Life satisfaction
Data source: 2016 EQLS survey
Ability to choose or change
methods of work
Data source: 2015 EWCS survey
Possibility to accumulate overtime
for days off
Data source: 2013 ECS survey
Living and working in Portugal
19 May 2022
- Population: 10.3 million (2021)
- Real GDP growth: 4.9% (2021)
- Unemployment rate: 6.9% (2020)
Data source: Eurostat
Eurofound provides research, data and analysis on a wide range of social and work-related topics. This information is largely comparative, but also offers country-specific information for each of the EU Member States, which included the UK prior to its withdrawal from the European Union on 31 January 2020. Most information is available in English but some has been translated to facilitate access at national level.
Eurofound strives to strengthen the ongoing link between its own work and national policy debates and priorities related to quality of life and work. Increasingly important in this context are the EU’s policy priorities for a European Green Deal, a digital future, an economy that works for people, promoting and strengthening European democracy. To help repair the economic and social damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Commission, the European Parliament and EU leaders have also agreed on a recovery plan that will lead the way out of the crisis and lay the foundations for a modern and more sustainable Europe. The EU’s long-term budget, coupled with NextGenerationEU, the temporary instrument designed to boost the recovery, will be the largest stimulus package ever financed through the EU budget to help rebuild a post-COVID-19 Europe.
The European Semester provides a framework for the coordination of economic policies across the EU. It allows Member States to discuss their economic and budget plans and monitor progress at specific times throughout the year. For 2022, the European Semester resumes it broad economic and employment policy coordination, while further adapting in line with the implementation requirements of the Recovery and Resilience Facility. As part of this, Member States are encouraged to submit national reform programmes and stability/convergence programmes that will set out their economic and fiscal policy plans, as in previous Semester cycles. The main change in the 2022 cycle will be that the national reform programme will play a dual role. Besides its role for the European Semester, it will also fulfil one of the two bi-annual reporting requirements of Member States under the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
- European Commission: The European Semester
- European Commission: European Semester documents for Portugal
- European Commission: Recovery and Resilience Facility
2015 Eurofound EWCS survey results in Portugal: 87% of people think their safety is not at risk because of their work
Living and working in Portugal and COVID-19
COVID-19 continues to have a profound impact on people’s lives across the globe, with major implications for quality of life and work. Eurofound has taken a multipronged response to the pandemic, adapting its research focus in a variety of ways. A new database of national-level policy responses, EU PolicyWatch, collates information on measures taken by government and social partners, as well as company practices, aiming to cushion the effects of the crisis. Eurofound's unique e-survey, Living, working and COVID-19, provides an insight into the impact of the pandemic on people’s lives across the EU, with the aim of helping policymakers to bring about an equal recovery from the crisis. Five rounds of the survey have been carried out to date: in April 2020 when most Member States were in lockdown, in July 2020 when society and economies were slowly reopening, in March 2021 as countries dealt again with various levels of lockdown and vaccine rollout, a panel survey in October/November 2021 to track developments since the start of the pandemic, and in March–May 2022, charting the latest developments and looking at how life has changed over the past two years. The survey investigates the impact on quality of life and society, democracy and trust, working and teleworking, the financial situation and security of people, the quality of public services, support measures and vaccinations during COVID-19. Findings for each country and a range of data pages are available.
Explore our data pages by country to find out more on the situation in Portugal.
- Database: EU PolicyWatch - Portugal
- Data: Quality of life during COVID-19 - Portugal
- Data: Democracy and trust during COVID-19 - Portugal
- Data: Working during COVID-19 - Portugal
- Data: Financial situation and security during COVID-19 - Portugal
- Data: Quality of public services during COVID-19 - Portugal
- Data: Support measures during COVID-19 - Portugal
- Data: Vaccinations during COVID-19 - Portugal
- EMCC: Restructuring support instruments database
The country page gives access to Eurofound's most recent survey data and news, directly related to Portugal:
- Living in Portugal - country-level data from the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS)
- Working life in Portugal - key characteristic of working life across a range of parameters.
Research carried out prior to the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union on 31 January 2020, and published subsequently, may include data relating to the 28 EU Member States. Following this date, research only takes into account the 27 EU Member States (EU28 minus the UK), unless specified otherwise.
Survey results
Recent developments
Eurofound contacts in Portugal
Correspondents in Portugal
Correspondents report on topics related to developments in the country's working life and inform Eurofound’s pan-European comparative analysis. Read more
Eurofound Management Board members form Portugal
Eurofound's Management Board is made up of representatives of the social partners and national governments of all Member States, European Commission representatives and an independent expert appointed by the European Parliament. Read more
Nelson Ferreira Authority for Working Conditions
Marcelino Pena Costa Confederation of Trade and Services of Portugal - CCP
Augusto Coelho Praça General Confederation of the Portuguese Workers (CGTP-IN)
Living in Portugal
Quality of life
Quality of life
Eurofound’s European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) shows that both life satisfaction and happiness have increased in Portugal during the years of observation. Average life satisfaction increased from 6.0 in 2003 to 6.9 in 2016, but still slightly lower than the EU28 average of 7.1 (on a scale of 1–10). Similarly, happiness increased from 6.9 in 2003 to 7.5 in 2016, which was slightly above the EU28 average of 7.4.
Respondents in Portugal are less optimistic than people on average in the EU: 54% of respondents were optimistic about their own future in 2016, in comparison to 64% on average in the EU. Similarly, 54% of respondents were optimistic about their children’s or grandchildren’s future in 2016, again lower than the EU average of 57%.
| 2003 | 2007 | 2011 | 2016 | ||
| Life satisfaction | Mean (1-10) | 6.0 | 6.2 | 6.8 | 6.9 |
| Taking all things together on a scale of 1 to 10, how happy would you say you are? | Mean (1-10) | 6.9 | 6.9 | 7.2 | 7.5 |
| Optimism about own future | Agree & strongly agree | - | - | - | 54% |
| Optimism about children’s or grandchildren’s future | Agree & strongly agree | - | - | - | 54% |
| Take part in sports or physical exercise | At least once a week | - | - | 25% | 39% |
| In general, how is your health? | Very good | - | 11% | 16% | 19% |
| WHO-5 mental wellbeing index | Mean (1-100) | - | 60 | 66 | 66 |
| Making ends meet | With some difficulty, difficulty, and great difficulty | 41% | 33% | 41% | 37% |
| I feel I am free to decide how to live my life | Strongly agree | - | - | 29% | 19% |
| I find it difficult to deal with important problems that come up in my life | Agree & strongly agree | - | - | - | 18% |
| When things go wrong in my life, it generally takes me a long time to get back to normal | Agree & strongly agree | - | - | - | 19% |
Work-life balance
Work-life balance
The frequency of work–life balance problems in Portugal is close to the average EU level. For instance, 53% of respondents were too tired from work to do household jobs at least several times a month in 2016, compared with the EU28 average of 59%. Additionally, 36% of respondents in Portugal had difficulties to fulfil family responsibilities because of work at least several times a month, just slightly lower than the EU28 average of 38%.The least common work–life balance problem was having difficulties to concentrate at work because of family responsibilities, reported by 22% of respondents in Portugal in 2016, which was slightly above the corresponding EU28 average of 19%.
| 2003 | 2007 | 2011 | 2016 | ||
| (At least several times a month) | |||||
| I have come home from work too tired to do some of the household jobs which need to be done | Total | 55% | 46% | 49% | 53% |
| Men | 49% | 42% | 43% | 51% | |
| Women | 64% | 51% | 56% | 55% | |
| It has been difficult for me to fulfil my family responsibilities because of the amount of time I spend on the job | Total | 38% | 29% | 27% | 36% |
| Men | 37% | 27% | 25% | 35% | |
| Women | 40% | 31% | 28% | 36% | |
| I have found it difficult to concentrate at work because of my family responsibilities | Total | 23% | 15% | 17% | 22% |
| Men | 21% | 14% | 16% | 22% | |
| Women | 26% | 17% | 18% | 22% | |
Quality of society
Quality of society
Perceived tensions between poor and rich people have decreased in Portugal, from 25% of respondents reporting a lot of tension in 2003 to 11% in 2016. This is also significantly below the EU28 average of 29% in 2016. Perceived tensions between different racial and ethnic groups have also decreased, from 37% of respondents reporting a lot of this type of tension in 2003 to 21% in 2016. This share is low compared with the EU28 average of 41%.
Only 5% of respondents in Portugal reported their involvement in unpaid voluntary work at least once a month in 2016, half the EU28 average of 10%.
| 2003 | 2007 | 2011 | 2016 | ||
| Social exclusion index | Mean (1-5) | - | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.1 |
| Trust in people | Mean (1-10) | 5.0 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 4.7 |
| Involvement in unpaid voluntary work | % 'at least once a month' | - | - | 7% | 5% |
| Tension between poor and rich people | % reporting 'a lot of tension' | 25% | 23% | 21% | 11% |
| Tension between different racial and ethnic groups | % reporting 'a lot of tension' | 37% | 22% | 21% | 21% |
| I feel safe when I walk alone after dark | Strongly agree | - | - | - | 29% |
Quality of public services
Quality of public services
Quality ratings for seven public services
Note: scale of 1-10, Source: EQLS 2016.
The perceived quality of health services has increased in Portugal, from 4.9 in 2003 to 6.3 in 2016, advancing towards the EU28 average of 6.7 (on a scale of 1–10). Similar positive patterns can also be observed in the perceived quality of the education system and childcare services. However, the perceived quality of long-term care services has decreased in Portugal, from 5.4 in 2011 to 5.0 in 2016. The perceived quality of the state pension system deteriorated between 2003 and 2007, from 5.1 to 3.3, but has since improved slightly to 4.2 in 2016. All of the quality ratings for public services in Portugal are below their respective EU28 averages.
| 2003 | 2007 | 2011 | 2016 | ||
| Health services | Mean (1-10) | 4.9 | 4.9 | 5.5 | 6.3 |
| Education system | Mean (1-10) | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.8 | 6.5 |
| Public transport | Mean (1-10) | 5.6 | 5.7 | 5.8 | 5.8 |
| Childcare services | Mean (1-10) | - | 5.6 | 6.0 | 6.2 |
| Long-term care services | Mean (1-10) | - | - | 5.4 | 5.0 |
| Social housing | Mean (1-10) | - | - | 5.4 | 5.3 |
| State pension system | Mean (1-10) | 5.1 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 4.2 |
Working life in Portugal
About
- Author: Heloísa Perista, Maria da Paz Campos Lima and Paula Carrilho
- Institution: CESIS
- Published on: Thursday, August 12, 2021
This profile describes the key characteristics of working life in Portugal. It aims to complement other EurWORK research by providing the relevant background information on the structures, institutions and relevant regulations regarding working life. This includes indicators, data and regulatory systems on the following aspects: actors and institutions, collective and individual employment relations, health and well-being, pay, working time, skills and training, and equality and non-discrimination at work. The profiles are updated annually.
Highlights – Working life in 2021
Highlights – Working life in 2021
Authors: Maria da Paz Campos Lima, Paula Carrilho
Institution: Centre for Studies for Social Intervention (CESIS)
Highlights updated on: 19 May 2022
Working paper: Portugal: Working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2021
The most significant developments in Portugal in 2021 were the positive economic and employment trends, underpinned by three factors: continuation of the mitigation measures introduced in 2020, the new recovery measures, and the successful response of the Public Health Service (SNS) in firstly combating the COVID-19 pandemic and secondly implementing a robust plan of vaccination across most of the population.
However, in various areas, the developments were less satisfactory and raised concerns for their economic and social consequences. These include the limited wage increases and their low bargaining coverage leading to the persistence of low average wages; the slow level of increase in the minimum wage, though faster than average wages; in the public sector, the stagnation of wages, limited recruitment and excessive overtime hours, namely in the national health service (SNS); and the wage gaps and low level of social protection for precarious workers. Labour shortages became highly visible and the debate about the role of low unattractive wages and limits of internal devaluation gained momentum. While unions stressed the need to upgrade wages in connection with reinforcing collective bargaining, employers emphasised the need to lower both corporate and personal taxes to promote economic dynamics and wage levels.
The implementation of the new legislation on telework, initiated in January 2022, will be a test for employers and unions to prove its effectiveness. On the other hand, the debate initiated in the last quarter of 2021 about the draft bill concerning the Decent Work Agenda, abruptly interrupted by the dissolution of the parliament, will continue in 2022, probably in a new form.
Key figures
Key figures
Comparative figures on working life in Portugal
|
2019 |
2020 |
% (point) change 2012 –2019 |
% (point) change 2019 –2020 |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Portugal |
EU27 |
Portugal |
EU27 |
Portugal |
EU27 |
Portugal |
EU27 |
|
|
GDP per capita |
18,630 |
27,970 |
17,180 |
26,230 |
15.6% |
11.5% |
-7.8% |
-6.2% |
|
Unemployment rate – total |
6.5 |
6.7 |
6.9 |
7.1 |
-9.3 |
-4.1 |
0.4 |
0.4 |
|
Unemployment rate – women |
7.2 |
7 |
7.1 |
7.3 |
-8.5 |
-4.0 |
-0.1 |
0.3 |
|
Unemployment rate – men |
5.9 |
6.4 |
6.6 |
6.8 |
-10.0 |
-4.3 |
0.7 |
0.4 |
|
Unemployment rate – youth |
18.3 |
15 |
22.6 |
16.8 |
-19.6 |
-8.7 |
4.3 |
1.8 |
|
Employment rate – total |
75.5 |
73.4 |
74.3 |
72.9 |
2.1 |
2.4 |
-1.2 |
-0.5 |
|
Employment rate – women |
72.9 |
67.9 |
71.8 |
67.5 |
3.2 |
3.0 |
-1.1 |
-0.4 |
|
Employment rate – men |
78.3 |
79 |
76.9 |
78.3 |
1.0 |
1.8 |
-1.4 |
-0.7 |
|
Employment rate – youth |
34.3 |
39.4 |
30.2 |
37.9 |
-2.8 |
-0.4 |
-4.1 |
-1.5 |
Source: Eurostat – Real GDP per capita (chain linked volumes [2010], in EUR) and percentage change 2012–2020 (both based on sdg_08_10). Unemployment rate by sex and age – annual average (15–74 years, % active population) and youth (15–24 years) % [une_rt_a]; Employment rate by sex and age – annual average (15–64 years, unit % total population, employment indicator active population) % [lfsi_emp_a].
Background
Background
Economic and labour market context
Between 2012 and 2019, Portugal’s GDP grew by 15.6%, higher than the EU average of 11.1% increase for the same period. In 2019, the unemployment rate reached 6.5%, the lowest level since 2002.Youth unemployment decreased and stood at 18.3% in 2019, higher than the EU27 average of 15%. Female employment rate increased slightly from 2012 and stood at 72.9% in 2019, higher than the EU average of 67.9%. Total employment rate in 2019 was 75.5%, slightly higher that the EU27 average for the same year, 73.4%.
More information on:
- European Commission: EURES – living and working in Portugal
Legal context
The main legislation covering the employment relationship and industrial relations in force are the Labour Code (Código de Trabalho) that regulates the private sector and the General Labour Law in Public Functions (Lei Geral do Trabalho em Funções Públicas) that regulates the public sector.
The 2009 Labour Code was subject to seven amendments between 2011 and 2014, during the centre right government PSD/CDS, mostly to comply with the requirements of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Troika institutions – the European Commission (EC), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). These amendments introduced regulations to increase labour market flexibility and decentralise collective bargaining (Law 23/2012), to allow the suspension of collective agreements in companies in crisis and to shorten the periods of validity and survival of collective agreements (Law 55/2014). The rules on the extension of collective agreements were modified by Resolution 90/2012 which introduced criteria based on employers’ associations representativeness (to employ more than 50% of all employees in the industry concerned); and later by Resolution 43/2014 that added new alternative criteria, i.e., that the number of members of the employers’ association consist at least of 30% of micro, small and medium enterprises. The amendments introduced in 2015 aimed at improving gender equality at work and parental rights.
In the new political cycle (2015-2019, the government of the Socialist Party took the initiative of a wide range of legislative changes:
In 2016 the Law 8/2016 re-established four civil and religious holidays; and the Law 28/2016 introduced new rules to combat modern forms of forced labour, considering not only the criminal responsibility of subcontractors and temporary staffing agencies, but also the responsibility of company users. In the public sector, the most important changes were the reversal of nominal wages cuts that had been in place since 2011 and the re-establishment of the 35 hour week in the public sector, through the second amendment (Law 18/2016) to the General Labour Law in Public Functions.
In 2017, the Resolution 82/2017 established new rules on the extension of collective agreements, replacing the criteria of representativeness/representation of employer associations, by new criteria with focus on inclusiveness and reduction of inequality; and the Law 73/2017 reinforced the legal framework regulating harassment at work in the private and public sectors.
In 2018, the Law 14/2018 established that in the case of transfer of business or establishment, the workers retain all contractual and acquired rights, namely remuneration, seniority, professional category and functional content and social benefits acquired; and the Law 60/2018 introduced measures to promote equality of remuneration between women and men, including regular information assessing differences in remuneration per company, occupation and qualification level, and transparency rules to prevent wage discrimination.
In 2019, the Law 93/2019 that came into force on 1 October 2019, introduced significant changes to the Labour Code (Eurofound, 2018, 2019, 2020; Campos Lima and Perísta, 2020; Campos Lima, 2020). This legislation introduced new rules to combat labour market segmentation, reducing the duration of fixed term contracts to a maximum of two years and of three renewals; restricted their use only to temporary needs; and created an ‘additional contribution for excessive turnover’ to be applied to companies with an annual share of fixed-term contracts higher than the sector average turnover (a measure planned to take effect in practice in 2021). However, two measures introduced by this law created potential risks of precariousness: the extension of the trial period from 90 days to 180 days for first job seekers and long term unemployed, when hired in open-ended contracts; and the extension of the ‘fixed term contracts of very short duration’ from 15 to 35 days, allowing their use beyond agricultural and tourism activities. This legislation introduced also changes to the collective bargaining framework (see next section) and working time regulation (see section working time regulation) (Campos Lima, 2020; Campos Lima and Perísta, 2020).
Industrial relations context
In Portugal, industrial relations democratic institutions emerged in the context of the revolutionary transition to democracy post 1974. After almost half a century of dictatorship and the longest authoritarian corporatism in Europe (Wiarda, 1977; Schmitter, 1982, 1999), the new democratic state played a major role in the 1970s to improve labour standards and in the configuration of the system of industrial relations. The political influence of trade union and employer confederations was encouraged by the institutionalisation of tripartite concertation, a process that started in 1984 and gained increasing relevancy (Campos Lima and Naumann, 2011). In the late 1980s and in the 1990s, tripartite social pacts played a central role in conditioning collective bargaining towards wage moderation, although CGTP – the most representative trade union confederation – did not sign them. In contrast, UGT signed all those social pacts.
The Labour Code 2003, a centre–right government initiative, reversed the principle of favor laboratoris and introduced mechanisms to speed up the termination of collective agreements and reduce their period of validity after expiring. It paved the way for employers to withdraw unilaterally from existing collective agreements, but due to loopholes in the law, this did not apply to some very important agreements. Collective bargaining entered into crisis in 2004, with a sharp decline of the level of renewals of collective agreements and respective coverage (only 600,000 workers).
During the PS government mandate (2005–2009), the recovery of collective bargaining was facilitated by the medium-term tripartite agreement in 2006 on the trajectory of the minimum wage signed by all social partners. By the year 2008, when the international financial crisis occurred, around 1,800,000 workers were covered by collective agreement renewals, representing around 65% of total employees (excluding public administration). The 2009 Labour Code, a socialist government initiative, introduced significant changes in the collective bargaining framework: re-established partially the favor laboratoris principle; introduced the possibility of non-union negotiations at firm level based on trade union mandate; and further facilitated the unilateral ‘caducity’ of collective agreements and reduced their survival period, removing the obstacles for the withdrawal from agreements. (Campos Lima and Abrantes 2016; Campos Lima, 2019).
The measures and legislation imposed in the period 2011–2014, during the centre–right coalition PSD/CDS, in line with MoU requirements (and beyond), reduced even more drastically the bargaining power of trade unions. Legislation gave more room for non-union representatives to negotiate at firm level. The period of survival of collective agreements was even more reduced, encouraging employers to withdraw unilaterally from existing agreements. Stricter conditions (based on representativeness of employer organisations) were required for the extension of collective agreements. It became possible to proceed to the suspension (derogation) of collective agreements for companies in crisis. All these changes combined with the economic crisis led to a dramatic decline in the level of collective agreement renewals and workers covered, which reached the lowest historical levels in 2012, 2013 and 2014 (Campos Lima, 2019).
Since 2015, the positive developments in economic growth and employment and a number of pro-labour and social measures including the regular increase of the minimum wage launched by the PS government in alliance with the left parties - the Left Bloc (Bloco de Esquerda, BE), the Communist Party (Partido Comunista, PCP) and the Ecologist Green Party (Partido Ecologista ‘Os Verdes’, PEV) contributed positively for industrial relations. These developments and new rules facilitating extension (see extension mechanisms), contributing for some recovery of collective bargaining, but not reaching the levels observed before the international crisis. Tripartite concertation regained importance with tripartite agreements signed in 2016, 2017 and 2018, the two last encompassing a large range of measures.
Following the Tripartite Agreement on Combating Precarious Work and Labour Market Segmentation and Promoting Greater Dynamism in Collective Bargaining signed in 2018, the Law 93/2019 amending the Labour Code that came into force on 1 October 2019 reconfigured the collective bargaining framework in particular in relation to the expiry of collective agreements, although it did not reverse the possibility of unilateral caducity (see section expiry of agreements). Also it created a new challenge to collective bargaining by allowing that ‘group working time accounts’ can be decided and implemented either by collective agreements or by company referenda organized by the employers (see section working time regulation).
Contentious and open issues remain in relation to labour legislation and collective bargaining legal framework, which have been stressed by CGTP, the largest trade union confederation, In particular CGTP claims an in-depth revision of the legal framework of collective bargaining in order to fully re-establish the principle of favor laboratoris and to allow collective agreements to expire only following a joint decision of the signatory parties. So far, those claims were not successful.
In the public sector, after the PS government implemented the reversal of nominal wage cuts and the re-establishment of the 35 hours week, turning the page of austerity, but no major outcomes in collective bargaining have been achieved in terms of wages (frozen almost a decade). The trade unions pressure intensified in the last quarter of 2018 and during 2019, without success. Restrictions on public expenses have been playing an important role in the government argumentation to justify the deadlock.
Actors and institutions
Actors and institutions
Trade unions, employers’ organisations and public institutions play a key role in the governance of the employment relationship, working conditions and industrial relations structures. They are interlocking parts in a multilevel system of governance that includes European, national, sectoral, regional (provincial or local) and company levels. This section looks into the main actors and institutions and their role in Portugal.
Public authorities involved in regulating working life
In Portugal, the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity, and Social Security (Ministério do Trabalho, Solidariedade e Segurança Social, MTSSS) approves and implements policies related to employment, vocational and qualification training, labour market and industrial relations through the Directorate-General for Employment and Labour Relations (Direção-Geral do Emprego e das Relações de Trabalho, DGERT) and the Authority for Working Conditions (Autoridade para as Condições do Trabalho, ACT). DGERT is responsible for supporting the development of policies, legislation and regulations on employment and vocational training and on industrial relations, including working conditions and health, safety and well-being at work.
ACT is responsible for promoting improved working conditions by ensuring compliance with labour regulations and for promoting occupational risk prevention policies in public administration departments and bodies, and in all sectors of activity.
Two other bodies are able to pursue inquiries in cases of occupational disease or other damage to health that occurred during work or are related to work. The Social Security Institute (Instituto da Segurança Social, ISS), through the Protection against Occupational Risks Department (Departamento de Proteção Contra os Riscos Profissionais), is responsible for managing the treatment and recovery from illness or disability arising from occupational hazards. The Directorate-General of Health (Direção-Geral da Saúde, DGS) is one of the main stakeholders in the definition, promotion and enforcement of occupational health policy, through its Environmental and Occupational Health Division (Divisão de Saúde Ambiental e Ocupacional). The DGS is responsible for promoting the assessment of the relationships between work and health/ill health and evaluating the impact of work on health (disability and death). It is also responsible for supporting the development of policies, legislation, regulations, guidelines, etc. on health surveillance.
Representativeness
Portuguese legislation does not provide rules regarding criteria and mechanisms to access the representativeness of trade unions and employer associations and regarding the implications of representativeness in social dialogue institutions and collective bargaining. All officially registered unions or employer associations are entitled to engage in collective bargaining. What counts is mutual recognition.
The MoU required that the extension of collective agreements should be based on representativeness, both of trade unions and employer associations. The legal changes in 2012 and in 2014 referred only to employer representativeness/representation. In the 2012 version, they had to represent 50% of employment in the sector, in many sectors an impossible target. In the 2014 version their membership had to include 30% of micro, small and medium enterprises, to be allowed to extend the collective agreements.
These rules were withdrawn in 2017 for a number of reasons: the negative impact in collective bargaining, by reducing the number of extensions and the number of updated collective agreements and their coverage; the weakness of employers’ associations as highlighted by the Green Paper on Labour Relations 2016, with only 19% of companies in Portugal in 2014 claiming to be affiliated to employer associations; and the fact that both employer confederations and trade union confederations were opposed or reticent to criteria of the extension based on representativeness/representation. In May 2017 Resolution 82/2017 (PDF) replaced the criteria of representativeness/representation of employer associations by new criteria for the extension of collective agreements: the effect on the wage bill and economic impacts; the level of the wage increase; the impact on the wage scale and on the reduction of inequality; the percentage of workers to be covered (in total and by gender); and the proportion of women that will benefit.
More information on representativeness of the main social partner organisations can be found in Eurofound’s representativeness study of the cross-industry social partners or in Eurofound’s sectoral representativeness studies.
- Topic: Representativeness
Trade unions
About trade union representation
The right to organise in a trade union (liberdade sindical) is guaranteed by the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic and by the Labour Code. Very few groups are excluded from this right, namely members of the armed forces and militarised security forces.
Measuring trade union membership in Portugal is a particularly difficult task because most unions do not provide updated and accurate information. Since 2010, the annual mandatory survey (Relatório Único/Ordinance 55/2010) for all companies in the market sector (Relatório Único/Ordinance 55/2010) includes a question to employers about the number of employees affiliated to trade unions. As highlighted in the Green Paper on Labour Relations 2016, the percentage of companies that indicate unionised workers is less than 4% and the data on unionised workers points to a union density between 11% and 9% in the period of 2010-2014. Furthermore, these data do not include the public sector where trade union density is always much higher.
Published data (AIAS-ICTWSS database, 2021) shows a remarkable stability of union density in Portugal until 2011. According to this database, CGTP comprised around 460,000 members in 2011 and UGT around 193,000 in the same year and independent unions comprised around 19,000 members; and in 2016 (the most recent data), CGTP comprised 400,000 members, UGT around 160,000 members, and independent unions comprised 19,000 members. There is some discrepancy between this data and the own assessment by trade union confederations, in particular by UGT. CGTP reported they had lost almost 64,000 members between 2012 and 2016 (CGTP, 2016); but that they had a significant increase in the last four years with more 132,541 members (CGTP, 2020; Porfírio, 2020). UGT reported (replies to a cross-sectoral representativeness study questionnaire) they had lost 20,000 members between 2012 and 2016, and 8,000 between 2016 and 2010 (UGT, 2013, 2017).
Trade union membership and trade union density
|
|
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
Source |
|
Trade union density in terms of active employees |
16.1% |
15.3% |
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
OECD/AIAS ICTWSS Database 2021 |
|
Trade union membership in 1000s |
596 |
579 |
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
OECD/AIAS ICTWSS Database 2021 |
Main trade union confederations and federations
There are two trade union confederations (CGTP and UGT) that have access to tripartite social concertation at macro level (Standing Committee for Social Concertation, CPCS).
Main trade union confederations and federations
|
Long name |
Abbreviation |
Members |
Involved in collective bargaining |
|
General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses – Intersindical Nacional) |
CGTP-IN |
In 2016: 400,000 Source: ICTWSS Database 6.1; February 2021 in XLSX, J. Visser, (AIAS) , University of Amsterdam In 2016: 423,822 In 2020: 556.363 Source: CGTP (2016, 2020); and CGTP answer to a cross-sectoral representativeness study questionnaire. |
No, not directly (only via its member organisations) |
|
General Union of Workers (União Geral de Trabalhadores) |
UGT |
In 2016: 160,000. Source: ICTWSS Database 6.1; February 2021 in XLSX, J. Visser, (AIAS) ), University of Amsterdam In 2016: 458,000 In 2020: 450,000 Source: UGT (2013, 2017); UGT answer to a cross-sectoral representativeness study questionnaire. |
No, not directly (only via its member organisations) |
|
Union Federation of Financial Sector (Federação Nacional do Sector Financeiro) |
FEBASE (UGT) |
Around 72,000 members Source: Data based on results of internal elections at the three unions in the banking sector and authors’ estimates of membership of the two unions in the insurance industry |
Yes |
|
Federation of unions of Metal Chemical, Electric, Pharmaceutical, Paper, Printing, Energy and Mining industries (Federação Intersindical das Indústrias Metalúrgicas, Químicas, Eléctricas, Farmacêutica, Celulose, Papel, Gráfica, Imprensa, Energia e Minas) |
FIEQUIMETAL (CGTP-IN) |
Due to a broad and complex process of mergers carried out by FIEQUIMETAL it is difficult to estimate the membership numbers of this federation, around between 60,000 and 70,000 and members |
|
|
National Federation of Teachers (Federação Nacional dos Professores) |
FENPROF (CGTP-IN) |
60,000 Source: Data based on results of internal elections at the member unions |
|
|
National Federation of Public Sector Trade Unions (Federação Nacional dos Sindicatos da Função Pública) |
FNSFP (CGTP-IN) |
Around 66,000 members. |
|
|
Federation of unions of Textile, Wool, Clothing, Footwear and Leather workers (Federação dos Sindicatos dos Trabalhadores Têxteis, Lanifícios, Vestuário, Calçado e Peles de Portugal) |
FESETE (CGTP-IN) |
25,000 Source: Data based on results of internal elections at the member unions |
During the past 20 years, the most comprehensive and profound restructuring among Portuguese unions was carried out by FIEQUIMETAL. The process began in 1999 with the merger of CGTP’s metal and chemical and chemical workers’ federations and was continued in 2007 with the integration of the electrical workers’ federation. In 2010, eight of FIEQUIMETAL’s member unions merged into four newly created regional unions covering several branches of manufacturing. In the same year, the national Union of Paper and Printing Workers integrated itself into these four new organisations. FIEQUIMETAL now covers the following sectors: metal, chemical, electrical, pharmaceutical, paper and pulp, graphical, press, energy and mining.
Another important structuring process occurred in 2007 when UGT’s three banking and two insurance unions created the National Federation of the Finance Sector (FEBASE). During the same year, CGTP’s transport and communication unions founded FECTRANS. In contrast to FIEQUIMETAL, the creation of FEBASE and FECTRANS did not result in restructuring the member organisations.
Employers’ organisations
About employers’ representation
The Constitution guarantees the right to organise voluntarily and protects against any coercion to affiliate in an association, and the Labour Code specifies this right for employers’ organisations.
As regards the legal status of interest associations, there is an important distinction between the employers’ organisations that are recognised as social partners on the one hand and pure trade associations on the other.
The main employers’ organisations that are represented in the most important cross-sectoral, national institution for social dialogue, the Permanent Commission of Social Concertation (Comissão Permanente de Concertação Social, CPCS) are: the Entrepreneurial Confederation of Portugal (Confederação Empresarial de Portugal, CIP), the Confederation of Commerce and Services of Portugal (Confederação do Comércio e Serviços de Portugal, CCP), the Confederation of Farmers of Portugal (Confederação dos Agricultores de Portugal, CAP), and the Confederation of Portuguese Tourism (Confederação do Turismo Português, CTP).
The Entrepreneurial Confederation of Portugal was founded in 2010 as a result of the merger of the Confederation of Portuguese Industry (CIP) with the two large national entrepreneurial associations, AIP and AEP. With this merger, CIP consolidated its leading role in the employers’ camp.
There are no published membership data regarding employers’ organisations. However, the annual mandatory survey to all companies in the market sector (Relatório Único) includes a question to employers about their affiliation in employers’ associations and their number of employees, which allows to estimate the overall employers’ organisations density in terms of the percentage of companies that are affiliated (19% in 2014) and in terms of active employees (39% in 2014), as reported in the Green Paper on Labour Relations 2016.
Employers’ organisations – membership and density
|
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
Source |
|
|
Employers’ organisation density in terms of active employees |
51.2%. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a |
OECD/AIAS ICTWSS Database 2021 |
|
Employers’ organisation density in terms of active employees |
39%. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
National Source: Relatório Único/ Green Paper on Labour Relations 2016 |
|
Employers’ organisation density in private sector establishments* |
n.a. |
n.a |
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
24% |
European Company Survey (ECS) 2013/2019 |
|
Employers’ organisation density in private sector establishments* |
19%. |
n.a |
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
n.a. |
National Source: Relatório Único/ Green Paper on Labour Relations 2016 |
* Percentage of employees working in an establishment which is a member of any employer organisation that is involved in collective bargaining
Main employers’ organisations
There are two main employers’ confederations (CIP and CCP) covering more than one sector that have access to the body of tripartite social concertation at macro level (Standing Committee for Social Concertation, CPCS).
Main employers’ organisations and confederations
|
Long name |
Abbreviation |
Members |
Year |
Involved in collective bargaining |
|
Entrepreneurial Confederation of Portugal (Confederação Empresarial de Portugal) |
CIP |
Approximately 820,000 (without members of Chambers of Industry and Commerce) Source: Authors’ calculations based on data provided by CIP |
2013 |
No, only via its members |
|
Confederation of Trade and Services of Portugal (Confederação do Comércio e Serviços de Portugal) |
CCP |
No data |
- |
No, only via its members |
Tripartite and bipartite bodies and concertation
The tripartite body for social concertation at macro level is the Standing Committee for Social Concertation (Comissão Permanente de Concertação Social – CPCS). It was created in 1984 and produced several agreements on income policies, setting reference values for the wage increases in collective bargaining. In 1990 and 1996, broad pacts covering a wide range of areas were signed. These agreements were only signed by one trade union confederation, UGT; CGTP-IN did not sign any of them.
In 1991, the first specific agreements were signed at the CPCS: one on health and safety at the workplace and the other on vocational education and training. After the last broad agreement signed in 1996 (which was also the last agreement with guidelines for wage bargaining), this new type of specific agreement became the dominant means of social concertation until 2008. CGTP-IN signed several agreements of this type. The areas covered by these specific agreements were health and safety (1991, 2000, 2006), occupational training (1991, 2000, 2007), public pension schemes (2001, 2006), and the minimum wage mid-term agreement (2006). The tripartite agreements of 2008 and 2012 encompassed again a large number of issues including the revision of labour legislation, both against the opposition of CGTP. Analysis of social dialogue under the shadow of Troika and of tripartite agreement 2012 suggest that mostly the government combined unilateral decision with subordinating social dialogue to MoU demands and that no significant trade-off was really achieved (Campos Lima and Abrantes, 2016; Almeida et al, 2016).
Since the last quarter of 2014, tripartite concertation regained importance with the signature of a tripartite agreement on the minimum wage increase. In the new political cycle, initiated in end of 2015, with the government of the Socialist Party supported by the left parties, three tripartite agreements were signed 2016, 2017 and 2018 covering various issues. While the tripartite agreement 2016 focused only on the implementation of the minimum wage update, the tripartite agreements in 2017 and 2018 covered a broader range of issues with implications in labour reforms. Following the Tripartite Commitment for a Mid-term Concertation Agreement signed in 2017, the government revised the criteria for the extension of collective agreements (see extension mechanisms) and a bipartite agreement between employer confederations and trade union confederations suspended temporarily for 18 months any unilateral initiatives demanding the expire of agreements (see expiry of collective agreements).
In June 2018, the Tripartite Agreement on Combating Precarious Work and Labour Market Segmentation and Promoting Greater Dynamism in Collective Bargaining introduced proposals to reinforce arbitration before the expiry of agreements and to protect workers acquired rights in some domains, when collective agreements expire (see expiry of collective agreements); and to extend the range of issues to which applies the favor laboratoris principle. At the same time the tripartite agreement introduced new challenges regarding collective agreements and workplace decision making on working time flexibility. The tripartite agreements of 2017 and 2018 were not signed by CGTP. Among the reasons not to sign, is GCTP demand for an in-depth revision of the legal framework of collective bargaining in order to fully re-establish the principle of favor laboratoris and to allow collective agreements to expire only following a joint decision of the signatory parties.
Main tripartite and bipartite bodies
|
Name |
Type |
Level |
Issues covered |
|
Standing Committee for Social Concertation (Comissão Permanente de Concertação Social, CPCS) |
Tripartite |
National |
All issues related to work relations, employment, economic and social affairs; agreements may refer to political strategies and/or to specific measures |
Workplace-level employee representation
The rights of works councils (comissões de trabalhadores) and trade union organisation at the company level are guaranteed by the Constitution and regulated by the Labour Code.
The competences of works councils are largely limited to information and consultation. The legal possibility of unions to delegate their ability to sign collective agreements to works councils created in 2009 and extended in 2012 did not have any effect in practice.
Unions have the exclusive right to sign legally binding collective agreements and to call for strikes. Union structures at company level (delegates or committees) are involved in collective bargaining if the trade union board wants to be. It is the board who makes the decisions in relation to the negotiations.
Data from the ECS confirm the findings of a survey in the 1990s: the trade union delegates are the most numerous bodies (in terms of establishments and employees covered).
Regulation, composition and competences of the bodies
|
Regulation |
Composition |
Competences of the body Involved in company level collective bargaining? |
Thresholds/rules when they need to be/can be set up |
|
|
Workers’ Commission (Comissão de Trabalhadores, CT) |
Constitution of the Portuguese Republic and Labour Code |
Workers elected by all employees of the company |
Since 2009, and extended in 2012, workers representatives including CTs can be involved in collective bargaining if they have a mandate from the trade unions. The main competences of CTs are information and consultation. |
CTs can be created in all companies. There is no threshold. |
|
Trade union delegate (Delegado Sindical) |
Constitution of the Portuguese Republic and Labour Code |
Delegate elected by the members of the respective union employed in the company |
Involved via their trade union. The signing party of collective agreements is always the union. |
Union delegates may be elected in all companies. There is no threshold. |
|
Union Committee (Comissão Sindical, CS) or Inter-union Committee (Comissão Intersindical, CIS) |
Constitution of the Portuguese Republic and Labour Code |
Constituted by Union Delegates of one (CS) or several (CIS) unions |
Involved via their trade union(s). The signing party of collective agreements is always the union. |
Union Committees and Inter-Union committees may be elected in all companies. There is no threshold. |
|
Workers' representatives for safety and health at work (Representantes dos trabalhadores para a Segurança e Saúde no Trabalho) |
Legal regime for the promotion of safety and health at work Law no. 102/2009 (Article 21) |
Elected by workers by direct and secret vote, on the basis of lists submitted by trade unions when they have workers; or lists subscribed by at least by 20% of the workers. |
Not involved |
No threshold |
Industrial action and disputes
Industrial action and disputes
Legal aspects
In Portugal, strikes are the most widely used form of industrial action by far. The right to strike is guaranteed by the Constitution since 1976, which establishes that the workers themselves competence to define the scope of the interests to be defended by means of strike action, and that this scope may not be restricted by the law. In parallel with establishing the right to strike, it prohibits the use of the lock-out. Other forms of industrial dispute, such as sit-ins and other disruptive actions, were relevant during the revolutionary period (1974–1975) and its aftermath, but they do not occur any longer. An exception may be when workers at a factory that is closing try to stop the withdrawal of equipment and material from the establishment in order to avoid their sale before the company has paid its debt to the dismissed workforce.
Incidence of different forms of industrial action between 2010 and 2019
|
Work-to-rule or refusal to do overtime |
13% |
|
Work stoppage or strike for less than a day |
12% |
|
Strike of a day or more |
31% |
|
Blockade or occupation |
3% |
Source: European Company Survey 2019
Note: Percentage of private sector establishments reporting any form of industrial action during the indicated period.
Industrial action developments, 2015–2018
|
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
|
|
Working days lost per 1,000 employees |
8.0 |
4.7 |
11.1 |
18.5 |
|
Number of strikes |
75 |
76 |
106 |
144 |
|
Top four reasons |
Wages (17.9%) Working conditions (15.0%) Statute of company (8.1%) Employment and training (6.3%) |
Wages (50.4%) Working Conditions (12.0%) Collective regulation procedures (7.2%) Employment and training (2.0%) |
Employment and training (18.3%) Working conditions (13.8%) Statute of company (8.8%) Wages (8.0%) |
Wages (28.7%) Collective regulation procedures (22.6%) Working conditions (13.8%) Employment and training (4.5%) |
Source: GEE, 2014a, 2014b; GEP, 2016, 2017.
Dispute resolution mechanisms
Collective dispute resolution mechanisms
The Labour Code regulates the following collective dispute resolution mechanisms:
- Conciliation and mediation (Labour Code, Articles 523–528): Conciliation may be initiated at the request of one or both parties of the conflict. The process is normally carried out at the responsible service of the Ministry of Labour. The parties are obliged to attend the conciliation meetings, but the success of the process depends entirely on their will. If the conciliation fails, it may be transformed into mediation. Mediation may be initiated at the request of one or both parties of the conflict. The mediator is appointed by the Ministry of Labour. He or she presents a compromise for the resolution of the conflict. The parties are obliged to attend the mediation meetings, but the success of the process depends entirely on their will.
- Voluntary arbitration (Labour Code, Articles 506–507): The parties involved in the negotiation of a collective agreement may initiate a process of voluntary arbitration at any time during the conflict. The arbitrating body is comprised of one representative from each side of the conflict (employers and trade unions) and a third member who is chosen by the two representatives. The involved parties are obliged to inform the Ministry of Labour about the beginning and the conclusion of the process.
- Mandatory arbitration (Labour Code, Articles 508–509): Mandatory arbitration may take place if all previous steps of negotiation and conciliation in relation to a collective agreement (conciliation, mediation and voluntary arbitration) have failed and if the majority of social partners represented at the CPCS recommend it. In case of risks to life, health or security of citizens, the Ministry of Labour may unilaterally initiate the mandatory arbitration (after consultation with the CPCS). In the case of the negotiation of a completely new agreement, one of the parties may request mandatory arbitration if the other one has brought all previous steps of negotiation and conciliation to failure. The Ministry of Labour decides on the execution of a mandatory arbitration, taking into consideration (a) the number of workers affected by the conflict, (b) the relevance of social protection of the covered workers, (c) the social and economic impact of the conflict, and (d) the position of the involved parties regarding the object of the arbitration. After consultation of the involved parties and the regulating or supervising body of the respective sector, the Ministry of Labour unilaterally determines the decision regarding the arbitration.
- Necessary arbitration (Labour Code, Articles 510–511): If a collective agreement expires and is not substituted by another agreement during the 12 months (covering at least 50% of the respective workforce), the Ministry of Labour may initiate the process of a necessary arbitration (which is regulated by a specific decree-law). This type of arbitration is designed to be triggered in the course of the expiration of a collective agreement. In the case of a strike in a sector or institution that provides indispensable services for the population, the respective trade union is obliged to present in its prior notice of the strike submitted at the Ministry of Labour a proposal for ‘minimum services’. If the involved parties do not come to a common solution, an arbitration takes place at the Economic and Social Council (Conselho Económico e Social, CES) (Labour Code, Articles 534, 537–538).
Individual dispute resolution mechanisms
The Labour Code (Article 492-2 f) stipulates that collective agreements shall regulate conflicts regarding employment contracts, ‘namely by conciliation, mediation and arbitration’. It seems that the most important collective agreements revised since 2009 (textile, clothing, shoe, metal, construction, commerce) do not make use of this legal possibility to regulate the resolution of individual conflicts.
In the case of disciplinary measures against an individual worker and in case of dismissal, the respective works council and trade union organisations must be informed (Labour Code, Articles 353, 356–357). In the case of the dismissal of a worker resulting from the extinction of the workplace or because of ‘inadaptation’ of the worker to the demands of his or her job, the respective works council and trade union organisations must be informed and consulted (Labour Code, Articles 370, 375, 377–378).
The Labour Code (Article 387) states that the legality and admissibility of a dismissal can only be judged by a legal court.
The most common forms of collective dispute resolution in Portugal in relation to collective bargaining are conciliation and mediation. Arbitration is extremely rare. The Annual Report on Collective Bargaining 2015, 2017 and 2019 (CRL/MTSSS, 2016; 2018; 2019) examined the trends observed in the period 2005–2018, concluding that the most common and most successful form of dispute resolution has been conciliation. Mediation has been less frequent and with more limited results. Between 2005 and 2018, only one decision based on voluntary arbitration was published and three processes of compulsory arbitration were concluded. The last two years there was nothing to add. As to the necessary arbitration, there was not a single case concluded in the last decade, although in 2018 there was one request.
Use of dispute resolution mechanisms
|
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
|
|
Conciliation* |
63 |
38 |
58 |
51 |
|
Mediation* |
11 |
10 |
12 |
17 |
|
Voluntary arbitration |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Compulsory arbitration |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Necessary arbitration |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Source: CRL, MTSSS, 2016; 2018; and DGERT/BTE online. * Number of yearly requests.
Individual employment relations
Individual employment relations
Individual employment relations are the relationships between the individual worker and their employer. This relationship is shaped by legal regulation and by the outcomes of social partner negotiations over the terms and conditions governing the employment relationship. This section looks into the start and termination of the employment relationship and entitlements and obligations in Portugal.
Start and termination of the employment relationship
Requirements regarding an employment contract
According to the Portuguese Labour Code (Law 7/2009 of 12 February, Article 68-2), the minimum working age is 16 years. A person aged less than 16 who has completed compulsory education may be hired for soft jobs with adequate tasks (Article 68-3), or in a family company a person aged less than 16 may work under the direct supervision of an adult family member (Article 68-4). In any case, the employer must inform the inspecting authority about the hiring of a person aged less than 16 within eight days (Article 68-5).
The Portuguese Labour Code requires that employment contracts in a written form should include information regarding (Article 141):
- identification of the employer and the employee;
- workplace;
- daily and weekly working hours;
- date of the contract and the date of its entry into force;
- functions to be performed by the employee;
- amount of the basic wage and other remuneration;
- definition of the notice period in case of termination of the contract.
The exception are the ‘contracts of very short duration’ which do not have a written form, but are communicated by the employer to the social security service using an electronic form including the above mentioned information (Article 142). In general, there is no timeframe for signing the contract. The Labour Code protects workers who do not have clear contractual situations. A worker who does not have a written and signed contract may be considered as a permanent worker.
Dismissal and termination procedures
According to the Portuguese Labour Code (Law 7/2009 of 12 February), in its article 340, an employment contract may be terminated due to: expiration, revocation, denunciation and termination. Among the dismissal modalities, the following are to highlight:
- dismissal with fault attributable to the employee;
- collective dismissal;
- dismissal due to the extinction of the job position ;
- dismissal due to unsuitability;
Dismissal of the employee without just cause or for political or ideological reasons is forbidden.
The employer must inform the employee of the notice period for termination of the employment contract.
Entitlements and obligations
Parental, maternity and paternity leave
In Portuguese maternity and paternity leave are regulated under the regime of ‘initial parental leave’ which includes provisions for both parents and exclusively for the mother and for the father (Decree Law 91/2009, Articles 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15).
Statutory leave arrangements
|
Regime of initial parental leave (subsidio parental inicial) |
|
|
Overall maximum duration |
150 days (Article 12 paragraph 1) 150 + 30 days = 180 in case of shared leave (Article 12 paragraph 1) 150 + 30 + 90 days = in the case of extended leave (Article 16) |
|
Reimbursement |
From 80% to 100% of the average daily wage remuneration declared to social security in the previous six months – does not apply to the extended leave. To be eligible for the initial parental allowance, the mother and / or the father must have 6 months affiliation in a social security system with registered remuneration. |
|
Who pays? |
The public social security system is responsible for the payment. |
|
Legal basis |
Decree Law 91/2009 of 9 April, Articles 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 (amended by Decree-Law 70/2010 of 16 June, Decree-Law 133/2012 of 27 June, Law 120/2015 of 1 September and Decree-Law 53/2018 of 2 July. |
|
Initial parental leave – detailed provisions |
|
|
Maximum duration |
Initial parental leave is 120 or 150 consecutive days of leave. It is obligatory for the mother to take 42 days (six weeks) following the birth; the remaining period may be shared between the father and the mother by mutual agreement. The duration of the leave is extended by 30 days in the case of shared leave; each parent takes a leave of 30 consecutive days or two periods of 15 consecutive days. Mothers have the option to take up to 30 days of initial parental leave before birth. It is obligatory for the father to take 20 working days’ exclusive parental leave, of which five days must be taken consecutively immediately after birth and 15 days during the subsequent 42 days (six weeks). Initial parental benefit is extended by 30 days per child in the case of multiple births, besides the first one. In the case of multiple births, an extra two days for each child (besides the first one) are added to the 20 compulsory days of parental leave exclusive of the father. The extended parental leave (Article 16) may be granted to one or to both parents (alternately), up to a maximum period of three months (for each parent) provided that it takes places immediately after the Initial Parental Benefit or after the Extended Parental Benefit from the other parent. |
|
Reimbursement |
The parental leave benefit varies according to the option of the parental leave: - 120 and 150 days’ initial parental leave corresponds to a daily allowance of 100% and 80% of the average daily wage, respectively. - The 20 working days’ exclusive parental leave of father corresponds to a daily allowance of 100%, of the average daily wage. - In the case of shared leave between the father and the mother of 150 or 180 days, the benefit corresponds to a daily allowance of 100% or 83% of the average daily wage, respectively. When the level of earnings is very low, the law provides a minimum amount of €11.70 per day, equal to 80% of the 1/30 Index of Social Support (€438.81in 2020). For the extended parental leave of three months the benefit corresponds to a daily allowance of 25% of the average daily wage. When the level of earnings is very low, the law provides a minimum amount of €5.85 per day, equal to 40% of the 1/30 Index of Social Support (€438.81 in 2020). |
Sick leave
In Portugal, the right to paid sick leave is granted by law (Decree-Law 28/2004 of 4 February, with the changes introduced by Decree-Law 146/2005 of 26 August, Decree-Law 302/2009 of 22 October, Law 28/2011 of 16 June, Decree-Law 133/2012 of 27 June and Decree-Law 53/2018 of 2 July) to employees working under a labour contract (the worker should have made contributions to the social security system for at least six months, consecutive or not) and, optionally, to independent workers too. Additionally, beneficiaries must have registered earnings for at least 12 days of work in the four months immediately before the month preceding the onset of incapacity. However, this condition does not apply to self-employed workers or to seafarers covered by the voluntary social security scheme (these workers must have paid their social security contributions up to the end of the third month preceding the onset of incapacity).
The benefit is payable from the fourth day of incapacity for work onwards (there is an unpaid three-day waiting period) in the case of employees; from the 11th day of incapacity for work onwards (unpaid 10-day waiting period) in the case of self-employed workers; and 31st for the beneficiaries covered by the voluntary social security scheme.
No waiting period is applicable in case of: i) tuberculosis, ii) hospitalisation or outpatient surgery treatment in a duly authorised establishment, iii) sickness initiated during the entitlement period to the parental benefit and extending beyond this period.
This payment is granted by the state through social security. The amount of this allowance is calculated as a percentage of the worker’s salary (this salary is determined by taking into account the average salary of the previous six months before the sickness, Christmas and Holiday allowances excluded), but this percentage varies according to the duration of the leave and to the nature of the sickness.
The amount of the average daily pay covered by sickness allowance varies according to the duration of the incapacity to work: 55% for up to 30 days; 60% for 31–90 days; 70% for 91–365 days; and 75% if it is more than 365 days.
The minimum rate of benefits payable is set at 30% of the daily amount of Index of Social Support (€438.81 in 2020). Where the person's reference income is lower than the Index of Social Support, the sickness benefit will be equal to the reference income. The benefits cannot exceed the reference income. The employment relationship may be terminated while the employee is on sick leave (Law 7/2009 of 12 February (Labour Code)).
Retirement age
Ordinance 50/2019 of 8 February established that the normal age of entitlement to old age pension in 2020 is 66 years and five months.
Early retirement can be claimed if the insured person has both a minimum age of 60 and 40 years of contributory career, without the application of the sustainability factor. Early retirement is penalised according to the established by Decree-Law 187/2007 of 10 May, amended by Decree-law 119/2018 of 27 December: 0.5% per month of anticipation reduced by 12 months for every period of three years for those with more than 30 years of insurance record.
Decree-Law 119/2018 of 27 December proceeds to the eighth amendment of the Decree-Law 187/2007 and establishes the new flexibilisation scheme regarding the age of access to the early retirement: i) the beneficiaries who are at least 60 years old and, at this age, have at least 40 years of contributions may request early retirement; ii) it is not possible to access the pension before having reached 60 years old; iii) the personal age of access to the old-age pension is established, resulting from the reduction in four months for each civil year above 40 years of contributory career; in any case, this reduction cannot lead to access to old-age pension below 60 years of age; iv) the sustainability factor is eliminated from the calculation of the pensions of the flexibilisation scheme of the old-age pension’s age. In such cases, the beneficiaries are not double penalised.
There is a special pathway to retirement for long-term unemployed older workers. If unemployment occurs after the completion of 57 years, retirement is allowed, without penalties, at the age of 62. If unemployment occurs between the ages of 52 and 56, retirement is allowed, with penalties, at the age of 57. In this latter case, the qualifying period is increased from 15 to 22 years of insurance.
There are special retirement conditions for people with arduous jobs, such as miners, seafarers in fisheries, maritime workers of merchant navy, coastal navigation and coastal fishery, air traffic controllers, professional classical and contemporary dancers and embroiderers from Madeira Island. These professionals may request early retirement within the specific conditions set up for each activity as regards age and contributory records, but they always have to comply with the 15-year (successive or not) record of contributions for Social Security or for any other social protection scheme which entitles them to a retirement pension.
Pay
Pay
Pay: For workers, the reward for work and main source of income; for employers, a cost of production and focus of bargaining and legislation. This section looks into minimum wage setting in Portugal and guides the reader to further material on collective wage bargaining.
According to the most recent ILO report on Portugal (ILO, 2018), real average wages (using data from GEP’s Quadros de Pessoal and CPI) had increased 12% between 2002 and 2012, before sliding back as Portugal entered into recession. The years of troika intervention (2011-2014) with the dramatic blockade of collective bargaining and extensions and minimum wage freezing contributed to this sliding back. Pay developments in recent years were influenced by the new political cycle and the measures that helped recovery in particular the trajectory of minimum wage increase and a certain recovery of collective bargaining. As highlighted by ILO, the recovery in the private sector started in 2015. On the other hand, a study examining the evolution of the average wages for the whole economy, using information provided by National Statistics on the basis of administrative data (from Social Security and Caixa Geral de Aposentações) showed that the inversion of the trend of declining wages (regular gross remuneration excluding Christmas and holiday bonus ) occurred at the end of 2017, increasing until September 2019, when the annual rates of change registered 2.8% in nominal terms and 3% in real terms (Caldas, 2019).
Monthly average basic nominal wages per worker (in euros)
|
|
|
2012 |
2017 |
2018 |
|||
|
NACE |
|
Men |
Women |
Men |
Women |
Men |
Women |
|
Total |
999.85 |
814.54 |
1012.25 |
861.17 |
1039.08 |
888.56 |
|
|
A |
Agriculture, forestry and fishing |
756.92 |
603.34 |
766.02 |
673.16 |
800.74 |
707.02 |
|
B |
Mining and quarrying |
898.89 |
1.000.87 |
971.57 |
1,110.74 |
1,021.72 |
1,163.49 |
|
C |
Manufacturing |
938.57 |
687.03 |
983.28 |
766.59 |
1013.95 |
801.02 |
|
D |
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply |
2,361.58 |
2,263.47 |
2,076.98 |
2,037.44 |
2,075.99 |
2,099.58 |
|
E |
Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities |
847.67 |
984.60 |
853.60 |
1023.33 |
882.40 |
1048.13 |
|
F |
Construction |
796.48 |
895.08 |
799.29 |
890.84 |
815.37 |
908.45 |
|
G |
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles |
940.93 |
778.48 |
960.01 |
831.57 |
984.75 |
855.33 |
|
H |
Transportation and storage |
957.49 |
1 157.54 |
963.03 |
1178.82 |
998.16 |
1190.12 |
|
I |
Accommodation and food service activities |
745.63 |
612.35 |
776.68 |
666.62 |
799.96 |
693.62 |
|
J |
Information and communication |
1,599.66 |
1,373.84 |
1,600.27 |
1,368.07 |
1,644.94 |
1,395.75 |
|
K |
Financial and insurance activities |
1,758.36 |
1,382.87 |
1,780.12 |
1,406.90 |
1,794.30 |
1,412.99 |
|
L |
Real estate activities |
1,130.47 |
844.20 |
1,103.19 |
880.55 |
1,120.14 |
908.26 |
|
M |
Professional, scientific and technical activities |
1,412.08 |
1,027.67 |
1,406.22 |
1,067.34 |
1,426.33 |
1,097.34 |
|
N |
Administrative and support service activities |
812.54 |
725.85 |
804.35 |
764.59 |
821.76 |
787.39 |
|
O |
Public administration and defence; compulsory social security |
869.49 |
951.86 |
827.37 |
942.32 |
851.43 |
983.07 |
|
P |
Education |
1,287.80 |
1,073.08 |
1,324.12 |
1,075.15 |
1,368.96 |
1,098.06 |
|
Q |
Human health and social work activities |
1,075.19 |
772.97 |
1,126.57 |
829.91 |
1,149.03 |
850.17 |
|
R |
Arts, entertainment and recreation |
2,038.92 |
843.82 |
2,109.27 |
911.02 |
2,077.22 |
933.92 |
|
S |
Other service activities |
1,043.62 |
769.63 |
1,044.41 |
808.41 |
1,063.26 |
835.75 |
|
U |
Activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies |
1,765.38 |
2,091.41 |
2,138.34 |
1,889.21 |
2,283.46 |
2,042.38 |
Source: Quadros de Pessoal 2012 ; 2017 and 2018 (Remunerações base médias, por actividade económica, segundo o nível de qualificação).
Minimum wages
The statutory minimum wage was created during the democratic revolution of 1974. It is set by the government after consultation with the social partners. There are no fixed rules or permanent expert committees. Until 2011, the increases usually took place at the start of every year.
In 2006, a tripartite agreement was signed at the CPCS (by the government and all union and employers’ confederations), stipulating that the minimum wage would be increased until 2011 at a pace that was foreseeably faster than the increase of collectively agreed wages. The aim was to reach €500 per month in 2011, but the escalation of the crisis and Troika MoU requirements stopped the process at €485 (2011). The government imposed a freeze of the minimum wage during three years. No other agreements were made until 2014, when a tripartite agreement was signed at the CPCS to increase the minimum wage for 2015 to €505. In the new political cycle, two tripartite agreements were signed regarding the conditions of implementation of the minimum wage update to €530 for 2016 and to €557 for 2017. It is relevant to note that a trajectory of the minimum wage increase to reach €600 in 2019 was part of the parliamentary deals with the left parties and one of the conditions they put forward to support the government of the Socialist Party. The minimum wage increase for 2019 to €600 had into consideration this planed trajectory (Martins, 2019; GEP/MTSSS, 2019).
For more information regarding the level and development of minimum wages, please see:
- Eurofound publication series: Minimum wages in the EU
- Eurostat: Minimum wage statistics
Collectively agreed pay outcomes
For more detailed information on the most recent outcomes in terms of collectively agreed pay, please see:
- Topic: Collective bargaining
Working time
Working time
Working time: ‘Any period during which the worker is working, at the employer’s disposal and carrying out his activities or duties, in accordance with national laws and/or practice’ (Directive 2003/88/EC). This section briefly summarises regulation and issues regarding working time, overtime, part-time work as well as working time flexibility in Portugal.
Working time regulation
Working time is regulated by the Labour Code, by collective bargaining and by employers at company level.
The Labour Code sets the general framework by defining basic notions, by setting certain limits, such as for regular weekly working time and possible deviations from it, which may result from regulations regarding flexibility (working time accounts), and by regulating different types of flexible working time arrangements.
Collective agreements at branch, professional or company level may regulate the working time in the respective areas within the stipulations of the Labour Code. There is no articulation between the different levels of collective bargaining.
Employers regulate working time in their companies within the stipulations of the Labour Code and of the respective collective agreement (if there is one). In 2009, the Labour Code introduced working time accounts ( banco de horas) making their implementation in the companies dependent on their regulation by collective agreement. However, since 2012, the Labour Code introduced the possibility of ‘individual working time accounts’ which allowed the increase of normal working period up to two hours per day and 50 hours per week, with a limit of 150 hours per year, with basis on individual negotiations between employer and employee, without the mediation of unions or employee representatives, which could bypass the provisions of sector collective agreements.
The Law 93/2019 amending the Labour Code, which came into force on 1 October 2019, eliminated the regime of ‘individual working time accounts’, but provided for a period of one transition year, until October 2020, during which this regime still could apply. At the same time, this amendment introduced the regime of ‘group working time accounts’ (banco de horas grupal) (article 208-B). This new regime can be implemented in two ways: by collective agreements; or implemented at company level, when approved by the workers on the basis of ‘referendums’ organized by the employer, applying to all workers in a team, section or economic unit. The works councils (comissões de trabalhadores) and the trade union delegates at the company level have a mere role of surveillance of the referendum process. In the absence of representatives (the case of the large majority of Portuguese companies), the workers can designate a representative commission with the maximum three or five members. Labour inspection has the role of surveillance of referendum in the case of companies with less than 10 workers without worker representatives.
For more detailed information on working time (including annual leave, statutory and collectively agreed working time), please consult:
- Topic: Working time
Overtime regulation
Overtime is regulated by the Labour Code, by collective bargaining and by employers at company level.
The Labour Code sets the general framework by defining basic notions and by setting certain limits, for example to the maximum number of overtime hours per year and per day.
Collective agreements at branch, professional or company level may regulate overtime in the respective areas within the stipulations of the Labour Code. Namely defining more favourable provisions concerning overtime limits and forms of compensation including overtime payment. There is no articulation between the different levels of collective bargaining.
Employers regulate overtime in their companies within the stipulations of the Labour Code and of the respective collective agreement (if there is one).
The amendments made in 2012 to the Labour Code reduced by half overtime time payment and suspended for two years collective bargaining provisions more favourable to the workers. This reduction is still in place but collective agreements may set more favourable rules.
Part-time work
According to the Portuguese Labour Code (Law 7/2009 of 12 February), a part-time worker is an employed person whose normal working hours are lower than the normal working hours prevailing in the enterprise/institution, for the respective professional category or in the respective occupation. In 2019, 7.9% of the Portuguese workforce had a part-time job, slightly less than half of the EU27 average. Part-time work is more evident among Portuguese female workers. Although the difference has been decreasing over the years, the percentage of female workers working part time is still considerably higher than that of male workers.
Persons employed part-time in Portugal and EU27 (% of total employment)
|
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
|
|
Total (EU27) |
18.2 |
18.1 |
18 |
17.8 |
17.8 |
16.6 |
|
Total (Portugal) |
9.6 |
9.2 |
8.6 |
7.8 |
7.9 |
7.3 |
|
Women (EU27) |
30.2 |
30 |
29.8 |
29.5 |
29.4 |
27.6 |
|
Women (Portugal) |
12.3 |
11.9 |
11.4 |
10.2 |
10.7 |
9.8 |
|
Men (EU27) |
8 |
7.9 |
7.9 |
7.7 |
7.8 |
7.2 |
|
Men (Portugal) |
6.9 |
6.6 |
5.8 |
5.4 |
5.1 |
4.7 |
Source: Eurostat Labour Force Survey [lfsi_pt_a] – Persons employed part-time (20 to 64 years of age) – total and by sex.
Involuntary part-time
Involuntary part-time workers can be defined as those working part time because they could not find a full-time job.
Persons employed in involuntary part-time in Portugal and EU27(% of total part-time employment)
|
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
|
|
Total (EU27) |
32.3 |
31.0 |
29.7 |
28 |
26.5 |
25.0 |
|
Total (Portugal) |
50.7 |
49.2 |
48.5 |
46.2 |
44.6 |
45.5 |
|
Women (EU27) |
28.8 |
27.7 |
26.4 |
25.2 |
23.9 |
22.5 |
|
Women (Portugal) |
55.0 |
52.8 |
49.9 |
48.7 |
46.9 |
47.1 |
|
Men (EU27) |
43.6 |
41.8 |
40.4 |
37.2 |
34.9 |
33.1 |
|
Men (Portugal) |
43.2 |
42.8 |
45.8 |
41.5 |
39.8 |
42.3 |
Source: Eurostat Labour Force Survey [lfsa_eppgai]- involuntary part-time employment as a percentage of the total part-time employment, by sex and age (20 to 64 years of age)
Night work
According to the Portuguese Labour Code (article 223), night work means a period with a minimum duration of seven hours and a maximum duration of eleven hours, including the time range between midnight and 05.00, comprised in the period between 22.00 of one day and 07.00 of the next day unless provided otherwise by collective agreement instrument.
Shift work
Shift work (article 220 of the Portuguese Labour Code) means that the work is performed in daily and successive, continuous or discontinuous periods and the workers change periodically and regularly from one working schedule to the subsequent one, according to a pre-established scale.
Weekend work
The Portuguese Labour Code (Law 7/2009 of 12 February) establishes in its article 232 on weekly rest that the worker has the right to at least one day of rest per week. The mandatory weekly day of rest can be on a day other than Sunday, in the case the employee worker provides activity: In a company or business sector exempted from closing or suspending operations one full day a week, or that is required to close or suspend operations on a day other than Sunday; in a company or department of a company whose operation cannot be interrupted; in an activity that must take place on a rest day for the remaining workers; in surveillance or cleaning activity; and in activities in fairs and exhibitions.
In all the other situations, the article 229, regulating compensatory rest for overtime, establishes that those that work at Sundays are entitled to a day of paid rest on one of the following three days. Moreover, according to article 268, as amended by Decree Law 23/2012 of June 25, overtime is paid at the hourly wage amount with an increase of 50% for each hour or fraction, in weekly mandatory day rest or complementary day of rest; before 2012 it was an increase by of 100% for each hour or fraction.
Rest and breaks
The Portuguese Labour Code (Law 7/2009 of 12 February) establishes in its articles 214 and 232 the right of the worker to a daily rest of at least eleven consecutive hours between two consecutive periods of daily work; and the right to at least one day of rest per week. A period of complementary weekly rest, continuous or discontinuous, in all or in some weeks of the year, may be imposed by collective agreement instrument or by employment contract.
Working time flexibility
Law 7/2009 of 12 February and Law 23/2012 of 25 June introduced significant changes in working time regulations in Portugal. While the standard working time continued to be 40 hours a week and 8 hours per day, new forms of working time flexibility and new regulations on overtime were introduced.
Law 7/2009 of 12 February introduced the regime of working time adaptability, with the possibility of working 60 hours a week and 12 hours per day, to be set up by collective agreements, with the condition that it would not exceed 50 hours on average for a period of two months. It also introduced a regime of individual adaptability whereby employer and employee can have an individual agreement defining periods of normal working time of 10 hours per day and 50 hours per week.
Law 23/2012 introduced the concept of individual working time accounts (banco de horas individual) to be negotiated between the employer and the individual employee, without the interference of the unions or of worker representatives, a measure that weakened collective bargaining and the bargaining power of the unions. With the Law 93/2019 this concept was replaced by the concept of group working time accounts (banco de horas grupal), although for a transition period of one year it remained in place (see working time regulation).
The Portuguese Labour Code, in its article 56, provides that the worker with a child under twelve years old (or with a child, regardless of age, with a disability or a long-term illness) has the right to working time flexibility. Flexible working time is defined as the possibility to choose, within certain limits, the start and end of the working day. The worker with working time flexibility may work up to six consecutive hours and up to ten hours each day and must fulfil the corresponding normal weekly working period, on average for each four-week period.
Health and well-being
Health and well-being
Maintaining health and well-being should be a high priority for workers and employers alike. Health is an asset closely associated with a person’s quality of life and longevity, as well as their ability to work. A healthy economy depends on a healthy workforce: organisations can experience loss of productivity through the ill-health of their workers. This section looks into psychosocial risks and health and safety in Portugal.
Health and safety at work
Law 7/2009, of 12 February (articles 281 to 284) establishes the general principles on health and safety at work; and Law 102/2009, of 10 September, recently amended by Law 79/2019 of 2 September, regulates the legal regime for the promotion and prevention of health and safety at work, in accordance with the provisions in article 284 of the Law 7/2009, of 12 February.
Accidents at work, with four days’ absence or more working days lost
|
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
|
|
All accidents |
113,392 |
111,936 |
116,148 |
110,094 |
n.a |
|
Percent change on previous year |
2.0 |
-1.3 |
3.8 |
-5.2 |
n.a |
|
Per 1,000 employees |
30.6 |
29.6 |
Source: Eurostat Labour Force Survey [hsw_mi02] – accidents at work by days lost, by sex and age.
Men are more vulnerable to accidents at work, both fatal and non-fatal. The number of accidents involving an absence of four or more days from work decreased in 2018: in 2018, there were 110,094 accidents with more than four days’ absence, representing a decrease of 2.9 compared to 2015.
Accidents at work, fatal and non-fatal, by sex, age and number of working days lost
|
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
||
|
Non-fatal |
208,296 |
207,429 |
209,250 |
195,658 |
n.a. |
|
|
Sex |
Men |
144,176 |
142,026 |
143,192 |
126,253 |
n.a. |
|
Women |
64,120 |
65,403 |
66,058 |
69,405 |
n.a. |
|
|
Age group |
Up to 34 years |
63,456 |
63,030 |
68,376 |
60,808 |
n.a. |
|
35–44 years |
58,098 |
56,050 |
54,375 |
48,465 |
n.a. |
|
|
45–54 years |
51,480 |
52,285 |
50,983 |
46,260 |
n.a. |
|
|
55+ years |
29,905 |
30,522 |
29,968 |
29,868 |
n.a. |
|
|
Unknown |
5,184 |
5.542 |
5,686 |
10,257 |
n.a. |
|
|
Accidents with four days’ absence or more |
134,378 |
135,034 |
135,489 |
130,434 |
n.a. |
|
|
Fatal |
161 |
138 |
140 |
103 |
||
|
Sex |
Men |
159 |
134 |
135 |
101 |
n.a. |
|
Women |
2 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
n.a. |
|
|
Age group |
Up to 34 years |
33 |
11 |
18 |
11 |
n.a. |
|
35–44 years |
34 |
25 |
39 |
13 |
n.a. |
|
|
45–54 years |
58 |
47 |
35 |
45 |
n.a. |
|
|
55+ years |
34 |
55 |
45 |
27 |
n.a. |
|
|
Unknown |
3 |
7 |
n.a. |
|||
Source: GEP/MTSSS (2020), Séries Cronológicas Acidentes de Trabalho 2007 – 2018 [Cronological series on Occupational Accidents], Gabinete de Estratégia e Planeamento/ Ministério do Trabalho, Solidariedade e Segurança Social.
Psychosocial risks
Law 102/2009 of 10 September, Article 15, amended by Law 3/2014 of 28 January, specifies that besides chemical, physical and biological risks, the employer must ensure that exposure to psychosocial risks is limited and that the safety and health of workers is not at risk.
Law 73/2017 of 16 August, amended by the Declaration of Rectification 28/2017 of 2 October, reinforces the legal framework that regulates harassment at work in the private and public sectors, amending the Portuguese Labour Code, the Labour Procedure Code and the General Labour Law in Public Functions. Companies with seven or more employees are required to adopt codes of good conduct aimed at preventing and combating harassment at work. Noncompliance constitutes a very serious administrative infringement, triggering penalties of variable amounts, depending on the company’s annual turnover and the employer’s degree of responsibility.
In 2017, the ‘Guide for the development of the code of good conduct for preventing and combating harassment at work’ (Guia para a elaboração do código de boa conduta para a prevenção e combate ao assédio no trabalho) was launched by the Commission for Equality in Labour and Employment (Comissão para a Igualdade no Trabalho e no Emprego, CITE). It aims to assist employers in the creation of a management tool to facilitate the policy of zero tolerance to harassment.
For more detailed information on health and well-being at work, please consult:
Skills, learning and employability
Skills, learning and employability
Skills are the passport to employment; the better skilled an individual, the more employable they are. Good skills also tend to secure better-quality jobs and better earnings. This section briefly summarises the Portuguese system for ensuring skills and employability and looks into the extent of training.
National system for ensuring skills and employability
The Qualifica centres are responsible for the educational and occupational Recognition, Validation and Certification of Competences (RVCC) processes for adults; collaborating in the definition of criteria for structuring a network of educational and training opportunities appropriate to local qualification needs, improving contact between schools and companies’ training centres; monitoring the young people’s and adult’s paths referred for different qualification solutions to benchmark the fulfilment or deviation of the trajectories defined; and collecting information regarding the interaction between the learning outcomes of young people and adults and the labour market in order to improve the quality of education and training system.
The Recognition, Validation and Certification of Competences System (Sistema de Reconhecimento, Validação e Certificação de Competências, RVCC) allows accreditation for skills and competencies that have been acquired in different learning contexts, including personal, professional and social life. RVCC includes three stages: recognition (of knowledge, know-how and skills of each applicant), validation (of skills through a standard assessment) and certification of skills (which is formalised by issuing a certificate of basic education at level 1, 2 or 3 or a secondary education diploma, depending on the case).
The Qualifica programme comprises a set of lifelong learning measures that had been implemented within the ‘New Opportunities’ initiative and was subsequently discontinued.
This programme focuses on adult education and training, complementing a process of certification with training. Its main objective is to contribute to the improvement of the levels of qualification among the population and the improvement of individuals’ employability. Qualifica centres, where adults can validate their competences, are key structures in the implementation of this programme.
Training
The Institute for Employment and Vocational Training (Instituto do Emprego e Formação Profissional, IEFP) is responsible for managing public employment services, job centres and vocational training centres. IEFP aims to promote employment and combat unemployment through the implementation of active employment policies, including vocational training.
Work organisation
Work organisation
Work organisation underpins economic and business development and has important consequences for productivity, innovation and working conditions. Eurofound research finds that some types of work organisation are associated with a better quality of work and employment. Therefore, developing or introducing different forms of work organisation are of particular interest because of the expected effects on productivity, efficiency and competitiveness of companies, as well as on workers’ working conditions. Ongoing research by Eurofound, based on EurWORK, the European Working Conditions Survey and the European Company Survey, monitors developments in work organisation.
For more detailed information on work organisation, please consult:
- Topic: Work organisation
- Survey: European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) 2015
- Survey: European Company Survey (ECS) 2019
For Portugal, the European Company Survey 2019 shows that between 2010 and 2013, 57% of establishments with 10 or more employees reported changes in the use of technology, 43% introduced changes in ways to coordinate and allocate the work to workers and another 20% saw changes in their working time arrangements.
Equality and non-discrimination at work
Equality and non-discrimination at work
Equality between men and women is enshrined in the Portuguese Constitution, namely in the employment field.
Furthermore, specific legal provisions ensure equality and non-discrimination at work:
- Law 105/97 of 13 September aims to ensure the effectiveness of the right of both sexes to equal treatment at work and employment.
- The Labour Code (Law 7/2009 of 12 February) includes a subsection on Equality and Non-discrimination, which includes provisions regarding the prohibition of discrimination based on sex as well as sanctions in case there is a breach of the law.
- Decree-Law 133/2013 of 3 October establishes that public companies must implement goals of social and environmental responsibility, namely the promotion of equality and non-discrimination, and adopt equality plans in order to achieve effective equal treatment and opportunities between men and women, to eliminate discrimination and to promote the reconciliation of professional, family and personal life.
- Law 35/2014 of 20 June approves the General Labour Law in Public Functions, applying the provisions of the Labour Code, namely regarding equality and non-discrimination and parenting.
- Law 120/2015 of 1 September proceeds to the ninth amendment to the Labour Code reinforcing the rights of maternity and paternity, as well as including several measures to promote a better work–family reconciliation.
- Law 28/2015 of 14 April prohibits discriminatory practices based on ‘gender identity’.
- Law 93/2017 of 23 August establishes the legal regime for the prevention, prohibition and fight against discrimination on the grounds of race/ethnic origin, nationality, ancestry and territory of origin.
On 5 December 2018, the Programme ‘3 Aligned – Programme for the Reconciliation of Professional, Private and Family Life 2018-2019’ was launched. This programme aims at promoting a better work-life balance as a condition for equality between men and women as well as for a full citizenship. Since then, some specific legal provisions were created reinforcing parenting protection and non-discrimination at work:
- Law 26/2019 of 28 March establishes the balanced representation regime between men and women with regard to the management staff and in Public Administration’s bodies.
- Law 90/2019 of 4 September reinforces parenting protection, amending the Labour Code and the Decree-Law 89/2009 of 9 April and 91/2009 of 9 April.
The national mechanism for the promotion of equality and non-discrimination between men and women in labour and employment is the Commission for Equality in Labour and Employment (Comissão para a Igualdade no Trabalho e no Emprego, CITE). Its main responsibilities are to promote equality and non-discrimination between women and men in labour, in employment and in vocational training; protection of parentality (maternity, paternity and adoption); and reconciliation of professional, personal and family life.
Although the promotion of equality and non-discrimination between men and women in labour and employment is not its main mission, the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (Comissão para a Cidadania e a Igualdade de Género, CIG) also has competences at this level.
Equal pay and gender pay gap
As provided for in Article 31 of the Labour Code, approved by Law 7/2009 of 12 February, women are entitled to receive equal pay for equal work or work of the same value as that performed by men. Nevertheless, a gender pay gap persists regarding both wages and earnings.
The gender pay gap has being narrowing. The monthly remuneration decreased 2.7% (from 14.8% in 2017 to 14.4% em 2018) and the average monthly earnings decreased 2.2% (from 18.2% in 2017, to 17.8% in 2018)).
The gender pay gap has been addressed by several legislative support measures:
- The Resolution of Council of Ministers 13/2013 of 8 March approved a set of measures ensuring and promoting equal opportunities and outcomes for women and men in the labour market. The main objective of these measures is the elimination of the gender wage gap; the promotion of balance between work and personal and family life; the encouragement of corporate social responsibility; and the elimination of occupational segregation and other differences that still exist.
- The Assembly Resolution 45/2013 of 4 April recommends that the government implements the necessary mechanisms to combat direct and indirect wage discrimination by prioritising inspective and punitive action. It also develops a national plan against direct and indirect wage discrimination.
- The Resolution of Council of Ministers 18/2014 of 7 March has adopted several measures for the promotion of equal pay between men and women and the elimination of wage discrimination based on sex, namely:
- the discussion about wage differences will be promoted among the social partners;
- every three years, state-owned companies should produce a report on male and female wages in order to take concrete measures to be included in the respective plans for gender equality;
- following this report, state-owned companies should take concrete measures to eliminate the situations of wage inequality between women and men that were identified;
- to provide an electronic tool to companies to evaluate the gender pay gap and identify concrete situations of wage differences between women and men which cannot be explained by objective factors;
- it is recommended that private companies with more than 25 employees develop a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the pay gap between women and men. These companies should consequently develop a strategy to address the unjustified differences in those remunerations.
- The Resolution of the Council of Ministers 11-A/2015 of 6 March 2015 provides for a mechanism to support companies in the identification and analysis of the gender pay gap as a tool to promote equal pay.
- Law 60/2018 of 21 August introduces measures to promote equal pay between women and men who perform equal work or work for equal value.
Quota regulations
- Over the years, particularly since 2012, a legal basis for encouraging the participation of women in management bodies was developed: The Resolution of Council of Ministers 19/2012 of 23 February aims to increase the participation of women in management bodies of companies in the public and private sectors. Public companies must adopt plans for equality and identical procedures are recommended for the private sector.
- The Decree-Law 133/2013 of 3 October laid down the principles and rules applicable to public sector companies. This Decree-Law establishes that the administration and supervision bodies of state-owned enterprises must pursue the objective of a plural presence of men and women in their composition.
- The Resolution of the Council of Ministers 11-A/2015 of 6 March 2015 marks the commitment with listed companies aiming at a more balanced representation of women and men in their boards, with a target of 30% of the underrepresented sex until the end of 2018.
- Law 62/2017 of 1 August establishes a minimum representation of women on executive company boards and surveillance boards in public companies and private listed companies. For public companies, the required minimum of female board members is 33.3% since January 2018. For private listed companies, the set minimum is 20% since 1 January 2018, but increasing to 33.3% from 1 January 2020.
- Law 26/2019 of 28 March 2019, which established a minimum 40 per cent threshold of women among top civil servants in public administration, and in public higher education institutions and public associations.
- Organic Law 1/2019 of 29 March 2019, which raised from 33.3% to 40% the minimum threshold of women in electoral lists to the national and European parliaments, elective bodies of municipalities, and members of the Parish Councils
Working life links
Working life links
Employers
- AECOPS - Construction and public works employers
- AIP - Association of Portuguese Industry
- CAP- Confederation of Portuguese Farmers
- CCP - Commerce and services employers
- CIP - Confederation of Portuguese Industry (Confederação da Indústria Portuguesa)
- CTP - Confederation of Portuguese Tourism (Confederação do Turismo Português)
Trade Unions CGTP and Affiliates
- CGTP - General Confederation of Portuguese Workers
- FESHOT - Hotel and Tourism Workers' Unions
- FENPROF - Federation of Teachers' Unions
- FNSFP - Federation of Public Service Unions
- SEP - Nurses' Union
- SIND-HOT-NORTE - northern Hotel And Restaurant Workers' Union
- SPGL - Lisbon Teachers' Union
- SPN - Northern Teachers' Union
- SPRC - Central Region Teachers' Union
- STAL - Local Authority Workers' Union
- STCDE - Union For Workers In Consulates And Diplomatic Missions
- STFPN - union Of Northern Public Service Workers
- STFPSA - Union Of Southern Public Service Workers
- USS - Federation of Unions in Setubal
UGT and affiliates
- UGT - General Workers' Confederation (En)
- FNE - Education Workers' Federation
- SBSI - Southern And Islands Bank Workers' Union
- SEN - Southern Nurses' Union
- SINDEFER - Rail Workers' Union
- SINDEL - Energy Workers' union
- SINDETELCO - Posts And Telecommunications Workers' Union
- SINDITE - medical Technicians' Union
- SINTAP - public Administration Workers' Union
- SITESE - Commerce, Hotels And Services Workers' Union
- SMAV - Audiovisual Workers' Union
- SPZC - Central Area Teachers' Union
- SPZN - Northern Area Teachers' Union
- STE - Technical Civil Servants' Union
Confederacao Quadros and affiliates
- Confederação Quadros - Managerial And Professional Union Confederation
- FNAM - Doctors' Federation
- SINTTAV - Telecommunications And Audiovisual Workers' Union
- SNTCT - Posts And Telecommunications Workers' Union
- STAL - Local Authority Workers' Union
- STFPC - Union Of Central Region Public Service Workers
Other Union Organisations
Government
- Directorate-General Employment and Work Relations (Labour Ministry)
- Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security , Office for Statistics and Panning (Labour Ministry)
Other Links
- CES - Economic and Social Council
- CRL - Centre for Labour Relations
- CoLABOR - Collaborative Laboratory for Labour, Employment and Social Protection
- IDICT - Institute for the Improvement and Inspection of Working Conditions
- IEFP - Institute of Employment and Vocational Training
- INE - Statistics Portugal (En)
- Institute Ruben Rolo for social innovation
- SCADPlus guide to employment conditions in Portugal (En)
Bibliography
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