【Signing Employment Contracts】Employment contracts in Portugal are divided into three types: permanent, fixed-term, and service contracts.
(1) Permanent contracts. This refers to contracts where the employer and employee do not set a specific expiration date; the contract can only be terminated if the conditions for dismissal stipulated by labor law are met.
(2) Fixed-term contracts. This usually refers to labor contracts signed for a specific period to complete temporary work or to substitute for employees on sick leave or maternity leave. The contract term is generally 6 months, and the contract terminates upon completion of the work. Based on mutual consent, both parties may extend the contract for up to 3 years; exceeding 3 years is considered an indefinite contract.
(3) Service contracts. These are work agreements reached for the provision of intellectual or physical services, such as completing a design, providing technical services, or home renovation. The two parties do not have an employer-employee relationship, but rather a contractual relationship.
The probationary period in Portugal is generally 60 days. The maximum probationary period for general workers can be extended to 180 days, and for important positions such as middle-to-senior management or professional technical personnel, it can be up to 240 days.
【Termination of Employment Contracts】Under fixed-term contract conditions, the employer must provide written notice to the employee 15 days in advance regarding the termination date of the labor contract.
Under indefinite contract conditions, the employer has the right to terminate the labor contract if any of the following circumstances are met: sufficient grounds or evidence for dismissal, employee retirement, illness, death, business closure, or debt liquidation, etc.
Employers may implement collective layoffs under the following circumstances: business suspension, financial crisis, business or product transformation, changes in production processes, implementation of large-scale automation, computer application, technological updates, sharp decline in market demand, or upgrading of market access conditions.
Employees have the right to resign and should generally submit a written resignation request to the employer 30 days in advance. Employees have the right to request the termination of the labor contract under the following circumstances: the employer fails to pay wages on time, infringes upon the legitimate rights and interests of the employee, the working environment has safety hazards, poor sanitary conditions threaten health, misappropriation of the employee's personal property, causing physical or psychological harm, restriction of personal freedom, or defamation of personal honor and dignity, etc.
【Labor Remuneration】Portugal stipulated the minimum monthly wage standard at 475 Euros in 2010, increasing to 485 Euros in 2011. On top of the 12 months of salary, employers must pay an additional 2 months of salary as annual vacation and Christmas holiday subsidies; the employee's annual salary is calculated based on 14 months. Employees are entitled to 22-25 working days of paid leave each year.
【Working Hours】Portuguese labor law stipulates that an employee's daily working hours shall not exceed 8 hours, with a 40-hour work week. Daily overtime shall not exceed 2 hours, and the cumulative monthly overtime shall not exceed 50 hours. Overtime pay for the first hour is 150% of the regular hourly wage, and 175% for the second hour and beyond. Overtime pay for holidays is 200% of the regular wage. Night shift pay, between 22:00 and 07:00 the next day, is 25% higher than the regular wage. Employees should have at least one day of rest per week; if working for 48 consecutive hours, there should be at least 11 hours of rest. Maternity leave is 120 days, of which 90 days should be taken consecutively after childbirth. In the case of multiple births, an additional 30 days of maternity leave are granted, and the father of the infant is entitled to 5 days of paternity leave.
【Employee Social Insurance】Social insurance in Portugal is paid jointly by both the employer and the employee. The employee's contribution rate is 11% of their total gross income, which is deducted and paid by the employer when wages are issued. The employer pays an additional social insurance contribution of 23.75% of the employee's total gross salary. Starting in 2009, the labor law added a provision allowing young people under the age of 30 to be exempt from social insurance contributions for 3 years upon employment.
If a foreign employee works in Portugal for a period of less than two years and is already covered by the social insurance system of their home country, they may be exempt from paying social insurance in Portugal. If a foreign company hires local Portuguese employees and meets the following conditions, the employer may be exempt from paying employee social insurance for the first 3 years: long-term unemployed persons; employees between the ages of 16 and 30.