Right to work and employment contracts: which documents you need and what to check before you sign
You've found a job, and straight away there are two questions: are you allowed to work as an employee, and what are you being asked to sign? EU citizens don't need a permit, and for everyone else the right to work comes with any residence permit — for work, D7, D8, family reunification, study — and with temporary protection. Below, in order: who can work and with what papers, including while a residence permit is being renewed; what to hand your employer in the first few days — NIF, NISS, IBAN and the details for tax; the medical check and insurance; permanent and fixed-term contracts, temporary work agencies, part-time and remote work; the probation period; and what to read in the contract before you sign it.
Who can work as an employee
Citizens of the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland don't need a work permit: they work on the same terms as Portuguese nationals. Anyone living in the country for more than three months registers within the following 30 days at the câmara municipal (town hall) where they live and gets a five-year certificate — the CRUE (Lei n.º 37/2006, article 14). Employers often ask for it.
With any residence permit you can work as an employee without a special permit — the law on foreigners says so directly (Lei n.º 23/2007, article 83). It doesn't matter on what grounds the permit was issued: work, D7 with passive income, D8 for remote work, family reunification. The law allows students to work as employees or for themselves alongside their studies (article 97); the law sets no limit on hours per week, and you don't need to notify AIMA in advance.
Temporary protection for Ukrainians also gives the right to work: the certificate replaces a work permit. More on this — Temporary protection in Portugal: applying, renewing and the 2026 rules.
Without a residence permit — on a tourist visa or without a visa — you can't work as an employee. The old route — getting a job and applying for manifestação de interesse without leaving the country — has been closed since 4 June 2024. What happened to applications submitted earlier is in the glossary: manifestação de interesse.
“I've got residency through family reunification, I have the right to work, and I work with no problems.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkru_Portugal_pt23.02.2025
“the one you get on digital nomad gives you the right to work in Portugal. Same as a D7 residence permit.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkleft4portugal08.02.2024
“Let me bust your myths. I work for a Portuguese company. Started working while I still had a student residence permit. Now the permit has expired, I keep working, no problems. You can work 20 hours or 40 hours. There are no limits in Portugal. It's not like anyone's scared to hire a student.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkHigherEducationPortugal07.01.2026
While your residence permit is being renewed, and if you change jobs
Your card has expired but you've applied for renewal — you can work. By law the receipt for the submitted application (recibo) counts as the residence permit itself for 60 days, and that period is extended (Lei n.º 23/2007, article 78, paragraph 7). You show your employer the expired card together with the receipt, and if AIMA has also given you a document confirming payment for the renewal, that as well. Which document is valid for how long is covered in the guide Document checks for foreigners in Portugal: who can ask and what to show. If all you have is an AIMA appointment and the application hasn't been submitted yet, you don't have a document equivalent to a residence permit.
In Portugal your residence permit isn't tied to your employer. Since 11 September 2026, anyone with a residence permit for work changes employer with a single notification to AIMA, with no need for a new card (article 88, paragraph 8, as amended by Lei n.º 62/2026). Switching from employment to self-employment or back is still only possible by replacing the card.
At renewal AIMA checks whether you have the means to live on and somewhere to live, and whether you've paid your taxes and Segurança Social contributions (article 78, paragraph 2). So working on a contract with contributions helps your renewal, while cash-in-hand work gets in the way. How to book and apply — How to book with AIMA and renew your residence permit in Portugal.
“There are two kinds of DN visa - a one-year one, which doesn't lead to a residence permit even if you want it to. And a 120-day one, which is the groundwork for a residence permit. In PT you're not tied to your employer, you can lose your job and find a new one no problem, the main thing is to have all the conditions met by the time you renew.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkleft4portugal31.03.2024
“My non-professional opinion - until you renew your residence permit nobody cares about your employer. Change them as much as you like”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkmyptaxes16.07.2025
NIF, NISS and IBAN: what to give your employer
NIF — your tax number. For work what matters is not the number itself but the address on it: as long as Finanças has an address abroad on record, your employer withholds tax as for a non-resident (more on this below). How to change your address — The first weeks after moving to Portugal: what to do, in order.
NISS — your Segurança Social number. Without it your employer can't register you, but there's no need to put off starting work because of it: the employer can request a NISS for a foreign national themselves — after signing the contract with you and reporting it on Segurança Social Direta. You yourself can only apply online, on the Segurança Social website. If you have a Cartão de Cidadão, the number is assigned straight away.
Anyone who has applied for a residence permit or already has one, and EU citizens, can get their NIF, NISS and health service number (utente) all at once — in person, at one of 12 Espaço Cidadão offices. If you have a D visa, these three numbers have been assigned to you in advance, temporarily: they appear in your preliminary residence authorisation (pré-autorização de residência, Lei n.º 23/2007, article 58).
IBAN — the account for your salary. Your employer has no right to insist on a Portuguese account: under EU rules your salary can be paid into an account in any country of the SEPA euro payments area. More on this — How banks work in Portugal.
“This means that the employment contract is the main basis for assigning a NISS to a foreign national. There is no need to state the NISS in the employment contract, so employers don't need to wait for the employee to get a NISS before signing the employment contract. Once Social Security assigns the NISS, the foreign national will be able to meet the legal obligations imposed by Law No. 23/2007 with AIMA.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkRussosEmPortugal04.01.2025
“Got my NISS on the 12th try (without a residence permit), always submitted the same documents (contract, letter from work, electronic work record book, passport, visa, screenshot of the slot request), everything work-related translated into PT and notarised What I noticed: 1. They look at the documents however they feel like it, I got several refusals for reasons like my contract is from '23 and it's old (the work record book and the letter from work were ignored), that there's no signature on the contract (there is one), that the documents don't meet the requirements, no grounds, etc., totally random reasons every time for the exact same set of documents 2.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkdigitalnomadportugal15.07.2026
“Go to Espaço Cidadão, they did our NISS and Utente in a day (the day before yesterday). Just with the paper saying we'd applied for a residence permit. (Take proof of address, phone, residence permit and passport) At Pólo Zero you can go without an appointment on a weekday from 10 to 1. At the other Loja the appointments are now at the end of June.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkchatporto27.05.2026
Details for tax: so you don't overpay every month
Every month your employer withholds an advance on IRS income tax from your salary according to a table. Which row of the table applies to you depends on what you've told them about yourself: whether you're married and whether your spouse works, how many children and other dependants you have, whether you have a disability. The law requires the employer to ask for this before your first pay day, and you to answer and report any changes (Código do IRS, article 99). If you haven't mentioned your children, tax is withheld as if you had none (article 99-B) — that is, more; the difference is only refunded after your tax return in the spring.
While Finanças treats you as a non-resident — which happens as long as your NIF shows an address abroad — tax is withheld not according to the table but at 25% (article 71). Once you've changed your address to a Portuguese one, tell your employer straight away.
The employer can leave the first €920 — the amount of the minimum wage — untaxed only if you work for them alone and have confirmed this in writing. Then 25% is withheld only from what's above that.
If you're under 35 and in your first years of work, tell them about IRS Jovem as well — the tax break for young people: the employer will take it into account in the monthly withholding only if you've claimed it yourself and given the year of your first income (article 99-F). How much you take home on different salaries is in the guide Working in Portugal: what it pays, which jobs are in demand and where to look.
“For the employer the logic is this: as long as you have a foreign address on your NIF, you're a non-resident. As soon as you have a Portuguese one, tell your employer straight away, and they'll treat you as a resident. As for getting it recalculated, it all depends on how you file your IRS return.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkreciboverde27.10.2025
Medical check and accident insurance
Before your first working day the employer sends you for a medical check with an occupational health doctor (medicina do trabalho), or within the first 15 days of work if you're hired urgently (Lei n.º 102/2009, article 108). After that the check is repeated every two years, and every year for those over 50. The employer pays for all of it: the law forbids passing these costs on to the employee (article 15). The doctor fills in a fitness-for-work form (ficha de aptidão), and you sign to say you've seen it.
Insurance against accidents at work is also the employer's obligation. They must give you the policy number and the name of the insurer in writing, together with the other terms of the job (Código do Trabalho, article 106). If something happens at work, this insurer pays for treatment and benefits.
A non-EU foreign national attaches to the employment contract a sheet with the name and address of the person entitled to the payout if an accident at work ends in death (article 5). This is a routine formality in a contract with a foreign national.
Permanent and fixed-term contracts
A permanent contract (contrato sem termo) is the norm. An employer may only offer a fixed-term one while they have a temporary need, and only in the cases set out in law (Código do Trabalho, article 140): replacing someone on holiday or sick leave, seasonal work, a temporary surge in orders, a one-off job or project, the first two years of a new company, hiring someone who has been out of work for a very long time.
A fixed-term contract comes in two kinds. A termo certo — until a specific date: no longer than two years including all renewals; it can be renewed up to three times, and all the renewals together can't be longer than the initial term (articles 148 and 149). If the contract doesn't say it won't be renewed and nobody has given notice that it's ending, it renews itself for the same term. A termo incerto — until a particular job is finished, for example until an employee comes back from maternity leave; no longer than four years.
A fixed-term contract is always in writing, and it states the reason for the fixed term — with specific facts, not “for business needs” (article 141). No signatures or no reason, the term or the number of renewals exceeded — by law the contract is permanent from day one (article 147). It's up to the employer to prove that the term is lawful.
For seasonal work on farms or in tourism there's a very short contract — up to 35 days and no more than 70 days a year with one employer. It doesn't have to be on paper, but the employer must report it to Segurança Social (article 142).
“i.e. where the fixed term in the employment contract came from. there's a limited list of cases when an employment contract can be fixed-term”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkru_Portugal_pt20.06.2025
“On paper the contract's fixed-term, but in practice just try not renewing it by accident. And on top of that, if you end it early -- you lose a pile of money for nothing.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkchatlisboa20.06.2025
“At my old job they took me on with a fixed-term contract. After a year it was supposedly renewed automatically for another year. To avoid the stress I found a new job where they give a permanent contract, instead of waiting two years and ending up with nothing.”
Translated from Portuguese; the original is at the linkr/DevPT09.10.2026
Through a temporary work agency
Warehouses, factories, call centres and cleaning jobs often hire through temporary work agencies (empresa de trabalho temporário, ETT). You sign the contract with the agency but work at another company. The agency must have a licence: the list is kept by IEFP. If it has no licence, by law you're a permanent employee of the company where you actually work (Código do Trabalho, article 173).
A fixed-term contract with an agency can be renewed up to four times, for no more than two years in total; if you're filling in for a post for which a permanent employee is being sought, no longer than six months, and for a temporary surge in work, no longer than a year (article 182). Back-to-back placements in different places through the same agency — no more than four years, after which the contract becomes permanent. You must be paid no less than the company pays its own staff for the same work, including holidays, holiday pay and the Christmas bonus (article 185).
The agency has no right to charge you for finding you a job — neither for the vacancy nor for the paperwork. How to check a vacancy is in the guide Working in Portugal: what it pays, which jobs are in demand and where to look; if you've already paid — How to spot fraud in Portugal and try to get your money back.
Part-time, remote work and intermittent work
Part-time (tempo parcial) — the contract is in writing and states how many hours a day and a week. No paper or no hours — the contract is treated as full-time (article 153). Pay is in proportion to your hours, while the meal allowance is paid in full if you work five hours a day or more (article 154).
Remote work (teletrabalho) — only by written agreement, in the contract or a separate document: where you work, your hours, whose equipment it is and how much you're reimbursed (article 166). The employer provides a computer and connection or reimburses what they cost, including the extra on your electricity and internet bills (article 168). Free of tax and contributions — up to €1 per day of remote work: €0.10 for electricity, €0.40 for internet, €0.50 for the computer (Portaria n.º 292-A/2023). The employer has no right to demand that your camera or microphone stay on all day (article 169-A). A parent of a child under three has the right to work from home if the job allows it and the employer has the means — the employer can't refuse just because they don't want to (article 166-A).
Intermittent work (trabalho intermitente) — for companies with uneven workloads. The contract is permanent and in writing; work — at least five months full-time a year, three of them in a row; you're told when to start no later than 20 days in advance. In the months without work you're paid at least 20% of your basic salary, unless the sector agreement gives more (articles 157–160).
Probation period
The probation period (período experimental) is the start of the job, when both sides are sizing each other up. On a permanent contract it lasts 90 days; 180 in complex and responsible roles, in positions of trust, and also for people looking for their first job or who have been out of work for a long time; 240 for managers (Código do Trabalho, article 112). On a fixed-term contract it's 30 days if the contract is for six months or more, and 15 if it's shorter. If you've already worked in the same job for the same employer on a fixed-term contract, through an agency or on recibos verdes, that time is deducted from the probation period. Days of sick leave and holiday don't count towards the probation period (article 113).
The employer must tell you in writing within the first 7 days of work how long the probation period is. If they don't, by law there's no probation period (articles 107 and 111).
During probation either side can end the contract without giving reasons and without compensation, and you can also do so without notice, unless you've agreed otherwise in writing in the contract (article 114). You don't need the employer's consent to leave: a written notice is enough, ideally with confirmation that it was received. If the probation period has lasted more than 60 days, the employer gives you 7 days' notice of dismissal, if more than 120 — 30 days, or pays for the missing days. If they dismiss a pregnant or breastfeeding employee or someone on parental leave during probation, they must report it within 5 working days to the equality commission CITE.
“Art. 114 of the Labour Code: During the probation period, unless otherwise agreed in writing, either party has the right to terminate the contract without prior notice.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linktaxinportugal25.09.2025
“In short: the company won't let my husband go. Situation: My husband signed a contract (a fixed-term one) and literally the next day decided he didn't want to work with this company. The contract has 15 days of probation and either side can just end the contract. He wrote to his boss on WhatsApp and sent a letter to their official email. The boss replied - we'll think about it, we've incurred costs for your medical check. (Before starting work you go through a medical check) 😃they won't let him go, but they don't write anything else either. What kind of slavery is this... I don't get what's in it for them not letting him go.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linktaxinportugal25.09.2025
What to check in the contract before you sign
If you're not an EU citizen, the law requires your contract to be in writing — even a permanent one — in two copies, and you get one of them (Código do Trabalho, article 5). It must include a reference to your residence permit or visa, the job and salary, the place and hours of work, when and how you're paid, the date of signing and the start date; copies of your documents are attached to the employer's copy. This rule doesn't apply to EU citizens, but they too must be given the terms of the job in writing (article 106).
Before you sign, go through this list:
Who the employer is — the company name, its tax number (NIPC) and address
Where and as what — the place of work and the job title or duties
Dates — the start date, and for a fixed-term contract, the term and the reason for it
Money — gross basic salary, extras, meal allowance, when and how you're paid; no less than the minimum wage and the sector agreement rate
Hours — how many a day and a week, shifts, how overtime is paid
Holiday and leaving — how many days of holiday and how much notice you give if you leave
Probation period — how many days
Sector agreement — the employer must name the collective agreement that applies to you; the pay rates for each job in it are published in the BTE
Insurance — the accident insurance policy number
Read the clauses that restrict you separately. A ban on working for competitors after you leave (pacto de não concorrência) is only lawful if it's in writing, lasts no longer than two years (three in positions of particular trust) and you're paid compensation for that period (article 136). A commitment not to leave for up to three years because the employer paid for expensive training (pacto de permanência) can be cancelled by paying that money back (article 137). While you're employed, you can't work for a competitor even without any such clause (article 128); if you're planning to take on side work, check whether the contract has an exclusivity clause (exclusividade).
The contract is usually written in Portuguese. Don't sign anything you don't understand: ask for an English version or translate the text before signing — afterwards, “I didn't understand” is no longer an argument.
“If third parties aren't a court, they can't say that a contract is wrong or invalid. The contract must clearly identify the parties, state that it's an employment contract, the type of employment contract (fixed-term, permanent, for a project, etc.), the position the employee is being hired for, the date of the contract and the start date, the rights and obligations of the parties, the salary, the termination procedure, signatures.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkru_Portugal_pt16.01.2025
You're offered recibos verdes instead of a contract
Sometimes, instead of an employment contract, you're asked to register as self-employed (atividade) and issue invoices — recibos verdes — or write a one-off invoice, ato isolado, for the month you've worked. If you work at the employer's premises, with their tools, on their schedule and under their direction, by law this is employment (Código do Trabalho, article 12), and it can't be hidden behind invoices. A self-employed person pays their own contributions, gets no paid holiday, holiday pay or Christmas bonus, and is by no means always entitled to unemployment benefit.
What to do in this situation and where to complain — Your employer won't give you an employment contract: what to do. If you really are working for yourself — How to register as self-employed (atividade) and work on recibos verdes.
What to bring
- Passport and a document giving you the right to work: residence card, receipt for a submitted renewal or temporary protection certificate; EU citizens — passport or identity card, and after three months in the country, a CRUE registration certificate
- NIF with a Portuguese address, and NISS
- IBAN for your salary — an account in any country of the SEPA euro payments area will do
- Details for tax: marital status, whether your spouse works, how many children and other dependants you have, eligibility for IRS Jovem
Where people most often trip up
- If you're not an EU citizen, your contract must be in writing — even a permanent one — and you get one copy
- If the employer hasn't told you in writing within the first week how long the probation period is, by law there isn't one
- During probation you can leave on any day without notice, unless the contract says otherwise in writing
- A fixed-term contract without signatures or without a written reason for the fixed term is treated by law as permanent
- As long as your NIF shows an address abroad, tax is withheld as for a non-resident — 25%, not according to the table
- If the temporary work agency has no licence, by law you're a permanent employee of the company where you actually work
- Your residence permit isn't tied to your employer: you can change jobs, and if your permit is for work, you only need to tell AIMA