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Euro is the official currency of Portugal. Its currency symbol is €, EUR.
Estimated 27% of employee’s salary
Emerald Technology can onboard employees within 72 hours.
Portuguese is the official and national language of Portugal and is widely spoken by most of the population.
The population of Portugal is 10.31 million (based on World Bank numbers as of 2020).
The payroll cycle in Portugal is generally monthly and employees have 14 months of salaries.
To start growing your team in Portugal, you must establish a local entity – including an account with a local bank, a local office and an address registered as a subsidiary. This allows you to manage payroll, tax, benefits and compliance for your employees, but can take several months. Emerald can hire and payroll your workers, quickly and compliantly with their ready to go entity. Make growing your team simple with Emerald as a global partner.
Emerald can hire and payroll your workers, quickly and compliantly with their ready to go entity. Make growing your team simple with Emerald as a global partner.
Portugal is famous for its seafood, popular beaches, music and wine, but it also benefits from its time-zone compatibility, low living cost and excellent employment rate. It has been recognised as a leading destination for providing technology-based services and is known for its large talent pool of technology professionals, open working culture, and high English language proficiency.
Portugal has been reaping the rewards of notable economic recovery in recent years since adopting business-friendly practices, such as making changes to the labour code to increase flexibility.
Even with simplified processes, however, hiring in Portugal without a global partner remains a complex process.
Remote working in Portugal has increased significantly, which can be attributed to low living costs for employees and the multiple visa and residency permits available. Portugal has been recognised by travel search engine Kayak as the number one remote working destination.
Most European countries have strict rules on citizenship, but in Portugal you get the opportunity for citizenship after only five years of residency, which can be a great option for non-EU nationals.
There is not a specific remote working visa in Portugal, which means that those who have resided in the country for longer than 183 days are classed as tax residents and will be required to file and pay in Portugal.
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| Social Security | 23.75% |
| Salary Guarantee Fund | 1% |
| Accidental Work Injury | 1.75% |
Basic Insurance
Maternity and Paternity Leave (Social Security)
Annual Leave + Holiday
Wage Guarantee Fund (Social Security)
Workers compensation insurance (Social Security)
Pension (Social Security)
Unemployment (Social Security)
Private Healthcare
Supplementary Pension
Public Transport allowance
Gym
Hardware
Contracts in Portugal must include:
Contracts in Portugal must be in the local language and can be bilingual. The contract must include:
A probation period allows both an employer and employee to evaluate the employment match. The probation period is typically 3-9 months but can increase for more senior roles.
For fixed contracts of more than six months, a 30-day probation is applicable.
Emerald Technology can onboard employees in Portugal within 48 hours.
Employers are not required to provide healthcare or life insurance. However, many companies will establish this in a collective bargaining agreement.
Social security in Portugal is aimed to support employees and self-employed workers who many lose their income. This includes:
Maternity leave is provided by social security for parents who have contributed for the past 6 months. Expectant mothers are entitled to 120 days, it can be taken all at once, or in 2 separate leaves of 30 days prior to the birth and 90 days after. A minimum mandatory period of 6 weeks must be taken by the mother prior to the birth.
Fathers that contributed to social security are entitled to 15 days leave to be used within 30 days of the birth. Five of these days must be used immediately after the birth.
Employees in Portugal are entitled to a sickness allowance from the social security system. A sick note issued by a medical professional such as a doctor will need to be submitted to the employer.
The employer will be required to pay the first three days of the absence, with subsequent payments being made by social security.
Most salaried employees are entitled to a maximum of 1095 days’ paid sick leave. There must be a minimum of six months of payments into the social security system to be able to claim. The amount paid varies between 55% and 75% of the employee’s salary, as follows:
First 3o days 55%
31 days – 90 days 60%
91 days – 365 days 70%
365+ days 75%
As the legal employer, Emerald Technology requires the following employee documents to ensure complete compliance:
Passport
Portuguese Identification Card (front and back)
Social Security number
IBAN Proof
Tax Number
Tax Form
When an employer dismisses an employee it must be with just cause and they must give them notice. The notice period starts from the day after the employer notifies the employee of the termination. Notice must be given in accordance with the following schedule at a minimum:
| Length of employment | Notice period |
| Less than a year | 15 days |
| 1-5 years | 30 days |
| 5-10 years | 60 days |
| 10+ years | 75 days |
If an employee is made redundant, they are entitled to a payment based on years of continuous service.
Employees are entitled to severance pay if they are subject to collective dismissal, dismissal from job, redundancy and failure to adapt to job position. This can vary based on seniority and length of service. |
Full-time employees in Portugal are entitled to a statutory minimum of 22 calendar days’ annual leave per annum.
New Year’s Day
Good Friday
Easter Sunday
Freedom Day
Labour Day
Portugal Day
Corpus Christi
Assumption Day of our Lady
Republic Day
All Saints Day
Independence Day
Immaculate Day
Christmas Day
The minimum wage in Portugal is fixed at €822.5 per month. This is the lowest minimum wage out of all western European countries. The Government raises the minimum
wage each year according to the cost of living inflation.
The standard working week is 40 hours but can vary depending on occupation and contractual agreements.
Overtime maximum limits are set at 48 hours per hour / 150 per year for companies with more than 50 employees, and 175 hours per year for companies with less than 50
employees. Overtime pay is mandatory for employees working outside of their agreed hours.
Salary payments in Portugal are usually made in 14 instalments – 12 monthly payments and an additional payment in June and December.
Employers are required to pay two additional salaries in June and December.
The Portuguese tax year runs from January to December. It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure taxes are deducted from an employee’s salary ahead of payment.
Salary Tax Percentage
€0 – €7112 14.5%
€7112 – €10,732 25%
€10,732 – €20,322 28.5%
€20,322 – €25,075 35%
€25,075 – €36,967 37%
€36,967 – €80,882 45%
€80,883+ 48%
Similar to other countries, Portugal has strict rules on classifying individual contractors and full-time employees differently. Misclassifying your workers can put your business at risk of fines.
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