Leaving a job in Portugal: how to resign, when you can be dismissed and what you are owed on leaving
This guide is for people working on an employment contract who want to leave, who are about to be dismissed or who have already been dismissed. How to resign and how much notice to give; how to leave because your employer is not paying you or is breaking the law, and get paid for it; what to sign if you part ways by agreement. When an employer is entitled to dismiss you and how it must be done, who cannot be dismissed without special approval, what you are owed on leaving and what is taxed. If the dismissal seems unlawful — where to go and by when. Unemployment benefit is covered only briefly here: there is a separate guide with the details.
Resigning: how much notice to give and how
You can leave your job at any time without giving a reason, but you must tell your employer in writing and in advance (Código do Trabalho, article 400).
Open-ended contract — 30 days' notice if you have worked there for up to two years, and 60 days if longer.
Fixed-term contract — 30 days if it is for six months or more, and 15 days if shorter.
Managers and people in charge of an important area may be required by their contract to give as much as six months' notice.
The resignation letter (carta de demissão) has no set form: who you are, that you are ending the contract, the date of your last working day, your signature. Hand it over and have the employer sign your copy as received, or send it by registered post with proof of delivery. The notice period runs from the day the employer receives the letter.
If you change your mind, withdraw the resignation by letter up to the seventh day after the employer received it (article 402). You cannot withdraw it if your signature on the letter was certified by a notary: the employer is entitled to ask for that.
If you leave before the notice is up, the employer can claim your base pay for the missing days (article 401). If you do not turn up for work for 10 working days in a row and do not say why, the employer can treat it as you having walked out (abandono do trabalho) and claim the same money. To do so, they must send a registered letter to your last address (article 403).
Anyone who resigns does not get unemployment benefit.
“of course. To get the vast majority of benefits from Segurança you first have to be paying social security contributions. With an employment contract - you have to be made redundant, dismissed by the employer. If someone quit themselves, they can go on courses and get a training allowance, but not unemployment - no”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkmyptaxes25.06.2025
During the probationary period
During the probationary period either side can end the contract without giving a reason and without compensation, unless the contract says otherwise (Código do Trabalho, article 114). The worker does not have to give notice. How long the probationary period lasts and how to check whether there is one at all — see the guide The right to work and the employment contract: what documents you need and what to check before signing.
The employer has limits. If the probationary period has lasted more than 60 days, they must give 7 days' notice; more than 120 days — 30 days. If they do not, they pay your wages for those days. They can let go of a pregnant worker, one who has recently given birth or is breastfeeding, or a worker on parental leave, but they must notify CITE — the commission for equality at work — within five working days. Dismissing someone to punish them or to get round the law is not allowed even during the probationary period: a court will rule such a dismissal unlawful.
Once the probationary period is over, the normal rules in this guide apply.
“Art. 114 of the Labour Code: During the probationary period, unless otherwise agreed in writing, either party may terminate the contract without prior notice.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linktaxinportugal25.09.2025
Leaving because your employer is breaking the law
If the employer is at fault, you can leave straight away, without notice, and be paid for it. The law calls this resolução com justa causa (Código do Trabalho, article 394). Grounds include late wages; bullying, harassment or insults from a manager or colleagues; dangerous conditions the employer is responsible for; unfair disciplinary action and other breaches of your rights.
With wages the rule is precise: late payment counts as the employer's fault once the money has not arrived for 60 days. Or sooner, if at your request they have confirmed in writing that they will not pay.
How to leave: write to your employer, briefly list what they have breached, and send it by registered post with proof of delivery. You must do this within 30 days of finding out about the breach; with late wages — from the end of those 60 days (article 395). In court you can later rely only on what is in the letter, so do not leave out anything important.
You are owed 15 to 45 days' base pay for each year worked, but no less than three months' base pay; on a fixed-term contract — no less than your wages up to its end (article 396). You usually have to claim the money in court. The employer can also challenge your departure in court within a year: if the court finds there were no grounds, you will pay them as if you had left without notice. You do get unemployment benefit after leaving this way.
Parting ways by agreement
The employer and the worker can agree to end the contract (revogação por mútuo acordo, article 349). The agreement must be in writing, in two copies, one for each side. It must state the date of signing, the last working day and a line saying you have the right to change your mind within seven days.
What to put in it: the amount of compensation, when and how it will be paid, and separately — what you are owed in wages, holiday and the 13th-month salary, and the reason for ending the contract. If the agreement gives one lump sum, the law assumes it also settles everything else the employer owes you. So make sure the compensation and everything else are listed separately.
Not everyone gets unemployment benefit after an agreement: only if the employer is cutting staff and stays within the quota for such agreements. Ask them about this in writing before you sign.
If you change your mind, send the employer a letter up to the seventh day after signing and return everything they have already paid you under the agreement (article 350). If the signatures were certified by a notary, you can no longer withdraw.
Who gets benefit and on what conditions — Social Security benefits: unemployment, sickness, children — who gets them, how much and when they are paid.
When a fixed-term contract ends
A fixed-term contract with an exact end date (a termo certo) does not end by itself: if nobody gives notice, it is renewed. For it to end, the employer must give 15 days' written notice before the end date, and the worker 8 days (Código do Trabalho, article 344). On a contract without an exact end date (a termo incerto — for example, covering someone else's maternity leave) the employer gives 7, 30 or 60 days' notice, depending on whether the contract lasted up to six months, up to two years or longer (article 345). If they do not, they pay your wages for the missing days.
If it was the employer who did not renew the contract, you are owed compensation — 24 days' base pay for each year worked, pro rata for part of a year. For example, two years on €1,000 a month — €1,600. If it was you who decided to end the contract, there is no compensation.
Sick leave does not stop the contract running: it ends on its date even while you are ill (article 295). If the employer does not renew the contract of a pregnant worker, one who has recently given birth or is breastfeeding, or a worker on parental leave, they must give CITE the reason within five working days (article 144).
After a fixed-term contract ends you get unemployment benefit if you were not offered a renewal. If you were offered one and turned it down — you do not.
When you are dismissed for misconduct
Dismissal for misconduct (despedimento por justa causa) is allowed only if the misconduct is so serious that the working relationship cannot continue (Código do Trabalho, article 351). The law gives examples: disobedience, fighting or insults at work, breaking safety rules, damage to the company, false certificates for absences. Unjustified absences — if they caused the company serious harm or there were five in a row or ten in a year. A sick note is a valid reason, not an unjustified absence.
The procedure is compulsory; without it the dismissal is unlawful.
The charge. The employer hands you a letter stating their intention to dismiss you and a charge — nota de culpa: what you did, where and when. They must start within 60 days of learning of the misconduct and no later than a year after it (article 329).
Your answer. You have 10 working days to read the file and answer in writing: explain, attach documents, name witnesses (article 355). Always answer, even if the charge seems absurd.
The decision — in writing and with reasons, within 30 days of the employer finishing the inquiry (article 357). It may refer only to what was in the charge.
During the inquiry the employer can suspend you from work, but keeps paying your wages. There is no compensation for dismissal for misconduct. You do get unemployment benefit: the dismissal was not your choice.
Redundancy: how much notice and how much pay
When the worker is not at fault, the employer can dismiss in three ways.
Collective dismissal (despedimento coletivo) — within three months, two or more people are dismissed in a company of up to 50 staff, or five or more in a larger one. The reason is a department closing or less work.
Abolition of the post (extinção do posto de trabalho) — a single job is removed. Not allowed if the company has people on fixed-term contracts doing the same work, or if there is another suitable job for you. Which of several identical posts goes is decided in this order: poorer performance review, fewer qualifications, higher cost to the company, less experience, shorter service.
Inability to adapt to the job (inadaptação) — only after the job has changed, you have been trained and given at least 30 days to adjust.
The employer tells you of the decision in writing and in advance: 15 days with up to a year's service, 30 — up to five years, 60 — up to ten, 75 — longer (articles 363, 371, 378). During this notice period you are entitled to two days off a week to look for a new job, on full pay; give three days' notice (article 364). If you find a job sooner, you can leave with three working days' notice and keep your compensation (article 365).
Compensation is 14 days' base pay for each year worked, pro rata for part of a year (article 366). For example, three years on €1,200 a month — €1,680. The base pay used is capped at 20 times the minimum wage, and the total at 12 months' base pay. The compensation and everything else owed must be paid by the last working day; if not, the dismissal is unlawful.
If you want to challenge the redundancy, do not keep the compensation: if you accept the full amount, the law treats you as having agreed. To dispute it, return the money to the employer.
Who cannot be dismissed, or only with difficulty
Pregnant workers, those who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding, and workers on parental leave can be dismissed only with an opinion from CITE — the commission for equality at work (Código do Trabalho, article 63). The employer sends the case there, and the answer comes within 30 days. If CITE is against it, the dismissal can go ahead only by court order. A dismissal without that opinion is unlawful, and you have the right to go back to work.
The protection applies when the employer knows about the pregnancy or the birth. Tell them in writing and attach a doctor's certificate or the birth certificate. The law counts a woman as having recently given birth for the first 120 days after the birth (article 36).
Workers' representatives — members of the workers' committee, union representatives and anyone who has been on a union's leadership in the last three years — are hard to dismiss: the law presumes such a dismissal is unlawful until the employer proves otherwise (article 410).
On sick leave there is no ban on dismissal, but illness in itself is not a reason. If you are dismissed for ‘absences’ while on sick leave or straight after handing in a sick note, keep the note and the messages and go to ACT, the labour inspectorate.
Dismissal on grounds of nationality, religion, beliefs or union membership is prohibited (article 381).
“You really need to look into it properly! Generally if the employer is dismissing you they have to send you notice that the dismissal procedure has started, usually it should come by registered letter. You can challenge the dismissal, and even if you were in the wrong and didn't tell the employer you'd given birth, they still can't just fire a pregnant worker or one on maternity leave like that. You can write to the Autoridade para as Condições do Trabalho, they should explain whether you were dismissed lawfully or not (either with a question, or try going to them straight away with a complaint).”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkberemennost_portugal11.07.2026
What you are owed on leaving
However the contract ends — you resign, are dismissed or it runs out — the employer pays your wages up to the last working day. Plus:
Holiday. Pay for holiday you earned and did not take, and holiday pay for it. Plus holiday and holiday pay for this year — in proportion to the months worked (Código do Trabalho, article 245).
13th-month salary (subsídio de Natal) — in proportion to the months worked this year (article 263).
Training hours. The law gives you 40 hours a year; if the employer did not provide them, they pay for them when you leave (article 134).
If the contract lasted less than a year, the holiday for the whole period cannot be more than the year's share. If the 13th-month salary and holiday pay were already being paid in instalments with your wages (duodécimos), only the balance is paid on leaving. Check the total against your last payslips.
Documents. The employer must give you a certificado de trabalho — a certificate stating when you worked there and in what job (article 341). For unemployment benefit you need the declaração de situação de desemprego (form RP 5044): it shows why the contract ended. Check the reason: if it says you resigned when in fact you were dismissed, you will not get benefit — ask for it to be corrected, and if they refuse, go to ACT. How to get it — Social Security benefits: unemployment, sickness, children — who gets them, how much and when they are paid.
Return the laptop, keys, uniform and any other company property straight away (article 342). If the employer does not pay, you can claim money owed under the contract for up to a year after it ends (article 337).
“Well done you! This video pushed me to take a similar step and stand up for my rights.. 3 years ago I was working on a contract for an employer who was a lawyer. And because I got ill (I had a note from the health centre) she decided to fire me without any payments. I didn't argue, I just sent her links to what I was entitled to under that contract...an hour later the accountant's statement was sent to me, the full amount owed for holiday and wages. Right now I'm without a contract. But! There's an organisation for workers' rights. And you have to stand up for your rights, your honour and dignity.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkRussosEmPortugal22.04.2025
“If they renewed it rather than signing a new one, then your unused holiday should carry over. That's the first thing. Holiday is paid when you take it, or the unused days when you're dismissed. That's the second. It's calculated from the base pay written in the contract, bonuses and other payments aren't added in. That's the third.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkRussosEmPortugal16.09.2023
Tax on compensation, and if the employer does not pay it
IRS. Compensation for the end of a contract is tax-free up to your average monthly salary over the last 12 months multiplied by the number of years you worked for that employer; part of a year counts too (Código do IRS, article 2, paragraph 4). Anything above that is taxed. The whole amount is taxed if within the next 24 months you start working for the same employer again — on a contract or self-employed — or if you have already used this relief in the last five years. Wages, holiday pay and the 13th-month salary paid on leaving are taxed as usual.
For example: average salary €1,500, five years in the job. Tax-free — up to 1,500 × 5 = €7,500 of compensation; if the agreement gave you €9,000, tax is charged only on €1,500.
The employer does not pay the compensation. If the contract was signed on or after 1 October 2013, you can get half the statutory compensation from FGCT — the state compensation guarantee fund (Lei n.º 70/2013). You apply to the fund itself. The other half and any other money owed will have to be claimed from the employer — through ACT or the courts. If the company has gone bankrupt and is not paying wages, there is another fund — the Fundo de Garantia Salarial.
If you disagree with the dismissal
First gather the paperwork: the dismissal letter, contract, payslips, messages. A spoken ‘don't come in any more’ is also a dismissal, just without the proper procedure; write down when it was said, who said it and who heard it.
ACT. The labour inspectorate answers questions free of charge and takes complaints: documents not given, money not paid on leaving, procedure not followed. It can fine the employer, but only a court can rule a dismissal unlawful.
Labour court (juízo do trabalho). If you were told of the dismissal in writing, you challenge it with a standard form (formulário); you do not need a lawyer for this.
You have 60 days for this from the day you received the dismissal letter (Código do Trabalho, article 387). A collective dismissal can be challenged within six months (article 388). To have the dismissal suspended until the court rules, you must ask within five working days (article 386).
If the court rules the dismissal unlawful, you choose: go back to work or receive 15 to 45 days' base pay for each year worked, but no less than three months' base pay. On top of that — your wages from the dismissal until the court's decision (articles 389–391).
Workers are represented in court free of charge by the public prosecutor — the Ministério Público at the labour court; you can go there with your documents. Anyone represented by the prosecutor or by a free union lawyer pays no court costs if their income is no more than 200 UC — about €20,400 a year. Everyone else — legal aid through Segurança Social or your own lawyer: How to find and check a lawyer in Portugal and agree on a fee, Courts in Portugal: where to go, how long to wait and what you pay for.
After dismissal: benefit and your residence permit
Unemployment benefit. Register with the IEFP job centre and apply within 90 days of the end of the contract. Who is entitled, how much is paid and what to do next — Social Security benefits: unemployment, sickness, children — who gets them, how much and when they are paid. If you are challenging the dismissal in court, you can still claim benefit: if the court reinstates you, the employer pays the money back to Social Security.
Residence permit for work. It is not cancelled automatically when you are dismissed. But at renewal AIMA checks whether you have means to live on, somewhere to live, and whether your taxes and contributions are paid. So by the renewal date you need a new job, unemployment benefit or savings. How to book and what to bring — How to book an appointment with AIMA and renew your residence permit in Portugal.
When you find a new job, you sign a new contract and notify AIMA of the change of employer in a single message. What to check in the contract before signing — The right to work and the employment contract: what documents you need and what to check before signing. If your new employer will not give you a contract — Your employer will not give you an employment contract: what to do.
“Well some people really panic that if they've got a residence permit on a work contract and then at some point they get fired, the evil SEF will turn up and take the permit away immediately. I think that's a bit of an exaggeration too.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkru_Portugal_pt16.12.2023
What to bring
- Your employment contract and all addenda to it
- Payslips for the last few months
- Dismissal letter, misconduct charge (nota de culpa) or termination agreement — whichever you were given
- A copy of your resignation letter signed by the employer as received, or the registered post receipt
- Certificado de trabalho — a certificate from your employer stating when you worked there and in what job
- Declaração de situação de desemprego (form RP 5044) — for unemployment benefit
- Messages, shift rotas, records of your hours — if you are going to dispute anything
Where people most often trip up
- If you resign, including during the probationary period, you will not get unemployment benefit
- If you do not give notice in time, your employer can claim your base pay for the missing days
- If you sign an agreement without checking about benefit, you may find out later you will not get it
- If you do not tell your employer about your pregnancy in writing with a medical certificate, protection from dismissal may not apply
- Once 60 days have passed, you can no longer challenge the dismissal in court
- If you accept the full redundancy payment and do not return it, the law treats you as having accepted the dismissal