The Legal 500

Employment Law in Portugal is regulated by new Labour Code, which came into effect on 17 February 2009. The code has been amended and enforced by four bills that have been approved on 7 May 2009, by the Council of Ministers in Portugal.

1 What are the main statutes and regulations relating to employment? The main statutes relating to employment are the Portuguese Employment Code (approved by Law 7/2009 of 12 February 2009) and the Regulation of the Employment Code (Law 35/2004 of 29 July 2004) which is still in force notwithstanding the fact that parts have been revoked with the entry into force of the new Employment Code. Within the Employment Code, the vast majority of the rules are mandatory and, therefore, can only be modified by agreement of the parties and only if such amendment is intended to improve the position or rights of the employees.

Country Q&A Portugal: Employee Share Plan

Country Q&A Portugal

The recent financial and economic crisis has lead companies to economic constraints with severe implications in their economic and financial situation. Said situation leads to the need of adopting measures with the purpose of obtaining a higher economic efficiency by adapting the company to the variation of production or demand of products and by seeking for cost reductions.

The hiring of “Clean Employees” has been a difficult issue for employers over the years, given the restrictions and limits imposed by Portuguese labour legislation, within the scope of personality rights versus legal dismissal criteria. (read more)

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