Portugal
Make employment in Portugal easy. Let us handle payroll, benefits, taxes, compliance, and even stock options for your team in Portugal, all in one easy-to-use platform.
- Capital City
Lisbon
- Currency
Euro (€, EUR)
- Languages
Portuguese
- Population size
10,276,617
Facts & Stats
- Capital City
Lisbon
- Currency
Euro (€, EUR)
- Languages
Portuguese
- Population size
10,276,617
- Ease of doing business
Very easy
- Cost of living index
$$$ (56 of 139 nations)
- Payroll frequency
Monthly
- VAT - standard rate
23%
- GDP - real growth rate
2.145% (2018 est.)
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (Portuguese: República Portuguesa) is a country located mostly on the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost sovereign state of mainland Europe, being bordered to the west and south by the Atlantic Ocean and to the north and east by Spain. Its territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments.
Grow your team in Portugal with Remote
Looking to employ workers in Portugal? Companies hiring in Portugal must either own a legal entity in the country or work with a global employment solutions provider, usually one that provides employer of record services.
Remote can employ your team in Portugal on your behalf through our local legal entity in the country and handle payroll, benefits, taxes, and compliance for your Portugal team. You can also pay contractors now in Portugal with Remote.
Risks of misclassification
Portugal, like many other countries, treats self-employed individuals or contractors and full-time employees differently. Misclassification of contractors in Portugal may lead to fines and penalties for the offending company.
Employing in Portugal
Portuguese labour law is not contained under a single law. The main sources are the Portuguese Constitution which sets forth fundamental rights and principles regarding both employees and employers, European legislation, the Portuguese Employment Code and the Regulation of the Employment Code. Furthermore, collective bargaining agreements as well as individual agreements also play a role.
The vast majority of rules stipulated by the Portuguese Employment Code are mandatory and cannot be modified either by collective bargaining or agreement of the parties. All workers in Portugal are protected by Portuguese employment law.
Minimum Wage
Minimum Wage: €820 per month in 14 payments for all employees, payable across 12 months.
Mandatory Training Hours
In Portugal, employers have to provide 40 hours of professional training per year to all employees with an indefinite contract. If these hours are not provided and duly registered, they will have to be paid upon termination according to Portuguese legal requirements.
Payroll Cycle
For customers of Remote, all employee payments will be made in equal monthly installments on or before the last working day of each calendar month, payable in arrears.
In Portugal, employees get 14 months of salary payments each year:
12 months of work
1 Holiday allowance
1 Christmas allowance
The allowances are paid with the same amount as a full month's salary.
Both the Subsídio de Férias (Holiday Allowance) and the Subsídio de Natal (Christmas Allowance) get taxed the same as any other payment for IRS & Social Security.
Employees can choose to earn their salary in 14 payments, with the holiday allowance being paid during Summer and the Christmas allowance being paid around the Christmas period.
Conversely, workers can elect to be paid 12 times, with those two extra payments being pro-rated throughout the year (“duodécimos”). At Remote we follow an internal policy of accommodating this change for all employees that ask for a review once per year, usually during the start of the year.
The payments have to be paid at least once a month and by the last working day. At Remote, this payment is usually made on the 25th of the month.
Onboarding Time
We can help you get a new employee started in Portugal fast. The minimum onboarding time we need is only 3 working days.
Our team ensures your employees are onboarded and paid as quickly as possible while keeping your business compliant with all local employment legislation. The minimum onboarding time begins after the employee submits all required information onto the Remote platform. The onboarding timeline is also dependent upon registration with local authorities.
For all non-nationals of the country of employment, the Right to Work assessment (if applicable) will add three extra days to the total time to onboard. There may be extra time required if we need to follow-up on the right to work assessment.
Please note, payroll cut-off dates can impact the actual first day of employment. Remote has a payroll cut-off date of the 10th of the month unless otherwise specified.
13 Public holidays
Want to see and manage all holidays? Sign up for our free HRIS!
Effortless HR in Portugal: Take the Tour
Competitive benefits package in Portugal
Remote supports our clients by offering competitive benefits packages that will help you attract and retain the best talent across the globe! Our benefits specialists have done the research on norms and requirements in each local market and have crafted packages that will allow your employees to thrive, no matter what country they live in.
Our benefits packages in Portugal are tailored to fulfil the local needs of your employees. Typically, our packages contain some or all of the following benefits:
Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
Mental Health Support
Pension or 401(K)
Life and Disability Insurance
Local market insights
In Portugal, 90%* of employers offer supplemental health insurance to their workforce. (*based on 3rd-party market research from our partners)
Although the country has a public health system, supplemental health insurance provides employees with access to a wider range of options for providers and specialists, as well as significantly shorter wait times. Our plans also offer global coverage (excluding the US) to protect your employees when they are traveling outside their home country. Meal cards are a common and expected benefit in Portugal. They are used to cover the cost of employee meals during work days. They also offer tax benefits to employers and employees. Meal cards are tax-free up to € 7.63 EUR per working day.
Our core benefits (which often include things like healthcare) are required in most countries where we hire. Because Remote is the employer of record, it’s important for us to offer the same core benefits to all employees in a country to ensure fair equity and non-discriminatory hiring practices, which protects your business and ours. Note that we do not add a markup on any benefits premiums or administration costs.
If you'd like specific information about our benefits packages in Portugal, start onboarding your first employee with Remote today.
For more insight into fair equity and benefits best practices, download our Global Benefits Guide and share with the rest of your hiring team.
Taxes in Portugal
Learn how employment taxes and statutory fees affect your payroll and your employees’ paychecks in Portugal.
23.75%
Social Security (with no upper ceiling)
0.39%
Work Accident Insurance
€600.00 - Mandatory work from home allowance (Calculated on top of the base monthly salary at €50.00 per month)
€30.00 - Mandatory Health check calculated on top of the base annual salary.
€14.40 - Work Medicine (Calculated on top of the base monthly salary at €1.20 per month)
Types of leave
By law, full-time workers in Portugal are entitled to 22 days of holiday leave per year.
Employment termination
Termination process
Termination of the employment relationship can happen in the following ways:
Voluntary termination by the employee (resignation);
Retirement as per the employment contract;
Non-renewal of the employment contract or expiry;
Termination with just cause and no indemnity, for example in the case of theft or any other serious misconduct;
Termination by mutual consent.
Different grounds for termination may carry different procedural requirements.
Notice period
Dismissal without notice (summary dismissal) is not permitted under the Portuguese Labour Code. Notice periods for termination from the employee varies with the period worked/intend to work for the same employer:
During probationary period: - specific notice period applies to both employees and employer;
After probationary period - only relevant to the employee, meaning the employee needs to abide by it when they resign but the employer may waive this right. Depends on length of service by Employees (see below).
Employers must meet certain requirements in order to justify hiring employees on a fixed term basis. Terminating fixed term contracts for invalid reasons carries a significant level of risk.
For indefinite contracts:
Up to 2 years of service: 30 days
More than 2 years of service: 60 days
Probation periods
The duration of probation periods depends on the contract type. For contracts of indefinite duration, the statutory standard is 90 days. For positions that are technically complex, with high levels of responsibility, require special qualifications or in a position of trust it may be extended to 180 days. For fixed-term contracts probation periods are 30 days if contract duration is longer than 30 days and 15 days if shorter than six months.
Fair Pricing in Portugal
Employer of Record
Hire and pay your global team
Starting at $599/month
Top features
Satisfaction guaranteed
No deposits or hidden fees
Zero onboarding or offboarding fees
Compliant equity incentives support including withholding and reporting
Built-in security and compliance
Fast onboarding (average 2-3 days)
Flexible, localized benefits
Top features
Only pay for contractors you actively work with
Work with contractors in 200+ countries
Create, edit, and sign tailored, localized contracts
Approve contractor invoices with one click or auto-pay
Transparent payments with complete visibility
Remote Payroll
Consolidate your multi-country payroll
$50
per employee/month
Top features
Reduce costs by centralizing payroll management
Ensure local compliance for every country
Direct support from in-house local payroll experts
Accurate, on-time, compliant payroll to level-up your employee experience
Tax and labor authority reporting handled for you
Top features
Guided onboarding and offboarding
Employee profile and document management
Time and attendance (time off and tracking)
Expense management and reimbursement
Employee self-serve on the platform and mobile app