Working under 18 in Portugal: age, hours and limits

You can work in Portugal from age 16, as long as you are in secondary school or have finished compulsory schooling (Art. 68 of the Labour Code). Until you turn 18 you have your own set of rules: at most 8 hours a day and 40 a week, no overtime, no work between 10pm and 7am, a mandatory break after 4 hours 30 minutes, 12 hours of rest between days and 2 days off a week (Arts. 73 to 79). And you get the full minimum wage: 920 euros in 2026.

From what age you can work

Tiago is 16, has just moved up to the 11th year of secondary school and wants a summer job at a beach cafe in Espinho. Can he? Yes. He meets the three conditions of Art. 68(1):

1. He has reached the minimum age for admission, which is 16 (Art. 68(2)).
2. He is enrolled in and attending secondary education. The alternative is having completed compulsory schooling, which in Portugal runs until age 18 or until you finish the 12th year (Law 85/2009).
3. He has the physical and mental capacity for the job. The pre-employment medical check confirms this (Art. 72).

"Minor" in the Labour Code means under 18. Between 16 and 18 you can work, but under a protective regime that employers do not always know. This guide is that regime.

And below 16?

Ines is 15 and in the 10th year. She may only do light work (Art. 68(3)): simple, defined tasks that do not harm her health, safety, school attendance or development. Restocking shelves in a stationery shop or helping at a counter for short hours fits. Working in a kitchen with a deep fryer or on a building site does not.

Three extra rules for under 16s:

• In a family business, the minor must work under the supervision of an adult member of the household (Art. 68(4)).
• The employer must notify ACT of the hiring within 8 days (Art. 68(5)). No notice is a minor offence. Work that is not light is a serious offence (Art. 68(6)).
• The contract is only valid with written authorisation from the parents (Art. 70(2)).

And if you left school?

Rui is 17, did not finish the 12th year and is not enrolled anywhere. In this case Art. 69 only lets him work if he is attending education or training that gives him compulsory schooling, a professional qualification, or both (Art. 69(1)). An employer who hires him without that commits a very serious offence (Art. 69(5)).

What Rui gains in that situation:

• He gets student worker status, with class-time release doubled: up to 12 hours a week instead of 6 (Art. 69(3), referring to Art. 90(3)). See the rest of those rights in the student worker guide.
• He has the right to move to part time, with hours that, added to school or training hours, total 40 a week (Art. 67(4)).
• If he leaves the company during training paid by it, or right after, he may have to repay the direct cost of that training (Art. 71).

The exception: anyone who works only during school holidays does not need to be in training (Art. 69(2)). In every case, the employer notifies ACT within 8 days (Art. 69(4)).

The contract: what your parents can block

Back to Tiago. At 16 and enrolled, the contract he signs is valid without his parents signing anything (Art. 70(1)). Parents can only block it with written opposition delivered to the employer.

Ines, at 15, is in the opposite case: the contract is only valid with written authorisation from the parents or legal representative (Art. 70(2)).

Three rules that apply to both:

• The wages are yours. A minor has the capacity to receive pay (Art. 70(3)). The employer may only pay the parents if they object in writing to you receiving it. Paying you against that objection is a serious offence (Art. 70(6)). Without an objection, the money goes to you.
• Parents can change their minds. They can declare opposition or revoke their authorisation at any time. It takes effect 30 days after they tell the employer (Art. 70(4)). If it is for school or training, they can cut that period to 15 days (Art. 70(5)).
• A summer contract needs no paperwork. A contract with a student during school holidays does not require written form (Art. 89-A). Still, ask for it in writing: it is your proof of hours and pay if something goes wrong.

Everything else is the same as for any worker. Tiago receives the written information on his contract terms, is covered by work accident insurance from day one and is registered with Social Security. See the full list in starting work in Portugal. If the contract is fixed term, the fixed-term contract rules apply.

How many hours: 8 a day, 40 a week

The general Labour Code limit for adults is the same: 8 hours a day and 40 a week (Art. 203). The difference for minors is in what the employer cannot do around that limit.

Some points the table does not show:

• Adaptability, hours bank and compressed schedules: the minor is exempt from these regimes when they could harm health or safety, and the employer must arrange a health check before applying them (Art. 74). No check, serious offence. Read what these regimes are in working time adaptability, individual hours bank and four-day week.
• Shorter break: a collective agreement may cut the break to 30 minutes for those aged 16 or over (Art. 77(2)). Without such an agreement, it is at least 1 hour.
• Two jobs: if you work for more than one employer, weekly rest days must coincide and the total hours may not exceed the limits (Art. 80). You must inform the new employer in writing before being hired, and the others whenever something changes (Art. 80(2)). The employer who is informed and still exceeds the limit is the one liable (Art. 80(3)).

For the general adult limits and what changes at 18, see working hours limits in Portugal.

Tiago's schedule in practice

The cafe wants Tiago to work 10am to 7pm with a 1 hour lunch, 5 days a week, and to stay until 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Let us see what passes and what does not:

• 10am to 7pm with 1 hour lunch = 8 hours of work. Passes (Art. 73). But watch the 4h30 in a row: 10am to 2:30pm is exactly 4h30, so lunch has to be then, not at 3pm (Art. 77).
• 5 days x 8 hours = 40 hours. Passes, with no room for anything else.
• Until 11pm on Friday and Saturday. Fails, for two reasons. First, the day would exceed 8 hours. Second, between 10pm and 7am night work is prohibited for under 18s (Art. 76(2)). [Case by case:] the hospitality collective agreement may allow night work for those aged 16 or over, but never between midnight and 5am, and only if the activity is listed there (Art. 76(3)(a)). Without that provision, Tiago leaves at 10pm.
• Leaving at 11pm and starting at 10am would give 11 hours of rest. Not enough: it must be 12 consecutive hours (Art. 78(1)). [Case by case:] in tourism, hospitality and catering, a collective agreement may reduce this rest for an objective reason, as long as it is compensated within the following 3 days (Art. 78(2)).

If the cafe has nobody for the evenings, the answer is not "Tiago can handle it". It is hiring an adult. See how shift and night work works for over 18s.

Overtime: the answer is no

A minor may not perform overtime (Art. 75(1)). It is not "may if they want" or "may if the parents agree". It is prohibited, and asking you to do overtime is a serious offence (Art. 75(4)).

The only exception (Art. 75(2)) requires all of these at the same time:

• you are 16 or over;
• it is indispensable to prevent or repair serious damage to the company;
• due to an abnormal and unforeseeable event or exceptional circumstance;
• no other worker is available;
• for at most 5 working days.

And even then you are entitled to equal compensatory rest for the extra time, to be taken within the following 3 weeks (Art. 75(3)). A busy Saturday with a full terrace is not an abnormal and unforeseeable event; it is high season.

If, despite everything, you did work extra hours, they are paid as overtime: 25 percent extra for the first hour and 37.5 percent for the following ones, or 50 percent at weekends and on public holidays (Art. 268). The ban protects you; it does not let the employer skip payment. Work out the amount in the overtime pay guide.

Health and safety: checks and prohibited jobs

Before Tiago starts, the employer has two duties that almost nobody meets:

1. Assess the risks of the job for a minor, before he starts and whenever conditions change: equipment, exposure to physical, chemical and biological agents, work organisation and how much the minor knows about the risks (Art. 66(2)). And inform the minor and the parents of the risks and the measures taken (Art. 66(3)). Failing this is a very serious offence (Art. 66(5)).
2. Pre-employment health check, before starting. If the hiring is urgent, within the following 15 days, with the parents' consent (Art. 72(1)(a)). After that, a yearly check (Art. 72(1)(b)), instead of the every-2-years check for adults.

The list of jobs prohibited to minors is in Law 102/2009, Arts. 61 to 66. The most common ones in summer and first jobs:

• driving or operating transport vehicles, tractors, forklifts and earth-moving machines (Art. 66(1)(d));
• working underground, on airport runways, in wastewater systems (Art. 66(1)(i), (j) and (l));
• night clubs and similar (Art. 66(1)(m)); below 16, discos too (Art. 66(2));
• machine-paced work paid by results (Art. 66(1)(n));
• industrial slaughter of animals (Art. 61), high voltage and ionising radiation (Art. 62), asbestos, lead, toluene and other chemicals (Art. 64), explosives (Art. 65).

Putting a minor in any of these jobs is a very serious offence (Art. 67 of Law 102/2009). And more: it is a crime, punishable by prison up to 2 years or a fine of up to 240 days (Art. 82(1) of the Labour Code). If the minor did not even meet the minimum age or schooling rules, the penalties double (Art. 82(2)). When ACT catches the situation, it orders the company to stop immediately; if it does not, that is a crime of qualified disobedience (Art. 83).

A minor working in a kitchen with a stove, in a shop or on a terrace is not doing prohibited work. A minor driving the delivery van or operating the warehouse forklift is. If you are asked to do that, refuse and say why: Art. 66 of Law 102/2009. If you have an accident, the rules are those of the work accident guide: the employer's insurer pays, and insurance is mandatory from day one.

Pay: 920 euros, no discount for being a minor

The Labour Code has no minimum wage for minors. Art. 275 only allows the minimum wage to be reduced in two situations: 20 percent for trainees, apprentices, interns or people in certified training, for at most 1 year (6 months if you already hold a technical or vocational course), and for workers with reduced capacity. Age is not on the list.

So:

• Tiago, 16, 40 hours a week at the cafe: 920 euros gross a month in 2026, the minimum wage of any adult. Plus a meal allowance if the company pays one to the others.
• Tiago at 20 hours a week: the proportional amount, 460 euros.
• Hourly rate: 920 x 12 / (52 x 40) = 5.31 euros. If you are paid 4 euros an hour "because you are young", that is below the legal minimum, and the difference is owed to you.

If the company calls you an "apprentice" to pay 20 percent less, ask what certified training you are receiving and who certifies it. Without certified training, there is no reduction. From gross pay you deduct 11 percent for Social Security; income tax at 920 euros is zero. Check the net amount in the calculator below.

Holidays, holiday allowance and Christmas allowance are the same as for adults, in proportion to the contract length. For a 3 month summer contract, see what you are owed at the end in holidays in your first year of work.

Shows, advertising and social media

Being an extra in a series, a model in a campaign or singing at a festival is not "child labour" in the Labour Code sense. It is an activity with its own law (Art. 81 of the Labour Code and Law 105/2009), which applies at any age, even to babies.

What changes:

• It needs authorisation from the Child and Youth Protection Commission (CPCJ) for the area of residence, or a simple notice if it is a single day, the minor is at least 13 and has not taken part in another activity in the previous 180 days (Art. 5 of Law 105/2009).
• It has hour limits by age: from 12 to 15, 4 hours a day and 12 a week during term time; from 7 to 11, 3 hours a day and 9 a week (Art. 3(1)). During school holidays the limits rise, but only for half of the holiday period (Art. 3(4)).
• Only between 8am and 8pm, or until midnight for cultural or artistic shows from age 7 (Art. 3(6)).
• Never with dangerous animals or risky activities; shows with animals only from age 12 and with a parent present (Art. 2(2) and (3)).
• The promoter is liable for work accidents as if it were the employer and must hold insurance (Art. 4).

If your activity is this one, Law 105/2009 governs, not Arts. 66 to 80 of the Code.

When the employer does not comply

You have the same tools as any worker, plus one: ACT treats child labour as a priority.

1. Say in writing what is wrong, with the article. "I cannot work after 10pm (Art. 76(2) of the Labour Code)" solves most cases, because many employers simply do not know.
2. Complaint to ACT. Exceeding 8 hours, cutting the break, asking for overtime, putting you on nights or skipping the medical check are serious offences. Not assessing risks, hiring without schooling or giving you prohibited work are very serious, and the last two can be a crime (Art. 82). See how to file a complaint with ACT. Your parents can file it for you.
3. Your parents can stop everything. A written opposition ends the contract 30 days later, or 15 if it is because of school (Art. 70(4) and (5)). They do not need to justify anything else.

If the company owes you money at the end of the contract, those amounts can be claimed up to 1 year after the contract ends (Art. 337). Keep your payslips and schedules.

For employers: hiring a minor without risk

Hiring 16 and 17 year olds is legal and common in catering, retail and tourism. What goes wrong is always the same: hours, nights and paperwork. Before hiring, confirm age and school status with documents: 16 completed and enrolment in secondary education or compulsory schooling completed (Art. 68); out of school, only with training under way or only during school holidays, with notice to ACT within 8 days (Art. 69). Carry out the risk assessment specific to minors and inform the young person and the parents in writing (Art. 66). Book the pre-employment medical check before day one and repeat it every year (Art. 72). Design the schedule within 8 hours and 40 a week, with a break at 4h30, finish by 10pm, 12 hours until the next start and 2 days off (Arts. 73 and 76 to 79); do not count on the minor for adaptability or hours bank without a prior check (Art. 74) and never for overtime (Art. 75). Pay the full minimum wage; the 20 percent reduction only exists with certified, documented training (Art. 275). Check the list of prohibited work in Law 102/2009 before assigning tasks with machines, vehicles or chemicals: besides the very serious fine, Art. 82 of the Labour Code provides for prison up to 2 years. If the parents deliver written opposition, the contract ends in 30 days (Art. 70(4)). For the other hiring duties, follow the work accident guide on insurance and the starting work in Portugal checklist.

This guide explains the general law. Sector collective agreements may have their own rules for minors, almost always more favourable. In case of an accident or prohibited work, talking to a lawyer or a union before signing any agreement is the prudent course.