Portugal: Operating a Business

Legal Forms of Companies

The Sociedade por quotas de responsabilidade limitada (Lda): Limited Liability Company: Number of partners: Two partners minimum. There may be one partner only in the case of a Single Person Private Limited Liability company (SUQ).
Capital (max/min): Minimum EUR 1.
Shareholders and liability: Liability is limited to the amount of capital contributed.
The Sociedade anonima de responsabilidade limidada (SA): Public Limited Company: Number of partners: Five partners minimum; they may be foreigners and non-residents.
Capital (max/min): 50,000 EUR minimum, entirely taken up, with the obligation to release at least 30%.
Shareholders and liability: Liability is limited to the amount of capital contributed.
The Sociedade em nome colectivo: General Partnership: Number of partners: Two partners minimum.
Capital (max/min): No minimum share capital.
Shareholders and liability: Liability is joint and indefinite regarding third parties.
The Sociedade em comandita: Limited Joint-stock Partnership: Number of partners: Two partners minimum, with active partners and silent partners.
Capital (max/min): No minimum share capital.
Shareholders and liability: Liability is indefinite for active partners, and limited to the amount of capital contributed for silent partners.

Setting Up a Company	Portugal	OECD
Procedures (number)	6.00	5.21
Time (days)	6.50	9.47

Source: The World Bank - Doing Business, Latest data available.

The Competent Organisation: ePortugal web portal
For Further Information: Consult Doing Business Website, to learn about procedures to start a Business in Portugal
Trade Register, in Portuguese

Dun & Bradstreet - Worldwide directory with financial information on businesses

Informa - Portuguese business directory

Kompass - Portugal Business directory

Principle: Within the framework of the safeguard scheme, two legal decisions are generally made:
- being put into receivership, a state where payment stops, it is impossible to face the liabilities due with the current assets.
- compulsory liquidation, a persistent state where payment stops and receivership is manifestly impossible.
Minimum Debt-to-Capital Ratio Triggering Liquidation: No minimum
Reorganization and Rehabilitation Laws: Company insolvency and recovery Code

	2018	2019	2020
Labour Force	5,267,812	5,288,733	5,190,690

For Further Statistics: INE
For Further Information About the Labour Market: CES, The Economic and Social Council

Working Rest Day: Sunday
Paid Annual Vacation: 22 working days a year, +3 for regular attendance (no unjustified absences).
Retirement Age: 65
Child Labour and Minimum Age For Employment: 16
Informal Labour Market: Undeclared work is above all made up of only partially declared hours of work or undeclared overtime.
This is especially in Public Buildings and Works, where the control of workmen's wages (particularly foreigners) is inaccurate.

Minimum Wage: EUR 705 per month if based on 14 payments in a year, or EUR 823 based on 12 payments (source: Eurostat, Government of Portugal, 2022)
Average Wage: Gross average monthly wage: EUR 1,250.75 (source: INE-Statistics Portugal, 2020)
Other Forms of Pay
Pay For Overtime: Under modification.
Pay For Rest Days Worked: According to collective agreements.
Pay For Night Hours: Under modification.
Pay For Overtime at Night: Under modification.

The Areas Covered: Health insurance (medical care, maternity, disability, death), retirement pensions, family allowances, unemployment benefits
Contributions: Contributions Paid By the Employer: 23.75% on the monthly gross remuneration of employees, and insurance premium to cover occupational accidents at a rate varying according to risks.
Contributions Paid By the Employee: 11% on the monthly gross remuneration of employees, and insurance premium to cover occupational accidents at a rate varying according to risks.
Competent Organization: Segurança Social

Method of Recruitment: More and more applications are being made via Internet or the press. Recruitment in Portugal is mainly carried out by inviting candidates for a face-to-face interview.
Recruitment Agencies: The public institution is the IEFP.
There are several recruitment companies:Egor, Psicoteste, Hays.

Type of Contract: The work contract is governed by legal provisions and, to a lesser extent, by collective agreements and individual negotiation. Work contracts and hiring/firing conditions are extremely rigid.

Retirement: There are several ways of retiring: early retirement, automatic retirement and official retirement.
Dismissals: The employer initiates dismissals:
- redundancy comes in the form of either individual or mass redundancy
- dismissal for professional misconduct
Other Possible Methods: Resignation; this is initiated by the employee.
Labour Laws: Doing Business: Portugal, to obtain a summary of labour regulations that apply to local entreprises

Cases of Dispute: Physical violence, moral harassment, sexual harassment, working conditions, etc.
Legal Framework: Before going to court, forms of conciliation are possible: mediation, arbitration (which may be compulsory or not, by ministerial decision). Arbitration produces results with the same power as collective contracts. If it fails, the following step will be the « Tribunal do trabalho » of the competent jurisdiction.
However, at this time, the settlement of disputes is also under discussion between the government and the unions (employers' and union confederations).
Procedure: The Labor Code

Legal Framework: Defined in the Labor Code.
Competent Legal Body: The Labor Tribunal.
To appeal: the Tribunal of 2nd instance, labor section.

Social Dialogue and Involvement of Social Partners: There are two major union confederations: the CGTP (very close to the Communist Party) which is typically very critical of and eager to challenge government measures, and the UGT (close to the Socialist Party and the Social-Democrats), a more moderate group. While the UGT also criticises government measures, it often manages to come to a consensus with the government. Negotiations between Employers' Confederations, the Government and Union Confederations usually take place at the Conselho Económico e Social. These discussions take place systematically at the beginning of each year, but also when important dossiers about lab or law are discussed. In recent years, there have been many strikes and demonstrations against government austerity measures and economic policies.
Unionisation Rate: 18.4%
Labour Unions: CGTP
UGT
Regulation Bodies: Confederation of Portuguese Agricultural Cooperatives (CONFAGRI)
Portuguese Agricultural Federation

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