tolerância de ponto
Published 8 November 2026, 22:44
tolerância de ponto (day off for the civil service)
A one-off order by the Prime Minister releasing civil servants from work on a day that is not a public holiday: Carnival Tuesday, or 24, 26 or 31 December. It is issued afresh each time and published in the Diário da República — for example, Despacho n.º 1853/2026 of 13 February gave civil servants 17 February 2026 off, and Despacho n.º 15085-A/2025 gave them 24, 26 and 31 December 2025.
Where you come across it. News a week or two before Carnival and Christmas; the câmara, the tax office, AIMA and Segurança Social closed on the day.
It does not apply to private companies: your employer may give you the same day off, or may not. Services that must keep running in the public interest are excluded from the order, and their staff get a day off on another date instead.