Work

Steps

1. Look for a job. The IEFP (Instituto do Emprego e Formação Profissional, the public employment service) job offers are on iefponline; you can register there as a jobseeker online (log in with the Segurança Social Direta, so with your NISS, or with the Chave Móvel Digital), by creating your account and CV, then validating your registration, or in person at an IEFP office. European offers are on the EURES portal (eures.europa.eu), relayed by the IEFP.
2. Prepare your numbers. Your employer will need your NIF (tax number) and your NISS (social security number): sheets PT-NIF-TOUS-001 and PT-ADMINISTRATIONS-TOUS-001. You also need a bank account (sheet PT-BANQUE-TOUS-001).
3. Check whether your profession is regulated. For most jobs, access is free and it is the employer who judges your diploma. For a regulated profession (health, law, architecture, teaching…), consult the European Commission's database of regulated professions: it shows the Portuguese authority that recognises your qualification (professional body, ministry…).
4. Have your diploma recognised if you are asked to. Three routes, with the DGES or the higher-education institution you choose: automatic (the diploma is on the official list), level (individual comparison), specific (diploma and discipline). All three have the same legal value.
5. Read your contract. Open-ended contract (contrato sem termo) or fixed-term (contrato a termo). The fixed-term contract must be in writing and state its precise reason: it is only allowed for a temporary need of the company (replacement, increase in activity, season, new activity…).
6. Go through the trial period (período experimental): see the durations below.
7. If you lose your job, register at the employment centre for your home area and claim unemployment benefit from the Segurança Social within 90 days.

Documents

• Identity document; after 3 months, your EU citizen registration certificate (sheet PT-SEJOUR-TOUS-001).
• NIF, NISS and IBAN.
• Diplomas (and, if requested, their recognition); translation if necessary.
• For unemployment benefit, if you have worked in another EU or EEA country or in Switzerland: the portable document U1, issued by the body of the country where you worked, so that those periods count.

Costs and timelines

• 2026 minimum wage: €920 on the mainland (Decreto-Lei n.º 139/2025); €980 in Madeira (DLR n.º 1/2026/M; amount to be confirmed). In the Azores, regional law adds 5% to the national amount (Decreto Legislativo Regional n.º 8/2002/A, art. 3.º, unchanged in the consolidated version and by the 2026 regional budget), i.e. €966 in 2026 (calculation to be confirmed). Increases announced in the 2025-2028 tripartite agreement, not verified here.
• Working time: at most 8 h a day and 40 h a week for normal working time (art. 203.º); a collective agreement may reduce it or arrange it on average (art. 203.º, 204.º).
• Leave: 22 working days a year at minimum (art. 238.º); you can give up the days beyond 20, being paid for those days worked.
• 13th and 14th months: the subsídio de Natal is worth one month's salary, paid by 15 December at the latest (pro rata in the year of hiring or leaving); the subsídio de férias is paid before the holidays, unless there is a written agreement to the contrary.
• Trial period (art. 112.º): open-ended contract: 90 days in general; 180 days for a complex technical post, a position of trust, a first job or a long-term unemployed person; 240 days for a management post. Fixed-term contract: 30 days (6 months or more), 15 days (less than 6 months).
• Fixed-term contract: 2 years at most (fixed term), 3 renewals at most, whose total duration does not exceed the initial duration; 4 years at most (uncertain term). At the end of a fixed term not renewed by the employer, you are entitled to 24 days of base salary per full year (art. 344.º).
• Resignation (art. 400.º): written notice of 30 days (up to 2 years of service) or 60 days (more than 2 years), which the contract or a collective agreement may raise to 6 months for management functions; fixed-term contract: 30 days if it lasts at least 6 months, 15 days otherwise.
• Unemployment benefit (Segurança Social guide, July 2026): you need at least 360 days of declared salaries in the 24 months before unemployment, involuntary unemployment and registration at the employment centre. Amount: 65% of the reference salary, between €537.13 (1 IAS 2026) and €1,342.83 (2.5 IAS) per month (without exceeding 75% of the net reference salary; the floor does not apply if this net salary is below 1 IAS), and at least €617.70 if the reference salaries were at least equal to the minimum wage. Duration depending on age and career: from 150 days (under 30, less than 15 months contributed) to 540 days (40 and over, 24 months or more), with a bonus for each block of 5 years contributed over the last 20 years.
• Recognition of a diploma: automatic (only for the diplomas and countries on the official list): about €32.20 according to the figures collected, to be confirmed on the DGES site (the DGES FAQ says the price depends on the type of recognition and the institution chosen), certificate issued within 30 working days at most after a complete file; level or specific: price set by the institution chosen, decision within 90 working days at most.

Common pitfalls

• Chained fixed-term contracts. A fixed-term contract without a real temporary reason is illegal; it is for the employer to prove the reason.
• Termination during the trial period. Either party can terminate without a reason or compensation; but after 60 days of trial, the employer must give you 7 days' notice, and 30 days after 120 days of trial (art. 114.º).
• Missing the 90 days for unemployment benefit. The claim must be made within the 90 days following the end of the contract.
• Looking for a job elsewhere while receiving Portuguese unemployment benefit. This is possible with the U2 document, if you have remained registered for at least 4 weeks at the employment centre in Portugal; register in the new country within 7 days. Payment is guaranteed for 3 months, extendable by 3 months.
• A labour law reform under way. Rule in force on 23/10/2026: the one in this sheet; the consolidated version of the Código do Trabalho kept by the Lisbon Public Prosecutor's Office stops at Lei n.º 32/2025 of 27/03/2025 and does not contain the reform. Announced bill: the press describes a "Trabalho XXI" text approved by the Council of Ministers in May 2026 (fixed-term contracts raised to 3 years, among other things); it will only apply once voted and published in the Diário da República, and this press information was not confirmed by an official source on 23/10/2026.
• Azores and Madeira. Higher regional minimum wage; the U1 and U2 documents are issued there by the Instituto de Segurança Social of each region.

What changes by country of origin

• EU and EEA citizens: no work permit; periods worked in those countries count towards your Portuguese unemployment benefit with the U1 document.
• Swiss citizens: same freedom to work (EU-Switzerland agreement); Switzerland is on the list of countries whose periods count with the U1.
• British citizens (Scots included): since Brexit, you need a residence permit that allows work (AIMA, sheet PT-SEJOUR-TOUS-001); a foreign national can only register at the employment centre with a valid permit. To have your periods worked in the United Kingdom counted, ask the British authority (HMRC) for the PD U1 certificate, which it issues for an unemployment claim in the EU (online or on a paper form, up to 6 weeks; only if you already live outside the United Kingdom or leave within 2 weeks), then present it to the Segurança Social with your claim.