Working without a contract in Portugal: your rights in 2026

Working without a written contract does not leave you without rights. In Portugal, an employment contract is valid even if it was agreed only verbally (Art. 110 of the Labour Code). The real problem is not the missing paper. It is when your employer also skips the written information it owes you and the notification to Social Security, which is what gives you access to benefits.

"No paperwork" does not mean "no contract"

Sara started working as a waitress in a café in Braga on 1 March. The owner told her: "We'll sort the contract out later." Six months on, she still has nothing in writing. She gets €920 by bank transfer at the end of each month, and her shifts are posted in a WhatsApp group. Does she have a contract?

She does. Under Portuguese law, an employment contract exists when a person agrees, in exchange for pay, to work for someone else within that person's organisation and under their authority (Art. 11). The law also says:

"The employment contract does not depend on any special form, except where the law provides otherwise." (Art. 110, our translation)

So a verbal agreement is enough. And where the law does require paperwork and it is missing, the gap works in the worker's favour:

Sara therefore has a permanent contract, full-time, since 1 March. If the owner later claims it "was only until the end of the summer", that does not hold: a fixed term had to be written down, with the reason. And her seniority counts from her first day of work (Art. 147(3)). If he claims she "only did a few hours", that does not hold either: without paperwork, the contract is full-time.

What your employer must give you in writing, contract or not

Even when the contract is verbal, your employer has a duty to inform you (Art. 106). It must hand you a written, signed document with your working conditions (Art. 107(1)). There are two deadlines:

• By day 7 after you start: the employer's identity, place of work, job category or duties, start date, end date (if any), pay and how it is paid, daily and weekly hours, the probation period and, for intermittent work, the rules on active periods (Art. 107(2) and (4)(a)).
• Within one month: holidays, notice periods, work accident insurance (policy number and insurer), the applicable collective agreement, the compensation fund, training, social protection schemes and, where they exist, the rules of any algorithms that make decisions about you (Art. 106(3) and Art. 107(4)(b)).

Breaking these rules is a serious offence (Art. 107(7)). Your employer must also keep proof that it gave you the information (Art. 107(5)). If it has no proof, that is its problem. Each item is explained in the guide to transparent working conditions.

Then there is the payslip. By the time you are paid, your employer must give you a document showing your Social Security number, your job category, base pay and other payments, deductions and the net amount (Art. 276(3)). Being paid cash in hand, or by transfer with no payslip, is another warning sign. How to read one is covered in the payslip guide.

No paperwork, no probation period

Three weeks after she started, the owner tells Sara: "It's not working out. You were on probation." Can he do that?

If nobody told her in writing, by day 7, how long the probation period was and its conditions, no. Law 13/2023 added this rule to the Labour Code:

"If the employer fails to notify the probation period within the deadline, it is presumed that the parties agreed to exclude it." (Art. 111(4), our summary)

Without a probation period, the employer can only end the contract through one of the routes set out in the law, with a written procedure. Sending someone away just verbally is unlawful dismissal for lack of procedure (Art. 381(c)). In current interpretation, this is a presumption, so the employer can still try to prove there was an agreement on probation, but the burden of proof shifts to the employer. How a properly set up probation period works is explained in probation period in Portugal.

Are you registered with Social Security? Check in 5 minutes

This is the part that matters most for your future. The law requires your employer to notify your hiring through Segurança Social Direta before the contract starts (Art. 29(1) and (2)(a) of the Social Security Contributions Code, in the wording in force since 1 January 2026). Only in exceptional cases, such as very short contracts or shift work, can it do so within the following 24 hours ((2)(b)). The notification includes your Social Security number (NISS), the type of contract and your pay ((3)).

How to check:

1. Log in to Segurança Social Direta (or the Social Security app) with the Chave Móvel Digital or with your NISS and password.
2. Open your contribution record (carreira contributiva, the list of every month with contributions).
3. Look for your employer's name and the months you worked. Check the declared salary.

If your employer does not appear, it did not register you. If it appears with a lower salary than you receive, it declared less than it should.

There is an even worse sign: your payslip shows an 11% Social Security deduction, but the money does not appear in your contribution record. The employer is responsible for deducting your share and paying it in, together with its own (Art. 42(1) and (2) of the Social Security Contributions Code). Keeping that money can be the crime of breach of trust against social security (Art. 107 of the General Regime of Tax Offences). Depending on the case, criminal liability turns on the amounts and deadlines involved.

What happens to an employer that did not register you

The law has three different tools for this.

1. Fine. Notifying late is a minor offence if the employer does it within 24 hours after the deadline. In every other case it is very serious (Art. 29(7)). According to the Social Security practical guide, the very serious fine ranges from:

2. Presumed start date. When the breach is detected, the law presumes you started working on the first day of the third month before the month of detection (Art. 29(4)). If an inspection finds Sara's case in September, she is presumed to have worked there since 1 June, and the employer owes contributions from then. The presumption can be rebutted with proof of the real date ((6)). That works both ways: Sara can prove she started on 1 March, and March to May count as well.

3. Crime. If the employer does not notify the hiring within 6 months after the deadline, it faces up to 3 years in prison or a fine of up to 360 days (Art. 106-A of the General Regime of Tax Offences, which refers to Art. 105(1)). This rule has existed since Law 13/2023.

A fair warning: if you were receiving unemployment or sickness benefit while working undeclared, the law presumes the work started on the date the benefit started. The employer is jointly liable for repaying everything you received unduly (Art. 29(5)). Jointly liable means Social Security can recover the money from you or from the employer. Do not assume the debt stays on the employer's side.

How to prove you work there

Without paperwork, proof comes from everyday life. The law gives you strong help: an employment contract is presumed when some of these features are present (Art. 12(1)):

Sara ticks four of the five. In current interpretation, once the presumption applies, it is up to the employer to prove there is no employment contract.

Keep your evidence outside the employer's phone or computer: screenshots of rotas, bank statements with the transfers, names and contacts of colleagues and regular customers who see you there. If your employer made you issue freelance receipts (recibos verdes) instead of registering you, also read false self-employment: the 8 signs. Disguising an employment relationship as self-employment is a very serious offence (Art. 12(2)).

What to do, step by step

1. Check your contribution record on Segurança Social Direta. Download a statement and keep it.
2. Ask in writing. A short email or WhatsApp message is enough: "Hello [name]. I have worked here since [date]. Please give me my contract terms in writing (Arts. 106 and 107 of the Labour Code) and notify my hiring to Social Security. Kind regards." That way you have proof you asked.
3. Keep the evidence from the previous section, with dates.
4. File a complaint with the ACT if nothing changes. Social Security itself points workers who find their employer is not paying contributions to this route, and gives the ACT helpline: 300 069 300. The complaint is free and can be confidential: the ACT knows who you are, the employer does not. The step by step is in how to file an ACT complaint.
5. Know the ACT procedure. If the inspector finds the features of an employment contract, the employer is notified to regularise within 10 days. If it does not, the ACT sends the case to the Public Prosecutor within 5 days, for a court action to recognise the employment contract (Art. 15-A of Law 107/2009).
6. If you are punished for complaining, the sanction is retaliatory (Art. 331(1)(a) and (e)). For 6 months after your complaint, a dismissal or other sanction is presumed retaliatory ((2)(a)).
7. If you are dismissed verbally, it is unlawful dismissal for lack of procedure (Art. 381(c)). Act fast: a court challenge has a 60-day deadline (Art. 387(2)). Read can my employer fire me like this?.
8. Do not miss the deadline for money owed. Unpaid wages, holidays and allowances can be claimed up to one year after the contract ends (Art. 337(1)).

What you lose while you are not registered

Not being registered is not just the employer's problem. Social Security benefits depend on months with registered contributions:

• Sick leave: sickness benefit requires a minimum contribution period. With no record, you may get nothing. See sick leave payment in 2026.
• Unemployment: undeclared months do not count towards the qualifying period. See unemployment benefit in 2026.
• Parental leave and pension: paid leave and your pension are also calculated from your contribution record.
• Work accidents: every employer must have work accident insurance (Art. 79 of Law 98/2009). Check whether your employer gave you the policy number: it is one of the items owed within the first month (Art. 106(3)(j) of the Labour Code). If there is no insurance and you have an accident, the employer is directly liable. See work accidents in Portugal.

The good news: once the employer notifies the hiring, your registration dates back to the day you started working (Arts. 30(2) and 31(2) of the Social Security Contributions Code). That is why proving the real date matters.

For employers: regularise before the inspection

If someone is working for you with no written contract and no Social Security notification, the order of priorities is clear. First, notify the hiring on Segurança Social Direta with the real start date. Up to 24 hours after the deadline the offence is minor; after that it is very serious; and after 6 months it is a crime (Art. 29(7) of the Social Security Contributions Code and Art. 106-A of the General Regime of Tax Offences). Second, provide the written information required by Arts. 106 and 107 of the Labour Code: without it, there is presumed to be no probation period (Art. 111(4)). Third, bear in mind that a fixed-term or part-time contract without written form counts as open-ended and full-time (Arts. 147(1)(c) and 153(3)). Finally, check your work accident insurance. The full step by step for hiring correctly is in how to hire an employee in Portugal.