Latest news and stories about labour law in legal in Portugal for expats and residents.
A strike by public prosecution magistrates led to court closures across the country, with participation rates estimated between 75% and 80%. The protest, driven by demands for better working conditions and staffing, forced the postponement of the Operation Babel ruling until May 8th.
After 53 meetings, the Government, the four business confederations, and the UGT have finally reached a 'construction level' for the labour law reform proposal, which requires each organisation to consult its internal bodies. This is what the trade union centre led by Mário Mourão will do this Thursday, in a...
The National Union of Public Prosecutors (Sindicato Nacional dos Magistrados do Ministério Público or SMMP) has scheduled a national strike for April 24. The union is demanding that the Superior Council of the Public Prosecution Service (Conselho Superior do Ministério Público) revise the rules for the annual rotation of magistrates to prevent the accumulation of functional areas. The strike notice has been formally submitted to the Ministry of Justice.
The Ministério Público (Public Prosecution Service) is Portugal's independent state prosecution body, responsible for leading criminal investigations, bringing charges, and representing the public interest in court.
The MP operates autonomously from the government and the police, though it directs criminal investigations carried out by the Polícia Judiciária, PSP, and GNR. It is led by the Procurador-Geral da República (Attorney General), who is appointed by the President on the government's proposal.
The MP gets involved in high-profile cases including corruption, financial crime, and incidents of potential institutional negligence. It also defends the legality of government actions and protects citizens' fundamental rights through the courts.
The SMMP (Sindicato dos Magistrados do Ministério Público) is the national union representing public prosecutors in Portugal. It advocates for the professional interests of its members and frequently engages in industrial action to negotiate working conditions and staffing levels within the judicial system.
The Permanent Coordinating Commission (CCP), representing major security force unions including the Public Security Police (Polícia de Segurança Pública or PSP) and the National Republican Guard (Guarda Nacional Republicana or GNR), has announced a national protest for April 16. The demonstration will take place in front of the Prime Minister's residence in Lisbon to oppose legislative changes since 2005 that have reduced pension values for security personnel.
The PSP (Polícia de Segurança Pública) is Portugal's national civilian police force, founded in 1867. Responsible for defending Republican democracy and safeguarding internal security and citizens' rights, the PSP polices major cities—Lisbon, Porto, Faro—and large urban areas, covering only 4% of Portugal's territory but roughly half the population. Led by a National Director under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, its approximately 21,500 officers handle preventive policing, crime investigation, public order, airport security, diplomatic protection, private security regulation, firearms licensing, and border control (since 2023).
PSP vs. GNR: The PSP is civilian with police-focused training and urban jurisdiction, while the GNR (Guarda Nacional Republicana) is military (gendarmerie) with military training, covering 96% of Portugal's rural and suburban territory. Both share core public safety missions but differ fundamentally in nature, training, and geographic responsibility.
The GNR (Guarda Nacional Republicana) is Portugal's national gendarmerie—a military police force founded in 1911, with origins dating to 1801. With over 22,600 personnel, GNR patrols 94-96% of Portuguese territory, covering rural areas, medium towns, and highways. Members are military personnel subject to military law, responsible for public order, customs, coastal control, environmental protection (SEPNA), firefighting/rescue (GIPS), border control, and ceremonial guards. GNR vs. PSP: The PSP (Polícia de Segurança Pública) is Portugal's civilian police force, covering major cities (Lisbon, Porto, Faro) and large urban areas—only 4% of territory but roughly half the population. PSP handles airport security, diplomatic protection, and private security regulation. Both share core missions (public order, crime prevention), but differ in nature: GNR is military with military training; PSP is civilian with police-focused training.
António José Seguro, who will take office on Monday, has said health will be his priority in the first year and warned he will veto proposed labour-law changes unless they gain agreement through Social Concertation (Concertação Social). He framed the veto threat as conditional on a lack of consensus, signalling an active early role in industrial and labour debates. Workers and employers should watch his early statements and any formal veto notices.
Update: Ventura wins 33%, positions as right leader
André Ventura received just over 33% of the vote in the second round and commentators say he is positioning himself as the leader of the right despite losing to Seguro. Opinion pieces also argue António José Seguro faces significant challenges but may balance the presidency between constitutional limits and voter expectations.
António José Martins Seguro (born March 11, 1962, in Penamacor) is a lawyer, political scientist, and the current President of the Portuguese Republic, inaugurated on March 9, 2026 after winning the two-round presidential election in January–February 2026.
Career: He led Socialist Youth (1990–1994), served as MEP (1999–2001), was Minister Adjunct to PM António Guterres (2001–2002), and led the PS parliamentary group (2004–2005). Elected PS Secretary-General in 2011 with 68%, he led the opposition during Portugal's bailout era. In 2014, António Costa defeated him in party primaries by a landslide, prompting Seguro's resignation and a decade-long retreat from politics. He returned in 2025, launching the movement UPortugal and announcing his presidential candidacy in June. He received official PS backing in October 2025 and won the presidency in February 2026.
Political philosophy: Seguro positions himself as representing a "modern and moderate" left, advocating financial responsibility while opposing austerity. As President, he has emphasized institutional trust, efficient governance, and a collaborative relationship with the government while maintaining rigorous constitutional oversight.
André Ventura, born January 15, 1983, is a lawyer, academic, and Portugal's most prominent far-right leader. He founded Chega ("Enough") in 2019 after his PSD mayoral campaign attacked the Romani community. Chega surged from 1.3% in 2019 to 22.8% in May 2025, becoming parliament's second-largest party and making Ventura Leader of the Opposition.
His platform emphasizes immigration restrictions, law-and-order policies, constitutional reform, and contains inflammatory anti-Romani rhetoric that has triggered multiple discrimination convictions and investigations. Politically classified as far-right by international media, Ventura cultivates alliances with European far-right figures including Marine Le Pen and Santiago Abascal.
The Polícia Judiciária (PJ) and Spain's National Police coordinated an operation that dismantled a cross‑border network that used Portugal to traffic and exploit immigrants in Spain. Authorities carried out arrests and are investigating the group's routes and labour‑exploitation methods. Those involved in recruitment or employment of migrant workers should expect continued police scrutiny and possible legal action in cross‑border cases.
A trial opened March 2 into a network accused of facilitating illegal immigration and exploiting young footballers who slept in bunk beds under a stadium stand and received irregular pay and small allowances, Público reports. The defendants allegedly took advantage of about 11 young players promising routes into professional football, with testimony describing poor living conditions and below‑minimum remuneration. The case is a reminder of risks in informal recruitment channels and will be followed by advocates and families of young athletes. Those involved in youth sport recruitment should ensure contracts and living arrangements meet legal standards.
Thousands of people demonstrated in Lisbon and Porto against changes to the labour law.
Health professionals at the Alto Ave Local Health Unit (Unidade Local de Saúde do Alto Ave) are striking to protest imposed supplementary work, with unions accusing management of forcing extra shifts at primary‑care centres. The action is affecting appointments and the availability of some services, Correio da Manhã reports. Patients in the Alto Ave area should check centre opening hours and expect appointment changes.
ULS Alto Ave is the Alto Ave Local Health Unit (Unidade Local de Saúde do Alto Ave), a public body that runs hospitals and some primary-care services for the Ave area in northern Portugal. It is part of the National Health Service (Serviço Nacional de Saúde or SNS), and recent staff strikes have affected overtime and complementary work, so residents should check local hospital notices before visiting.
Primary care (Cuidados de Saúde Primários) is the first level of Portugal's health system — the network of health centers (centros de saúde) and family health units (Unidades de Saúde Familiar, USF) that provide general practice consultations, nursing care, vaccinations, chronic disease management, preventive screening, and referrals to specialist care.
Every resident registered with the SNS (Serviço Nacional de Saúde) is entitled to a family doctor (médico de família), though in practice over a million people lack an assigned GP due to doctor shortages. The strength of primary care directly affects hospital pressure — when health centers are understaffed or closed, patients turn to hospital emergency departments, increasing waiting times.
Portugal has been expanding USF coverage and recruiting more GPs, but access remains uneven, particularly in rural inland areas and some Lisbon suburbs.
CGTP says Portugal is the EU's second-most reliant country on precarious contracts and reports that nearly 450,000 precarious ties affecting women were registered across the private sector and state-owned companies in 2024. The figures point to significant gendered precarity and feed debates about job quality and protections. Workers on temporary or atypical contracts should check their rights and consider contacting unions or labour advisers.
The General Confederation of the Portuguese Workers (CGTP – Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses) is Portugal’s largest trade-union confederation, grouping most unions in manufacturing, public services and many other sectors.
Founded clandestinely in 1970 as “Intersindical” under the dictatorship, it emerged publicly after the 1974 Carnation Revolution and was legalised in 1975. It has been central to virtually all major labour struggles since then, from defending collective bargaining and the 40‑hour week to leading general strikes against austerity and labour‑law rollbacks.
CGTP is historically close to the Portuguese Communist Party and has a class‑struggle, anti‑neoliberal profile, strongly critical of EU and government policies seen as undermining workers’ rights. It favours grassroots mobilisation and strikes over compromise, often refusing national social‑pact deals that the more centrist UGT is willing to sign.
In today’s Portugal, CGTP remains a key actor in wage bargaining, labour‑law debates and national protests; together with UGT it called the first joint general strike in years in December 2025, signalling its continuing capacity to organise mass action.
A precarious contract (contrato precário) refers to unstable or insecure work arrangements such as short-term, temporary or atypical contracts that offer limited job security and benefits. Unions say Portugal has a high reliance on these contracts—affecting hundreds of thousands of workers—and that they reduce income stability, social-protection entitlements and career prospects.
Correio da Manhã and Observador report that supermarket chain Auchan has said it will respect workers' holiday entitlements after the PCP informed the Labour Minister that some Auchan staff joined a general strike over alleged removal of holiday rights. The company statement aims to calm industrial tensions while unions and the PCP press labour authorities. Retail workers and those employed in food distribution should check their contracts and union notices; affected customers may experience local disruption during actions.
Update: Auchan repeats it will respect leave entitlements
Auchan told RTP it respects “all legally stipulated holiday days” and said the extra benefit that grants three additional holiday days to workers is applied with “clarity and transparency.”
The Portuguese Communist Party (PCP or Partido Comunista Português) is a Marxist‑Leninist party founded in 1921 out of the revolutionary trade‑union and anarcho‑syndicalist movement, becoming the Portuguese section of the Comintern in 1923. Banned after the 1926 coup, it went underground and became a central force of resistance to the Estado Novo dictatorship, organizing clandestine unions, anti‑fascist struggle and supporting the colonial liberation movements. After the 1974 Carnation Revolution, the PCP was pivotal in land reform, nationalisations and embedding social rights in the 1976 Constitution, especially in the Alentejo and Setúbal regions where it has long been very strong.
Today the PCP is a smaller but still influential party rooted in the CGTP trade‑union confederation and local government, holding a handful of Assembly seats and one MEP in the Left group. It advocates a “patriotic and left‑wing alternative”: defence of workers’ rights, public services and national sovereignty, strong criticism of EU and NATO constraints, and support for socialist countries and anti‑imperialist causes.
A general strike is a coordinated, large-scale work stoppage across multiple sectors called by trade unions to press political or labour demands. The December 11, 2025 strike — the first in 13 years — disrupted transport, schools and many public services, and illustrated that strikes can cause major short-term interruptions while employees and public-service rules determine who can legally take part.
A court has confirmed that Christine Ourmières-Widener's lawsuit against TAP will remain in civil court, CNN Portugal reports; she contests her dismissal for just cause that the Government announced in March 2023 following a General Inspectorate of Finance report into a €500,000 payment to Alexandra Reis. Keeping the case in civil jurisdiction means it will proceed under ordinary civil procedures rather than administrative routes. Those following TAP litigation and corporate governance should watch for case developments and any implications for the airline's management.
TAP Air Portugal is Portugal’s flag-carrier airline, founded on 14 March 1945 as Transportes Aéreos Portugueses. It began operations in 1946 with Lisbon–Madrid and quickly opened the long “Linha Aérea Imperial” to Angola and Mozambique, symbolically linking mainland Portugal to its overseas territories. TAP entered the jet age in the 1960s, became Europe’s first all‑jet airline in 1967, and rebranded as TAP Air Portugal in 1979. Nationalised after the 1974 Carnation Revolution, it went through cycles of partial privatisation and renationalisation, remaining a strategic state‑controlled company due to its role in connectivity, tourism, exports, and the Portuguese diaspora, especially to Brazil, Africa, and North America. Today TAP operates an all‑Airbus fleet from its Lisbon hub, marketing itself as a bridge between Europe, Africa, and the Americas and as a key economic and symbolic asset for Portugal.
Christine Ourmières-Widener is a former executive at TAP Air Portugal who was dismissed by the government in March 2023 and has filed legal action contesting that dismissal after a General Inspectorate of Finance (Inspeção-Geral de Finanças or IGF) report about a €500,000 payment to Alexandra Reis. The case centres on whether the dismissal for "just cause" was lawful and has implications for governance at the state-linked airline.
Under Portuguese labor law, dismissal (despedimento) is the termination of an employment contract by the employer. Portugal has some of Europe's stricter employment protection rules, and dismissal is only lawful in specific circumstances:
Employers must follow strict procedural requirements, including written notice, employee hearings, and severance payments. Wrongful dismissal can be challenged in labor courts and result in reinstatement or enhanced compensation. Ongoing labor reform negotiations frequently revisit dismissal rules, notice periods, and severance entitlements.
Rosário Palma Ramalho has called employers' leaders and trade union representatives to a meeting at the Ministry of Labour (Ministério do Trabalho) on Wednesday to continue technical discussions aimed at changing labour law, Expresso reports. The meeting follows a series of talks intended to find agreement on amendments that could affect working conditions and employer obligations. Employers and workers should watch for outcomes that might affect contracts, collective bargaining and workplace rules.
Rosário Maria Ribeiro da Costa Palma Ramalho is a distinguished labor law academic who was appointed Minister of Labour in the XXV Constitutional Government under Luís Montenegro. She is one of Portugal's leading experts on employment law, having authored major textbooks and legal commentaries on the Portuguese Labour Code.
As minister, she leads negotiations with trade unions (CGTP, UGT) and employer confederations on labor reform, including changes to dismissal rules, working time flexibility, and collective bargaining. Her academic background gives her unusual technical authority in a portfolio that is typically politically charged.
The Ministry of Labour (Ministério do Trabalho) is the government department responsible for employment policy, labour law, collective bargaining and workplace inspections. It organises talks between employers and unions and can convene negotiations or propose changes to labour rules, so its meetings affect workers and employers directly.
