Works council in Portugal: how to set one up and its rights

Workers in any company in Portugal have the right to set up a workers' committee, the Portuguese version of a works council (Art. 415 of the Labour Code, comissão de trabalhadores). It is a group elected by all workers, unionised or not, that receives mandatory information about the company, is consulted before big decisions, meets management every month and gets 25 paid hours per month per member to do it. To start, you need 100 workers or 20 percent of the workforce to call the vote. This guide explains the process step by step, the rights, the deadlines and the protection against retaliation.

What a workers' committee is and what it is for

Sofia works at a logistics company in Alverca with 180 workers. In January the company changed the shifts without warning anyone, in March it cut the attendance bonus and in June a rumour spread that the warehouse would close. Nobody knew anything, nobody was heard. If a workers' committee existed, the company would have to inform it about the organisation of production and the payroll mass, consult it before substantially worsening working conditions, and meet it every month.

The workers' committee is in the Constitution (Art. 54) and in the Labour Code (Arts. 415 to 439). It is one of the four collective representation structures workers can have (Art. 404): trade unions, workers' committees, health and safety representatives, and European works councils.

How it differs from a trade union:

Both can exist in the same company and work together. The committee is the voice of everyone inside the company; the union is the negotiating force outside it.

There are also two auxiliary bodies (Art. 415(2) and (4)):

• Sub committee: in geographically dispersed establishments. If Sofia's company also has a warehouse in Faro with 60 people, those 60 can elect a sub committee of up to 3 members that liaises with the committee (Art. 417(2)).
• Coordinating committee: brings together the workers' committees of companies in the same group, to act in restructurings that cut across several companies.

How to set up a workers' committee: 7 steps and deadlines

Sofia and two colleagues decide to go ahead. The process is in Arts. 430 to 438 and has fixed deadlines. The company cannot block any of them.

Step 1. Collect signatures to call the vote. You need 100 workers or 20 percent of the company's workers, whichever is lower (Art. 430(3)). At Sofia's company, 20 percent of 180 is 36 signatures. In a company with 2,000 workers, 100 are enough.

Step 2. Prepare the draft bylaws. They are proposed by the same number of workers (100 or 20 percent) and must be posted in the company 10 days in advance (paragraph 5). The bylaws must set out, at a minimum (Art. 434): how the electoral commission works, how many members, how long the term lasts and how vacancies are filled, how the committee operates and how it binds itself, how it is funded (never by an entity outside the workforce) and what happens to its assets if it is wound up (never distributed among the workers). DGERT provides request templates and an FAQ to help (link in the sources).

Step 3. Call the vote with 15 days notice (paragraph 3), with wide publicity and the date, time, place and agenda. Send a copy of the notice to the employer the same day. Those calling the vote also write the voting rules and publish them with the notice (paragraph 4).

Step 4. Electoral roll. The employer has 48 hours after receiving the notice to hand over the list of all the company's workers, by establishment (Art. 431(1) and (2)). Those who called the vote post it immediately. Failing to hand it over is a very serious offence.

Step 5. The vote. Two questions in separate ballots: create the committee and approve the bylaws (Art. 430(1)). Formation needs a simple majority of voters; the bylaws need a relative majority (paragraph 2). Voting rules (Art. 431(3) to (7)):

• at least one polling section in each establishment with 10 or more workers, and never more than 500 voters per section;
• a polling board with a chair and two members, released from work for the purpose;
• ballot boxes at the workplace, without disrupting the company's operation;
• voting opens 30 minutes before the start and closes 60 minutes after the end of the company's operating hours, and workers may vote during working time.

Step 6. Count and notification. The electoral commission (one representative of those who proposed the bylaws and an equal number of those who called the vote) does the overall count and draws up the minute (Art. 432). Within 15 days it notifies the employer of the result and posts it with the minute at the polling places (paragraph 6). Opposing the posting is a serious offence.

Step 7. Elect the members. Members are elected from lists signed by 100 or 20 percent of workers (10 percent of the establishment for sub committees), by direct, secret and proportional vote (Art. 433). Notice of 15 days. Nobody may sign or be on two lists for the same body. The election of the committee and the sub committees takes place at the same time.

In practice, many companies hold the vote on formation, the bylaws and the election of members on the same day, in separate ballot boxes. [Common interpretation:] the law does not require them to be separate in time, as long as each complies with its own deadlines and rules.

Registration with DGERT: when the committee starts to exist

Sofia has been elected. Can the committee already ask the company for information? Not yet. It still needs registration (Arts. 416 and 438).

The committee can only start operating after publication of the bylaws and the composition in the Labour and Employment Bulletin (Art. 438(7)). Registration of the bylaws is what gives it legal personality (Art. 416(1)), meaning it can sign, request, claim and go to court in its own name.

The bylaws are filed as an electronic document (paragraph 5). The committee's address must be notified and kept up to date (paragraph 4). If DGERT has doubts about a copy, it can ask for the original with a deadline of never less than 5 working days (paragraph 8).

If the Public Prosecutor considers the bylaws break the law, it can ask the court to change them or declare them void, under the rules for trade unions (Art. 439(2), referring to Art. 447). [Depends on the case:] the practical effect depends on what is at stake; the committee keeps operating until a court decides otherwise.

The committee's rights: information, consultation, monthly meeting and management oversight

Sofia's committee has been published in the Bulletin. It now has four main tools (Art. 423(1)).

1. Right to information (Arts. 424 and 427)

The committee asks in writing and the company answers in writing within 8 days, or 15 if the complexity justifies it (Art. 427(1) and (2)). Not answering is a serious offence (paragraph 8). The mandatory matters (Art. 424(1)):

• general activity plans and budget;
• organisation of production and what it means for workers and equipment;
• supply situation;
• forecast, volume and management of sales;
• personnel management: basic criteria, payroll mass and its distribution by professional group, social benefits, productivity and absenteeism;
• accounts: balance sheet, income statement and trial balances;
• financing arrangements;
• tax and parafiscal charges;
• plans to change the company's object, share capital or convert its activity;
• algorithms and artificial intelligence systems: the parameters, criteria, rules and instructions they rely on, whenever they affect hiring, keeping a job or working conditions, including profiling and monitoring of activity (point j, added by Law 13/2023). See AI and algorithms at work.

Back to the example: when Sofia's company cut the attendance bonus, the committee can ask for the payroll mass by professional group and the personnel management criteria, and the company has 8 days to answer.

Limit: the company can mark information as confidential or refuse it if it is likely to seriously harm the company's operation, but it must give written reasons based on objective criteria (Arts. 412(3) and 413(1)). The committee can challenge that refusal in court (Art. 413(2)). And members who receive confidential information may not disclose it, even after their term (Art. 412(1) and (2)).

2. Mandatory consultation before deciding (Arts. 425 and 427)

The company must request the committee's opinion, in writing, before (Art. 425):

• changing the criteria for professional classification and promotions;
• moving the location of the company or the establishment;
• any measure that substantially reduces the number of workers, worsens working conditions or changes the organisation of work;
• dissolving the company or filing for insolvency.

The committee has 10 days to give its opinion, counted from receipt of the request, or from the moment the company delivers any relevant information the committee asked for in the meantime (Art. 427(4) and (5)). If the opinion does not arrive within that period, the consultation counts as done (paragraph 6). The opinion is not binding, but when the decision falls within the company's management powers the process must be run with a view to reaching consensus where possible (paragraph 7).

Other laws add consultations of the committee that are covered in other guides: collective redundancy (Art. 360), lay-off, transfer of business, the company's internal rules (Art. 99(2)), setting the work schedule and disciplinary proceedings: the company sends the committee a copy of the notice of charges on the same day (Art. 353(2)) and, at the end of the investigation, the committee has 5 working days to add its opinion (Art. 356(5)).

3. Monthly meeting with management (Art. 423(1)(g))

The committee meets at least once a month with the company's management body. The company draws up the minute, signed by everyone (paragraph 3). Skipping the meeting or not producing the minute is a serious offence (paragraph 4). A sub committee has the same right with the establishment's management.

4. Management oversight and restructuring (Arts. 426 and 429)

Management oversight does not mean running the company. It means being able to assess and give an opinion on the budget, promote the good use of resources, propose improvements (equipment, simplification, training, health and safety) and defend workers' interests before management and the authorities (Art. 426(2)). Obstructing this is a serious offence (paragraph 4). Excluded are the Bank of Portugal, the national mint, military factories and activities linked to sovereign bodies (paragraph 3).

In a restructuring, the committee has the right to prior information and consultation on the plans, to see the final version before it is approved, to meet those preparing the work and to submit suggestions, complaints or criticism (Art. 429(2)). If Sofia's warehouse really is going to close, the committee must be heard first.

Time credit, meetings and means: what the company must provide

Rui, a member of Sofia's committee, needs time to prepare the monthly meeting and talk to colleagues on the night shifts. The law gives him three things.

Time credit (Art. 422). Each member has, per month:

The credit counts as effective working time, including for pay (Art. 408(2)). Rui earns 1,200 euros gross for 40 hours a week; the 25 hours he spends on the committee are paid as if he were in the warehouse. To use the credit, he notifies the company in writing 2 days in advance, unless there is a valid reason not to (paragraph 3). Anyone belonging to more than one body does not accumulate credits (Art. 422(4) and Art. 408(4)). In companies with more than 1,000 workers, the committee may unanimously decide to pool everyone's credits and redistribute them, up to 40 hours per member (Art. 422(3)). Denying the credit is a serious offence.

If Rui needs more time than the credit, the absence is justified and counts as effective service, but without pay (Art. 409(1)). He must notify the dates and number of days in writing 1 day in advance, or within 48 hours of the first day if it was unforeseeable; otherwise the absence becomes unjustified (paragraphs 3 and 4).

General meetings of workers (Arts. 419 and 420). The committee can call meetings at the workplace:

• outside the working hours of most workers, without limit, respecting shifts and overtime;
• during working hours, up to 15 hours per year, which count as effective working time (paid), provided urgent and essential services are kept running.

The committee notifies the employer 48 hours in advance of the date, time, expected number of participants and place, and posts the notice (Art. 420(1)). If the meeting is during working hours, it submits a proposal to keep essential services running (paragraph 2). The company must provide a suitable room in the company or nearby (paragraph 3). All of this also applies to video meetings (Art. 419(2)). Banning the meeting or refusing the room is a very serious offence (Art. 419(3) and Art. 420(4)).

Premises, means and information (Art. 421). The employer provides suitable premises and the necessary material and technical means (a room, a computer, a printer, email access). The committee may post and distribute notices and information on the premises and, by reference to Art. 465(2), on the company's intranet and through an email list for workers in remote work, which the employer must make available. Serious offence if missing.

One red line: the company may not fund the committee or interfere in its organisation (Art. 405(2)). The means under Art. 421 are support provided by law; paying the committee wages beyond the time credit, offering funds or picking candidates is not. The committee is funded by the workers (Art. 434(1)(e)).

Protection of members: dismissal, transfer and retaliation

Rui was elected in March. In May the company sends him to the Faro warehouse "for operational needs". In June it opens disciplinary proceedings against him. Can it?

The law protects members of representation structures on five points:

1. He cannot be transferred without consent (Art. 411(1)), unless the establishment where he works closes or moves in whole or in part. The company must notify the committee of the transfer with the same notice it gives the worker (paragraph 2). Serious offence. The order to go to Faro is not valid without Rui's yes.
2. Dismissing, transferring or harming someone for taking part in the committee is void and a serious offence (Art. 406). The entity pays a fine of up to 120 days and the responsible administrator, director or manager risks up to 1 year in prison (Art. 407(1) and (2)).
3. Preventive suspension does not stop Rui from accessing the premises and carrying out his committee duties (Art. 410(1)).
4. If he is dismissed, the court only refuses the interim order suspending the dismissal if there is a serious likelihood of just cause (Art. 410(4)), the case is urgent (paragraph 5) and, if the dismissal is unlawful, Rui chooses between reinstatement and compensation of never less than 6 months of base pay and seniority payments, calculated under Art. 392(3) (paragraph 6). The presumption of dismissal without just cause in paragraph 3 applies to union candidates and officers; for workers' committee members it is not written in the law, but Art. 406 already makes a dismissal motivated by participation void.
5. There is a limit: a member may not disrupt the normal operation of the company through the exercise of these rights, and abuse gives rise to disciplinary, civil or criminal liability under the general rules (Art. 414). Using the time credit for anything other than committee duties is abuse.

If the company ignores these rights, the committee or the worker can file a complaint with the ACT, the labour inspectorate that enforces the offences, and go to court. Fines follow the table in Art. 554 of the Labour Code, according to seriousness and the company's turnover.

Checklist: setting up and running the committee

To set it up:

1. Count the workers: you need 100 or 20 percent to call the vote (36 in a company of 180).
2. Write the draft bylaws with the 7 points of Art. 434 and post it 10 days before the vote.
3. Call the vote with 15 days notice, send a copy to the company and publish the voting rules.
4. Demand the electoral roll within 48 hours and post it.
5. Set up polling sections (1 per establishment with 10 or more people, maximum 500 voters each), ballot boxes at the workplace, opening 30 minutes before and closing 60 minutes after operating hours.
6. Count, notify the employer within 15 days and post the minute.
7. Register with DGERT (election within 10 days) and wait for publication in the Labour and Employment Bulletin. Only then do you start.

To run it:

1. Schedule the monthly meeting with management and demand the signed minute.
2. Request information in writing and count the 8 days (15 if complex).
3. When the company asks for an opinion, answer within 10 days; if you do not, the consultation counts as done.
4. Use the 25 hour credit with 2 days written notice.
5. Call general meetings with 48 hours notice; up to 15 hours per year during working hours are paid.
6. Keep confidential whatever the company marks, with reasons, as confidential.

For the employer: a workers' committee is not a threat, it is a formal channel that prevents scattered conflicts. Your obligations are objective: hand over the electoral roll within 48 hours, do not interfere in the process, provide premises and means, answer information requests in writing within 8 days, request an opinion before the decisions in Art. 425 and wait 10 days, meet every month and draw up the minute, pay the 25 hour credit per member and never transfer or sanction anyone because of the role. Almost all failures are serious offences; banning meetings or withholding the electoral roll are very serious, and discrimination for taking part in the committee is a crime with up to 1 year in prison for the responsible manager (Art. 407). If the information requested really is sensitive, mark it as confidential in writing and with objective criteria (Art. 413); refusing without reasons is a serious offence and can be challenged in court. When preparing a collective redundancy, a lay-off or a move of premises, involve the committee from the start: it is mandatory and reduces the risk of nullity.

For complex bylaws, corporate groups with a coordinating committee or disputes over confidentiality, a labour lawyer or a union's legal support can help. But the whole formation process is in the law and does not depend on anyone's authorisation.