Working hours in Portugal: schedule, overtime and rest breaks

Normal working hours: 8 hours a day, 40 a week

The normal working period is 8 hours a day and 40 a week. With supplementary work, the week can reach 48 hours. The schedule is spread over Monday to Friday or over six days, depending on the collective agreement or the arrangement with the worker.

In practice, most office jobs work 40 hours over five days, with fixed start and finish times. The collective agreement (CCT) may reduce working hours, and some sectors already agree on 35-38 hours.

Overtime: limits by company size

Supplementary work cannot exceed 2 hours a day. The annual cap depends on size: 150 hours in medium and large companies, 175 in micro and small companies, and up to 200 if raised by a collective agreement. The worker is only obliged to do it in specific cases: a temporary increase in work, force majeure or prevention of serious harm.

For a subsidiary opening in Portugal, those 150-200 hours are the annual flexibility budget. If you need more, the legal route is not to force overtime but the hours bank agreed with the team: up to 2 extra hours a day, 50 a week and 150 a year, with a limit of four years.

What is paid for each overtime hour

The Labour Code distinguishes by annual volume. Up to 100 hours a year, the first hour on a working day is paid at 25% extra and subsequent hours at 37.5%; on a mandatory rest day or public holiday, the surcharge is 50%.

From hour 101 of the year, everything rises: 50% for the first hour on a working day, 75% for subsequent hours and 100% if it falls on a rest day or public holiday. It is a rule designed to make overtime exceptional, not structural.

Rest breaks: daily, weekly and the lunch break

There must be at least 11 consecutive hours of rest between two working periods, and each week the worker is entitled to 24 consecutive hours, preferably on Sunday. For working periods longer than 6 hours there is a right to a break, normally one hour for lunch, which the collective agreement may adjust.

The 13 national public holidays (plus one municipal holiday and optional Carnival) are added to holidays and do not reduce pay. Working on a public holiday requires compensation: equivalent rest or payment with the surcharge set by the collective agreement.

Holidays: 22 days and an attendance bonus

The minimum is 22 working days per year. The Code rewards attendance: if the worker has had no unjustified absences in the previous year, 2 more days are added. With absences, days may be deducted, but never below 20.

Holidays are paid with the holiday allowance, a full month's salary usually paid before the summer, and in December the Christmas allowance arrives. It is the 14-payment system that determines the annual cost from the first contract.

What to review before hiring in Portugal

Working hours in Portugal are predictable and cheap to comply with if the caps and surcharges are planned from the contract. The costly mistake is treating overtime as free flexibility: above 100 hours per year, each hour costs half as much again as the normal cost.