• full-time and part-time contracts.

• fixed-term contracts.

• contract of employment of unspecified duration.

• contract of employment of indefinite duration.

• short duration contract of employment.

• temporary work.

• provision of services.

The probationary period is in the initial stage of contracts of employment and is variable according to type of engagement. Typically, probationary period is 90 days, but can be extended to 180 days for highly technical positions or carry a high degree of responsibility. For high-complexity jobs, the maximum probation period is 6 months.

The Portuguese Labor Law establishes a maximum of 8 daily working hours and 40 weekly working hours. The Collective Bargaining Agreement may fix less working hours per week or day.

Employees are entitled to breaks every 5 hours of a duration of not less than 1 hour or more than 2 hours of unpaid rest break. If the working hours exceed 10 hours in a day the employee will be entitled to break after 6 hours of consecutive work.
Employees must be able to rest for 11 consecutive hours between two working days.

Both the employer and the employee need to agree to any overtime hours, and employers must provide both additional compensation and adequate rest.
The average weekly working time, including overtime, cannot exceed 48 hours.

Compensation of overtime:

• First hour: Hourly rate plus 25%
• Additional hours after the first hour: Hourly rate plus 37.5%
• Overtime hour on rest days: Hourly rate plus 50%

All full-time employees in Portugal are entitled to:
• Christmas and holiday subsidies: annual salaries are divided into 14 payments instead of the standard 12. The extra two salaries are provided as a Christmas bonus paid by the 15th of December and a holiday bonus paid before the employee’s annual leave usually June.
• Basic insurance by the national system
• Wage guarantee fund
• Workers’ compensation insurance
• Training and development

• Supplementary pension
• Supplementary health & life insurance
• Commission: depending on the nature of the job, some employees receive a cash bonus when fulfilling goals,
quotas or targets. Same is valid for seniority bonuses.

• Meal vouchers: it is common to offer meal vouchers or lunch cards to employees. Meal allowances are tax-free up to €4.77 daily if paid in cash and €7.63 if paid through lunch tickets.
• Public transportation allowance: some companies offer monthly transportation allowance to and from work to employees.
• Flexible working hours
• Phone bills
• Business travel allowance: for jobs that require business travel, companies usually offer a tax-free daily allowance of €50.20 (€69.19 for members of the board) for trips within Portugal and €89.35 (€100.24 for members of the board) for international trips.
• Gym membership

The employee is entitled to a minimum of 22 working days’ holiday per year, which expires on 1 January.
There are 13 mandatory paid public holidays in Portugal.

Employer is required to pay the salary to the employee during the first 3 days of leave, after which, payment of the sickness allowance falls to Social Security. Most employees are entitled to 1095 days of paid sick leave.
The amount of the sick leave allowance depends on several factors and will range between 55% and 100% of the worker’s reference remuneration.

In Portugal, after the birth or adoption of a child, the mother and father are both entitled to parental leave.

There are two types of parental leave: initial and extended.

Initial parental leave
The initial period lasts for up to 120 or 150 consecutive days, includes the mandatory and exclusive periods for both the father and the mother.
If parents opt to take 120 days of parental leave, Social Security will cover a parental allowance corresponding to 100% of the reference income.
If parents opt to take 150 days of parental leave, SS will cover a parental allowance corresponding to 80% of the reference income.

Maternity leave

Mothers may take up to 30 days’ voluntary leave before the birth, and 42 days (6 weeks) of compulsory leave after the birth.

These two periods form part of the initial parental leave, which can last up to a total of 120 or 150 days.

Paternity leave

Fathers are entitled to 28 days’ leave, taken consecutively or non-consecutively, with at least 7 of these after the baby’s birth. The first 7 days must be taken consecutively and immediately after the birth. The remaining 21 days must be taken within 6 weeks (42 days) of the birth.

Fathers are also entitled to a further 7 working days of voluntary leave, taken consecutively or non-consecutively, taken at the same time as the mother.

Extended parental leave
Initial parental leave may be extended by an additional 3 months. Extended parental leave must be taken immediately after the initial parental leave.

In such cases, social security will cover an allowance equal to 25% of the reference income. If parental responsibilities are shared during the leave, the allowance will increase from 25% to 40%.

Citizens from the EU or EFTA do not need a work permit or visa to visit or work in Portugal.
For non-EU citizens to enter Portugal as a worker for a period of less than a year, a person must have a valid Seasonal work visa or a Temporary stay visa for seasonal work for a duration of over 90 days.

For longer periods, employee must obtain a residence visa. The residence visa does not automatically grant employee a right of residence. Once in Portugal, individual must apply for a residence permit.

The Portugal Digital Nomad visa is issued to foreigners who work remotely. Visa applications are accepted only from foreigners from non-EU and non-EEA countries.

A contract of employment may cease by:

• expiry (main reasons: termination, the absolute and definitive impossibility for the employee to perform his or her duties or
  for the employer to accept them or the retirement of the employee, by old age or due to invalidity).
• termination
• dismissal attributable to the worker
• collective dismissal
• dismissal for redundancy
• dismissal for unsuitability
• termination by the employee

The employee must give notice of the intention in writing, briefly setting out the facts in justification, within 30 days of becoming aware of leaving. If the grounds are the need to comply with legal obligations which are incompatible with continuation of the contract, the worker must notify the employer as soon as possible.

The employer notice for termination varies depending on how long the worker has been employed. Pregnant employees, workers who have given birth within the past four months, workers who are breastfeeding, or workers on initial parental leave are protected from termination.

Notice periods are as follows:

Less than 1 year of employment: 15 days of notice

1 to 5 years: 30 days of notice

5 to 10 years: 60 days of notice

10 years or more: 75 days of notice

Portuguese employees are entitled to severance if they’re terminated outside of a probation period and are dismissed without extraordinary circumstances.
Severance pay should total 12 days to a month of salary for every year of employment for up to 12 months of the employee’s usual remuneration.