Employ and run payroll with ease in

Portugal
portugal flag

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.

Services available in this country:
Employer of Record ProductContractor ManagementPayroll
  • Capital City

    Lisbon

  • Currency

    Euro (€, EUR)

  • Languages

    Portuguese

  • Population size

    10,276,617

Services available in this country:
Employer of Record ProductContractor ManagementPayroll
Photo of the Belém Tower

Facts & Stats

Portugal
  • Capital City

    Lisbon

  • Currency

    Euro (€, EUR)

  • Languages

    Portuguese

  • Population size

    1,02,76,617

  • 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.

Boats docked under a bridge in porto, portugal.

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 instalments 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 2 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

Jan
Monday 1 January, 20241New Year's Day (Ano Novo)
Mar
Friday 29 March, 20242Good Friday (Sexta-feira Santa)
Sunday 31 March, 20243Easter (Páscoa)
Apr
Thursday 25 April, 20244Freedom Day (Dia da Liberdade)
May
Wednesday 1 May, 20245Labour Day (Dia do Trabalhador)
Thursday 30 May, 20246Feast of Corpus Christi (Corpus Christi)
Jun
Monday 10 June, 20247Portugal Day (Dia de Portugal)
Aug
Thursday 15 August, 20248Assumption of Mary (Assunção de Nossa Senhora)
Oct
Saturday 5 October, 20249Republic Implantation (Dia da Implantação da República)
Nov
Friday 1 November, 202410All Saints' Day (Dia de Todos os Santos)
Dec
Sunday 1 December, 202411Restoration of Independence (Dia da Restauração da Independência)
Sunday 8 December, 202412Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Festa da Imaculada Conceição)
Wednesday 25 December, 202413Christmas Day (Natal)

Want to see and manage all holidays? Sign up for our free HRIS!

Effortless HR in Portugal: Take the Tour

Seamlessly Manage Your Workforce, from First Hire to Final Paycheck

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 travelling 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.

Fair Pricing in Portugal

Employer of Record

Hire and pay your global team

Starting at $599/month

for annual plans

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, localised benefits

Contractor Management

Compliantly onboard and pay contractors

$29

per contractor/month

Top features

  • Only pay for contractors you actively work with

  • Work with contractors in 200+ countries

  • Create, edit, and sign tailored, localised contracts

  • Approve contractor invoices with one click or auto-pay

  • Transparent payments with complete visibility

Global Payroll

Consolidate your multi-country payroll

$29

per employee/month

Top features

  • Reduce costs by centralising payroll management

  • Direct support from in-house local payroll experts

  • Accurate, on-time, compliant payroll to level-up your employee experience

  • Ensure local compliance for every country

  • Tax and labour authority reporting handled for you

HRIS

Manage all of your employees in one place

Free

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