Workplace bullying in Portugal: what the law actually counts (2026)

Your manager shouts at you in front of the team. They cut your responsibilities with no explanation. They give you humiliating tasks, or none at all. Coworkers stop including you because they know you are on the wrong list. You are not imagining things. Portuguese law has a name for this: assédio, harassment. And it has a tight definition. Not everything that hurts is harassment under the law, but what is gives you three concrete legal paths to fix the situation, with severance and unemployment benefit on the table.

This guide walks you through the Art. 29 Labour Code definition, the three elements the law requires, what is not harassment (important so you do not waste time on cases that do not win), how to build evidence and the three legal routes to leave or to stop the behaviour.

The legal definition

Art. 29 n.º 2 of the Portuguese Labour Code, in plain English:

Harassment is any unwanted behaviour, in access to employment, in the job, in the work or in vocational training, with the purpose or effect of affecting the person's dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or destabilising environment.

Three things to notice. They are not accidental.

1. "Unwanted". You, the victim, define whether it is unwanted, not the manager. There is no "you are exaggerating" defence. Once you have said, written or shown that the behaviour harms you, this element is met.

2. "Purpose or effect". You do not need to prove intent. You only need to show the effect was to humiliate, isolate or destabilise. Even if the manager says "I did not mean it that way", what matters is the actual impact.

3. "Dignity or environment". The law protects two things: your individual dignity (being treated as a person) and the work environment (a place where you can be without fear). Portuguese courts have ruled on each dimension.

Art. 29 n.º 1 adds the express prohibition: harassment is forbidden. N.º 4 says the violation triggers civil and disciplinary liability.

The three required elements

For a case to qualify as harassment in the legal sense (and not just rudeness or toxic management), three elements must be present. Portuguese courts have been firm on this.

Element 1: unwanted behaviour, identifiable. What, when, where, by whom. "My boss is awful" is not enough. "On 12 March, in a meeting with 8 people, my manager said I was incompetent and that nobody could stand me" is.

Element 2: persistence or seriousness. Usually repeated episodes over weeks or months. Exception: a single very serious act (physical aggression, severe threat, violent public humiliation) can suffice. The cautious rule: gather 3 to 5 documented episodes before moving.

Element 3: effect on dignity or environment. You must show real impact: anxiety, sick leave, isolation, loss of self-esteem, professional damage. Medical records, screenshots, exclusion emails all count here.

6 practical signs that usually count

Not a closed list, but these six show up in nearly every case won in Portuguese labour courts.

1. Professional isolation. Cutting you from meetings you should attend. Removing you from email lists. Moving you to a desk far from the team. Excluding you from new projects.

2. Humiliating or no tasks. Going from project lead to making photocopies. Or the opposite: 8 hours staring at the screen with nothing assigned. Both count.

3. Persistent public criticism. Calling out errors in meetings, in front of colleagues, instead of in private. Repeatedly. The clinical rule: private and grounded criticism is not harassment. Public and ungrounded criticism is.

4. Deliberate impossible workload. Assigning work everyone knows cannot fit the schedule, with absurd deadlines, then using the failure as proof of incompetence. The difference from a legitimate heavy load: the impossibility was visible from the start and the manager knew it.

5. Excessive monitoring. Hourly reports nobody else has to file. Double-checking only your work. Tracking breaks and bathroom trips.

6. Hostile or disproportionate communication. Emails in caps with exclamation marks. Veiled threats ("this will have consequences"). Out-of-hours messages demanding immediate replies. Meetings called only to scold you.

What is NOT harassment (important)

This section saves you time. Some behaviours hurt but are not legal harassment, and building a case around them weakens the rest.

• Grounded criticism of your work. Negative review, performance improvement plan, direct orders about tasks. Even if harsh, this is legitimate management when there is objective basis.
• Disliking your manager. Mutual antipathy is not harassment. The law does not require anyone to like you.
• Reassignment of tasks within your contract. The employer can change duties within your professional category and schedule (Art. 118 CT). It only becomes harassment when used as a deliberate, disproportionate punishment.
• Being made redundant or laid off collectively. Painful, but it is a separate legal figure, not harassment in itself.
• One heated disagreement. A single argument that then normalised will rarely count.

The litmus test: "If I were performing well in a normal environment, would this behaviour still happen, only directed at me?" If yes, there are signs of harassment. If there is real performance trouble, mutual conflict or a real organisational change, it might be something else.

Building evidence

In harassment cases, evidence is everything. Without it, it is your word against theirs. With it, you win in mediation or in court.

Written evidence is strongest:

• Emails from the manager. Even seemingly mild ones build a pattern.
• WhatsApp or Slack messages. Take dated screenshots and forward to your personal email.
• Performance reviews. If you were "very good" and suddenly "poor" with no change in your actual work, that is evidence.
• Job description vs. actual tasks. The contract role compared to what you are doing now.

Witness evidence:

• Coworkers who saw episodes. Even if they fear reporting now, they can be called as witnesses in court.
• Note names, dates, context. Do not rely on memory.
• Former colleagues are often more available to testify than current ones.

Medical evidence:

• Sick leave certificates (CIT) from the public health service.
• A statement from your GP or psychologist linking your condition to work stress.
• Anxiolytics or antidepressant prescriptions with date.

Incident diary. This is decisive. Create a document (email yourself, dated file) where you record every episode: date, time, place, who was present, what was said or done, how you felt. In court, this contemporaneous diary carries weight.

Reverse burden of proof (Art. 25 n.º 5)

A legal advantage few people know. When there are indications of harassment (not full proof, indications), the burden of proof flips to the employer. You show the pattern. The employer has to prove the behaviour was not discriminatory or harassing.

Art. 25 n.º 5 CT establishes this principle for discrimination, and courts have extended it to harassment when there is a link to a discriminatory factor (age, gender, origin, illness, pregnancy, sexual orientation).

In practice: if you can gather solid indications (3 to 5 episodes, some witness, medical record), you cross a lower bar. The company must explain.

The three legal paths

You do not have to decide yet. Each path has different costs and timeframes.

Path 1: internal complaint (mandatory channel if 50+ workers)

Law 93/2021 requires companies with 50 or more workers to have an internal reporting channel. It works like this:

1. You file a formal written complaint (email, form, platform).
2. The company has 7 days to acknowledge receipt and a reasonable time (up to 3 months) to investigate and reply.
3. Your identity is protected. Only the people handling the complaint know.
4. If the investigation confirms, the harasser faces disciplinary sanctions.

Use it when: you want to stay in the company, your direct manager is the problem but the executive level is different, and there is a real formal mechanism.

Skip it when: small company, the harasser is the owner or director, or you have already tried and were ignored.

Path 2: complaint to ACT

You file a complaint with ACT (Authority for Working Conditions, the Portuguese labour inspectorate). It can be open, confidential or anonymous. Law 73/2017 strengthened ACT's powers on harassment. Art. 12 of that law obliges companies to report harassment cases.

ACT can:

• Inspect the company.
• Apply a fine (up to about 9,690 euros in SMEs for very serious cases, more in large companies).
• Issue a notice that serves as evidence in court.

Pro: you keep your job during the investigation. Con: ACT investigates with time (3 to 6 months typically) and the outcome is a fine to the company, not compensation for you.

Path 3: resignation for just cause (Art. 394 n.º 2 al. f)

This is the path that comes with severance. Art. 394 n.º 2 al. f) of the Labour Code states that harm to physical or moral integrity is just cause for the worker to terminate the contract.

How it works:

1. Registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt (or hand delivery with signed copy) where you invoke the concrete facts and Art. 394 n.º 2 al. f).
2. Deadline: 30 days from the last episode (Art. 395 CT). Miss this and you lose this path.
3. The contract ends immediately. You receive:
   • Severance: 15 to 45 days of base salary plus seniority pay per full year, minimum 3 months (Art. 396 CT).
   • Unemployment benefit at IEFP. Resignation for just cause counts for unemployment access, unlike normal resignation.
   • Final settlement. Unused holidays, pro rata holiday and Christmas allowance, accrued amounts.
4. The company can challenge in labour court within 30 days. If they do not, the case closes.

To preview your severance:

Retaliation: they cannot punish you for reporting

Art. 331 of the Labour Code prohibits retaliation against workers who file complaints, blow the whistle or testify in harassment cases. Law 93/2021 reinforces this: if within 12 months after the complaint the company fires, sanctions, demotes or otherwise harms you, retaliation is presumed.

Meaning: the company has to prove a different real reason (documented performance issue, real reorganisation, etc.). If they cannot, the dismissal is unlawful and you are entitled to:

• Reinstatement, or
• Aggravated compensation (up to 60 days × year in some cases).
• Plus non-pecuniary damages (judge's decision).

Document every interaction after the complaint. Even the bland ones. If your manager changes tone, if a meeting is called only for "status updates" now, all of that adds to the pattern.

How to bring it together

The most common practical path, in three steps:

Step 1: document this week. Incident diary, screenshots, emails to your personal address, list of witnesses. Even if you have not decided what to do yet.

Step 2: see a doctor if your health is affected. GP or psychology consultation. If you are unwell, sick leave. Sick leave alone does not solve the harassment, but it gives you time, protection (Art. 23 CT prohibits firing for illness) and clinical evidence.

Step 3: choose the path based on goal:

• I want to stay and stop this: internal complaint, then ACT if it fails.
• I want to leave with severance and unemployment benefit: resignation for just cause (Art. 394 n.º 2 al. f), 30 days from the last episode.
• Already left or it was collective: civil action for moral damages (1 year deadline after contract termination, Art. 337 CT).

You do not have to do everything and not all at once. Document, choose the piece, move.

• If you want to report internally: internal harassment complaint template.
• If you want to leave with severance: just cause resignation template and severance calculator.
• If you are already on sick leave because of this: can my employer fire me during sick leave.
• If you have a disciplinary notice on top of this: received a disciplinary notice in Portugal.