave.

Use the sick pay calculator to estimate how much you will receive.

7. Working hours are limited

The standard working week in Portugal is 40 hours, with a maximum of 8 hours per day (Art. 203 CT). Your employer cannot require you to work more than this without your agreement and without paying overtime.

Overtime (horas extraordinárias) must be paid at a premium:

• First hour: +25% of your hourly rate.
• Subsequent hours: +37.5%.
• Work on a rest day or public holiday: +50%.

You also have the right to rest. Between the end of one working day and the start of the next, there must be at least 11 consecutive hours of rest (Art. 214 CT).

8. Dismissal requires just cause and procedure

This is one of the strongest worker protections in Portuguese law. Your employer cannot dismiss you without just cause (Art. 338 CT). There are three legal routes to dismissal:

• Disciplinary dismissal (despedimento disciplinar): for serious misconduct. Requires a formal disciplinary process where you have the right to respond in writing (Art. 351 CT). If the procedure is not followed correctly, the dismissal is unlawful regardless of the reason.
• Collective redundancy (despedimento colectivo): affecting 2+ workers, requires consultation and compensation (Art. 359 CT).
• Individual redundancy (extinção de posto de trabalho / inadaptação): requires specific legal conditions and compensation (Art. 367 CT).

In all cases where the employer initiates the end of the contract (except dismissal for cause and probation period), you are entitled to severance pay (compensação). The standard rate for collective and individual redundancy is 14 days of base salary per year of seniority for contracts started after 1 May 2023 (Art. 366 CT, as amended by Lei 13/2023). Older contracts follow the previous rate for the period before that date.

If you believe you were dismissed unlawfully, you have 60 days to challenge it in a labour tribunal (Art. 387 CT).

9. You can resign — with notice

You also have the right to leave your job at any time, provided you give the correct notice period (aviso prévio, Art. 400 CT):

• Less than 2 years' seniority: 30 days' notice.
• 2 or more years' seniority: 60 days' notice.
• Management or autonomous-responsibility roles: 60 days regardless of seniority, and a collective agreement can extend it up to 6 months.

If you leave without giving notice, your employer can deduct the equivalent salary for the missing notice days from your final settlement (Art. 401 CT). However, there are situations where you can resign without notice — such as when your employer has not paid your salary for more than 60 days (Art. 394 n.º 5 CT), or for other serious breaches. In that case, you also keep your right to severance and unemployment benefit.

10. You have the right to a final settlement when you leave

Whenever an employment contract ends — whether you resign, are dismissed, or your fixed-term contract expires — you are entitled to a final settlement (acerto de contas, Art. 341 CT). This includes:

• Salary owed up to the last working day.
• Unused holiday days, paid out at your daily rate.
• Proportional holiday bonus for the months worked that year.
• Proportional Christmas bonus for the months worked that year.
• Severance compensation (if applicable).

Your employer must pay this on the last day of work or within 30 days of contract end. If they delay, you can claim late payment interest (Art. 323 CT) at a legal rate of 4% per year.

Where to go if your rights are violated

• ACT (Autoridade para as Condições do Trabalho): the labour inspectorate. You can file a complaint online at act.gov.pt — anonymously if you prefer. They investigate and can issue fines.
• Labour courts (tribunais do trabalho): for dismissal challenges, unpaid salary claims, and severance disputes.
• Segurança Social Directa: for sick pay, unemployment benefit, and contribution queries.