Legal workers and self-employed individuals in Portugal are required to pay social security contributions to the Social Security Office. Many taxpayers—especially foreigners working there after immigrating to Portugal—often mistakenly believe that the benefits associated with these contributions can only be enjoyed upon retirement. However, this is not the case. So, while paying social security contributions in accordance with the law, what benefits are taxpayers actually entitled to? Today, we will briefly introduce the common social security benefits in Portugal.
Sickness Benefit
"Sickness Benefit" refers to a welfare subsidy that taxpayers can apply for from the Social Security Office when they are unable to continue working for a certain period due to an illness during their regular tax-paying period. It is worth noting that the "illness" referred to here covers all illnesses caused by non-occupational reasons.
One of the main documents required to apply for this benefit is a medical certificate issued by a formal health center or hospital, known as a "Certificate of Temporary Incapacity for Work." This certificate is issued in triplicate: the original should be submitted to the Social Security Office as medical proof for the benefit application; one copy is kept by the applicant as valid proof of authorized leave; and the other is submitted by the applicant to their employer as valid proof for sick leave.
Parental Leave
This benefit is primarily designed for parents of newborns. Simply put, after the birth of a baby, the mother can enjoy 4-6 months of paid maternity leave; the father can also apply for about half a month of paid paternity leave. The main application documents include the baby's birth certificate, the parents' residence cards, etc.
Unemployment Benefit
The Social Security Office stipulates that taxpayers in the following unemployment situations may apply for unemployment benefits: having a tax record of 450 days within the 24 months prior to the date of the unemployment application; being in a state of involuntary unemployment, meaning they have actively sought employment without success (in this case, the applicant is generally required to provide proof of job seeking).
Disability Benefit
The "disability benefit" mentioned here refers to physical disabilities caused by non-occupational factors. Generally speaking, such "disabilities" mainly include two types: relative disability and absolute disability. Simply put, "relative disability" means that a taxpayer is unable to perform their normal work duties for a certain period, such as due to a fall; "absolute disability" means that the taxpayer is unable to perform their normal work duties from the date of the disability until the age of 65. The institution that certifies such disabilities is the SVIP (Sistema de Verificação de Incapacidades).
Occupational Disease Benefit
Compared to the "disability benefit" mentioned above, the "occupational disease benefit" refers to health subsidies for physical harm caused by work-related reasons. For example: lead poisoning, mercury poisoning, arsenic poisoning, etc. It is worth mentioning that this type of benefit only applies to employees, i.e., taxpayers with a formal employment contract, while self-employed individuals are not eligible to apply for this type of benefit.