Hire in Portugal
Portuguese Republic — 10.3 million population, $26,440 GDP per capita. Everything you need to know about employment law, tax, compliance and hiring in Portugal.
Capital
Lisbon
Currency
Euro (EUR)
Languages
Portuguese
Time zones
UTC+0 (WET) / UTC+1 (WEST)
Hiring overview
- Typical time to hire
- 2-3 weeks for contractor, 3-6 weeks for full-time
- Entity requirement
- Portuguese Lda (Sociedade por Quotas) or SA. Registration at Conservatoria do Registo Comercial.
- EOR available
- Yes — from $399/employee/month through a Corpshore entity
- Contractor of record
- Yes — from $39/worker/month
Employment law
- Standard workweek
- 40 hours
- Maximum weekly hours
- 40 hours
- Minimum annual leave
- 22 working days
- Public holidays
- 13 per year
- Maternity leave
- 120 days at 100% or 150 days at 80%. Parental leave: up to 180 days shared.
- Paternity leave
- 28 consecutive days (20 mandatory), fully paid
- Notice period
- Employee: 30-60 days. Employer: 15-75 days depending on tenure and contract type.
- Severance
- 12 days base salary per year (contracts after Nov 2011). Older contracts: 18-30 days per year.
- Probation
- 90 days (general), 180 days (complex roles), 240 days (senior management)
- Overtime rules
- 25% (first hour), 37.5% (subsequent) on weekdays. 50% on rest days/holidays.
Tax overview
- Income tax range
- 14.5% to 48% (plus solidarity surtax above EUR 80k)
- Corporate tax
- 21% (plus municipal surcharge up to 1.5%)
- Social contributions
- Employer: 23.75%. Employee: 11%.
- VAT / GST
- 23% (standard); 13% intermediate; 6% reduced
- Tax year
- Calendar year
- Treaty network
- Over 80 tax treaties
Compliance landscape
- Worker classification
- Codigo do Trabalho defines employment broadly. Green receipts (recibos verdes) regime for genuine freelancers. ACT (Authority for Working Conditions) investigates misclassification.
- Data protection
- GDPR + Lei 58/2019. CNPD (Comissao Nacional de Protecao de Dados) enforces.
- Right to work
- EU nationals: free movement. Non-EU: work visa required. Tech Visa and Startup Visa programmes available. Digital nomad visa (D8) since 2022.
- Non-compete
- Enforceable if compensated (not less than the agreed compensation for the restriction period), limited to 2 years (3 for senior roles).
- Collective bargaining
- Sector-level and company-level collective agreements. Coverage has declined but government can extend agreements.
Payment rails
SEPA standard. MB WAY (mobile payments) widely used domestically. Portugal has high digital payment adoption.
Key considerations for hiring
- Non-Habitual Resident (NHR) tax regime offered significant tax benefits to expats (being phased out/reformed since 2024)
- Lisbon and Porto have become major European tech hubs with vibrant startup ecosystems
- Digital nomad visa (D8) has attracted significant remote worker immigration
- Subsido de Natal (Christmas bonus) and Subsido de Ferias (vacation bonus) are mandatory: effectively 14 monthly payments per year
Business and cultural context: Portugal
Business culture
Warm, relationship-oriented, and hierarchical. Portuguese business culture values personal relationships and politeness. Meals are important social occasions.
Key industries
Talent pool strengths
Historical context
Portugal's Web Summit relocation from Dublin to Lisbon in 2016 symbolised the country's emergence as a European tech hub. Lisbon's lower cost of living, warm climate, and digital nomad visa have attracted a large international tech community. The country's startup ecosystem has produced Farfetch, Talkdesk, and OutSystems.
Ready to hire in Portugal?
Use our EOR service from $399/month and we handle employment law, payroll, tax and compliance in Portugal for you.