Every country has certain laws in place to protect its employees. Employers who want to hire workers in Portugal need to understand the legislation that applies so that they can both ensure compliance and guarantee their employees a safe and secure workplace.
Employee protection is a general name given to the laws a country puts in place to prevent employees from coming to harm at work. This can cover a wide range of legislation. In this section, we’ll discuss protections for whistleblowers in Portugal, employee data privacy rights, and the right to equal treatment for temporary agency workers. We’ll also explore Portugal’s pay equity laws and the rules that prevent discrimination and harassment in Portugal.
Whistleblowers play an important role in Portuguese society by calling out wrongful actions or instances of neglect that they witness in the workplace. For this reason, the Portuguese government has put in place certain regulations to facilitate whistleblowing in Portugal and to protect whistleblowers from any form of retaliation as a result of their disclosure.
Portugal’s whistleblowing law is called the Whistleblower Protection Proposal (Proposta de Proteção de Denunciantes). It came into effect in June 2022, implementing the EU Whistleblower Directive. Under this law, companies with 50 or more employees are required to put in place internal reporting channels to make whistleblowing easier.
This is also the case for all companies in certain sensitive sectors, regardless of their headcount. For example, companies offering financial services or financial products, and those that have a legal obligation to prevent money laundering must all comply with Portugal’s whistleblowing law, even if they have fewer than 50 employees. Employers who meet the above criteria but who fail to set up appropriate reporting channels can face fines of up to EUR 125,000.
The law also requires companies to take certain measures after a whistleblower makes a protected disclosure. Specifically, they must provide feedback to the whistleblower within seven days of the disclosure and inform them of the measures they plan to take within three months. Employers have to report any internal reports to a competent external body for investigation, and the whistleblower must be informed of the outcome within 15 days of the investigation’s conclusion.
In Portugal, whistleblowing is when a person reports a breach based on information they have obtained through their job. Portugal’s whistleblowing law applies to all public, private, or social sector workers, including volunteers and interns, whether or not they are paid. The law also protects individuals who assist whistleblowers with their disclosure.
Whistleblowers can report their concerns through their company’s internal reporting channels or file an external report with a competent authority. In certain circumstances, they can also report publicly or to the media.
However, this is only a protected disclosure if the whistleblower believes the breach may constitute an imminent or serious danger to the public interest, that it cannot be effectively disclosed or dealt with by competent authorities, or that there is a risk of retaliation. A whistleblower may also report publicly if they have already filed an internal and an external report and no measures have been taken.
Whistleblowers are protected from any form of retaliation, which includes getting fired or having their duties or place of work changed. If any of the following occur within two years of a whistleblower’s disclosure, it is legally presumed to be a result of the whistleblower’s disclosure unless the employer can prove otherwise:
There are strict rules that govern what employers can and can’t do with their employees’ data in Portugal. As an EU country, Portugal is subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Portugal’s own data protection law implementing the GDPR came into effect on 9 August 2019. Portugal’s data protection authority is the National Data Protection Commission (Comissão Nacional de Protecção de Dados).
Under these regulations, employers in Portugal may only process the personal data of their employees if they have a lawful basis for doing so. In some instances, having the employee’s consent may count as a lawful basis, but this isn’t always the case.
To comply with the GDPR and Portugal’s data protection law, employers in Portugal should ensure that personal data is:
The monitoring and surveillance of employees is an important part of employee data protection in Portugal. Here are a few types of employee monitoring that are possible in Portugal, and the restrictions that apply:
Employers in Portugal can choose to hire workers through temporary work agencies when they only need the employee’s services for a limited period. In this situation, the workers are employees of the work agency, and are temporarily leased out to work under the supervision and direction of the client company (the employer).
In Portugal, temporary agency work requires a tripartite relationship between a worker, an employer, and an agency. This relationship is governed by two different agreements:
Temporary work agencies in Portugal must have a public licence and registration, official certification, and pay a security deposit. The activity of the temporary work agency is strictly limited to the recruitment and placement of temporary agency workers with client companies, professional training, and other activities related to human resources.
As an EU country, Portugal is subject to the EU Directive on Temporary Agency Work, which guarantees temporary agency workers the right to equal treatment to direct employees in equivalent roles. Essentially, this means temporary agency workers must be treated the same as if they were recruited directly by the hiring company. This applies to:
Client companies must also give temporary agency workers access to the same collective facilities as their direct employees, including things like canteens, parking, transportation, and break rooms.
All workers and job applicants in Portugal have the right to be treated equally and are protected against discrimination of any kind. This means they should have access to opportunities, training, and promotion, regardless of their background or demographic characteristics. Employers in Portugal must display information regarding workers’ rights to equality and non-discrimination within their workplace.
The Labour Code prohibits both direct and indirect discrimination in Portugal on the basis of any of the following characteristics:
Direct discrimination is when an employer treats one person or group less favourably than others based on one of the characteristics above. Indirect discrimination is when a rule or principle theoretically applies to everyone but is likely to put certain groups at a disadvantage.
The Portuguese Labour Code also prohibits harassment in the workplace, which is defined as behaviour with the intention or effect of destroying the employee’s dignity or creating a work environment that is intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or destabilising. Employers who experience harassment at work in Portugal have the right to compensation.
Under the Labour Code, employees in Portugal have the right to equal pay for the same work or work of equal value, regardless of their sex. This means that it is an offence to pay a woman less than a man working in the same role unless there is a justifiable objective reason for the difference in their pay.
As of 2018, employers in Portugal have certain obligations related to wage transparency, which were put in place with a view to improving pay equity between men and women. The law contains four mechanisms that enforce the principle of equal pay for equal work and work of equal value:
In 2023, the EU approved a directive on pay transparency, which will come into effect in all EU countries including Portugal by June 2026. This will introduce new reporting obligations for employers, as well as giving employees and job seekers more rights to information regarding pay. The aim of the directive is to improve pay transparency and therefore increase pay equity between men and women across the EU.
Understanding what you can and can’t do as an employer is one of the biggest challenges of hiring in Portugal. Get it wrong, and you could face legal action and damage to your reputation.
Our solutions protect both you and your workers, thanks to our team’s in-depth knowledge of local and international labour laws. That means you can stop worrying about compliance issues and focus on getting the job done.
The key employee protection laws in Portugal include the Portuguese Labour Code, Law 60/2018 on equal pay, Law 93/2021 on whistleblower protection, Law 58/2019 on data protection and Law 4/2019 on employment quotas for people with disabilities.
The Portuguese Labour Code provides many of the main workplace protections, including rules on discrimination, equal treatment, harassment, working time, leave, employee privacy and termination. It also protects employees against discrimination based on characteristics such as age, sex, disability, nationality, race, religion, sexual orientation and trade union membership.
Other laws provide additional protections in specific areas. Law 60/2018 addresses equal pay between women and men, while Law 93/2021 protects whistleblowers from retaliation. Employee personal data is covered by the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Portugal’s Law 58/2019.
Employers must also consider applicable collective bargaining agreements, which can provide additional employment rights.
Employees and other qualifying whistleblowers in Portugal are protected from retaliation when they report certain breaches of law, while employers with 50 or more employees generally need to provide an internal reporting channel under Law 93/2021.
The protection covers retaliation connected with a qualifying report, including adverse treatment taken against someone because they raised a protected concern. The whistleblower must have reasonable grounds to believe that the information reported is true at the time of reporting and that it concerns a breach covered by the legislation. Employers must also protect the confidentiality of the person making the report and handle reports through the procedures required by the law.
The 50-employee threshold generally determines when an internal reporting channel is required, although some organisations in regulated sectors must provide one regardless of their size. Employers with 50 to 249 employees may be able to share certain reporting resources. Organisations operating an internal channel must generally acknowledge receipt within seven days and communicate the measures planned or taken to follow up the report within three months of receiving it
Failure to provide a required reporting channel, obstructing a report, breaching confidentiality or retaliating against a whistleblower can result in significant administrative penalties.
Employees in Portugal are protected against direct and indirect discrimination in recruitment, employment conditions, pay, promotion, training and other areas of employment under the Portuguese Labour Code.
Protected characteristics include age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital and family status, disability, chronic illness, nationality, ethnic origin or race, religion, political or ideological beliefs and trade union membership, among others.
The Labour Code also covers indirect discrimination, where an apparently neutral workplace rule or practice places people with a protected characteristic at a particular disadvantage without sufficient justification.
Where an employee presents facts that indicate discrimination and identifies an appropriate comparator, the employer may be required to show that the difference in treatment was based on legitimate reasons unrelated to discrimination.
Employees who experience unlawful discrimination may also be entitled to compensation, and employers can face administrative penalties for breaches.
In Portugal, employers cannot use workplace surveillance primarily to monitor employee performance and must respect the privacy of employees’ personal communications under the Labour Code and data protection law.
Surveillance equipment may be permitted for purposes such as protecting people and property or where the nature of the work justifies its use. Employees must be informed about the existence of surveillance and the reason it is being used.
The Labour Code also protects the confidentiality of employees’ personal messages and communications. Employers can establish reasonable rules governing the use of company email, devices and communication systems, but this does not give them unrestricted access to employees’ private communications.
Any collection or processing of employee personal data must also comply with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Portugal’s Law 58/2019. Because of the imbalance in the employment relationship, employers should not automatically rely on employee consent as the lawful basis for processing personal data and must identify an appropriate basis under the GDPR.The Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados (CNPD) is Portugal’s national data protection authority.
Employees in Portugal are entitled to equal pay for equal work or work of equal value, with Law 60/2018 requiring employers to use objective criteria when setting pay and creating a statutory process for assessing and addressing unjustified pay differences between women and men.
Employers must use objective criteria when setting pay and be able to explain differences in remuneration that could otherwise indicate sex-based discrimination. Those criteria should be common to women and men and transparent.
For employers covered by the statutory pay assessment process, a notification of unexplained pay differences can require the company to prepare an evaluation plan. The employer must assess the differences using objective criteria and address any pay gap that cannot be justified.
The Commission for Equality in Labour and Employment (CITE) also has a role in cases involving alleged sex-based pay discrimination and can issue opinions following a complaint from an employee or trade union representative.
Breaches of Portugal’s equal pay requirements can result in administrative penalties and other consequences for the employer.
Temporary and agency workers in Portugal are protected by rules on equal treatment, pay, working time, holidays, health and safety and access to permanent employment opportunities under the Portuguese Labour Code.
During an assignment, temporary agency workers are generally entitled to employment conditions comparable to those that would apply if they had been hired directly for the same or an equivalent role. Applicable collective bargaining agreements can also affect their pay and other employment conditions.
The company where the employee performs the work manages matters such as working hours, workplace arrangements and health and safety during the assignment, while the temporary work agency remains responsible for the employment relationship and disciplinary authority.
Temporary workers must also be informed about suitable permanent vacancies at the company where they are assigned, giving them an opportunity to apply.
Separate protections can apply to other non-standard working arrangements, including work performed through digital platforms. Portuguese law includes a rebuttable presumption of employment for digital-platform work when the statutory indicators of an employment relationship are present.
Employers in Portugal with seven or more employees must adopt a workplace code of conduct for preventing and addressing harassment, as required by the Portuguese Labour Code.
The code should cover the prevention of both moral and sexual harassment and explain the standards of workplace behaviour expected from employees and managers. Employers must also respond appropriately when they become aware of possible harassment, including starting disciplinary procedures where required.
Portuguese law prohibits unwanted conduct that affects a person’s dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive working environment. Employers can face serious consequences if they fail to meet their obligations, while affected employees may be entitled to compensation.
The Direção-Geral do Emprego e das Relações de Trabalho (DGERT) provides a model workplace harassment code that employers can use as a reference when preparing their own policy.
Portugal’s right to disconnect requires employers refrain from contacting employees during their rest periods, except in specified circumstances such as emergencies, helping protect employees’ time away from work.
The requirement is set out in Article 199-A of the Portuguese Labour Code and applies to employment relationships generally, rather than only to employees who work remotely.
Protected rest periods can include the time between working days, weekly rest periods, annual leave and other periods when the employee is not required to be available for work.
Employers should therefore set appropriate expectations around calls, emails and other work communications outside an employee’s working time. Employees must also not be subjected to less favourable treatment, particularly regarding working conditions or career progression, because they exercise their right to rest.
The Authority for Working Conditions (ACT) is responsible for enforcing Labour Code requirements, including rules relating to working time and rest periods.
Employees and job candidates with disabilities in Portugal are protected against employment discrimination and may also benefit from statutory hiring quotas and workplace accommodation requirements.
Under Law 4/2019, private-sector employers with 75 to 249 employees must generally ensure that at least 1% of their workforce consists of people with a qualifying disability. For employers with 250 or more employees, the quota is generally 2%.
The quota applies to people with a recognised degree of incapacity of at least 60% who are able to perform the role, with reasonable workplace adaptations where necessary.
Separate Labour Code protections prohibit discrimination based on disability or reduced working capacity. Employers should therefore consider both equal treatment requirements and any appropriate workplace adjustments when recruiting and managing employees with disabilities.
Limited exemptions from the quota requirements may apply in circumstances recognised by the legislation.
Companies choose CXC because we understand Portugal’s employment requirements and help businesses hire and manage employees in line with local laws and employee protections.
This includes making sure employment terms follow local requirements and supporting the day-to-day administration of pay, leave and employee entitlements. CXC also helps businesses manage local requirements around equal treatment and other employee protections throughout the employment relationship.
Companies without a Portuguese entity can use CXC’s Employer of Record service to hire employees locally. CXC becomes the legal employer and manages the employment contract, payroll and local employment administration, while the client manages the employee’s role and day-to-day work.
This local support is backed by more than 30 years of workforce management experience and CXC’s ability to support companies across 100+ countries.
Speak to our team to learn more about employing and managing workers in Portugal with CXC.
With our EoR solution, you can engage workers anywhere in the world, without putting your business at risk. No more worrying about local labour laws, tax legislation or payroll customs — we’ve got you covered.
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