Extension of fixed-term contracts proposed
Published: 27 October 1998
In autumn 1998, the Portuguese government presented a preliminary draft bill to the social partners which will permit, during 1998 and 1999, an extension of the duration of fixed-term contracts.
Download article in original language : PT9810106NPT.DOC
In autumn 1998, the Portuguese government presented a preliminary draft bill to the social partners which will permit, during 1998 and 1999, an extension of the duration of fixed-term contracts.
Currently, in Portugal, fixed-term employment contracts may last for no more than three years, including renewals. Under the terms of a preliminary draft bill submitted to the social partners by the government in autumn 1998, fixed-term contracts that reach their three-year maximum duration in 1998 and 1999 may be renewed two more times for a total period not to exceed four years. According to the Government, the measure is based on the 1996-9 tripartite Strategic Concertation Pact (Acordo de Concertação Estratégica, ACE), signed in December 1996 (PT9808190F). The trade union confederations, however, do not agree with the Government's interpretation.
For the General Workers' Union (União Geral de Trabalhadores, UGT), the Government's proposal is based on the ACE framework, which assumed the context to be one of economic instability. Since the current economic picture is not unstable, the basis for the move is unfounded. Moreover, UGT believes that under the terms of the ACE, the validity of any legislation on this issue is slated to expire in 1998. The organisation has thus formally come out against approval of the preliminary draft bill.
The General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses, CGTP), which did not sign the ACE, believes that the measure is, by definition, unacceptable since it would promote precarious work. CGTP also believes that the ACE provides for such a measure to be valid only until the end of 1998, and not 1999 as well.
Both union confederations also agree that the ACE intended the proposed measure to be used in a wider context to combat the use of fixed-term contracts to fill permanent full-time positions. It cannot, therefore, be used outside of that wider context in any way that will jeopardise jobs.
The present preliminary draft bill is part of a package of legislative proposals, which, though (in the Government's view) related to the ACE, have sparked the opposition of the trade union confederations (PT9807186F).
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (1998), Extension of fixed-term contracts proposed, article.
