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Contracts of employment may cease due to: lapse; termination by agreement;
cancellation or notice of termination. When a contract of employment ceases the
employer must provide the employee with a certificate of employment stating the
dates of commencement and termination and the post or posts occupied, as well as
other documents for official purposes, particularly for social security.
Contracts of employment lapse in the following circumstances: when their term
comes to an end; when it becomes absolutely and definitively impossible for the
employee to perform their duties or for the employer to benefit from them; when
the employee retires. Contracts of employment may be terminated by means of an
agreement between employer and employee, provided the agreement is set down in a
document signed by both parties, showing the date of signature and commencement
of its effects.
Termination on the employee's initiative
The employee may immediately terminate the contract if what Portuguese Law
classifies as ‘just cause’ occurs. The employee may give notice of
termination of the contract, irrespective of just cause, by means of a written
communication sent to the employer with at least 30 or 60 days’ notice,
according to whether the employee has less than two years’ or more than two
years’ length of service respectively. An employee who intends to give notice
of termination of a fixed-term contract before the end of the term agreed must
inform the employer with at least 30 days’ notice if the contract has a
duration equal to or greater than six months, or with 15 days’ notice if the
duration is shorter. If the employee does not comply, either totally or in part,
with the statutory period of notice, he or she must pay the employer an
indemnity of a value equal to the basic pay and continuous service bonuses
corresponding to the period of notice not given.
Termination on the employer's initiative: this may be based on the following
situations:
- dismissal for just cause, as a result of misconduct by the employee, the
seriousness and consequences of which make it immediately impossible in
practice to continue the employment relationship;
- collective dismissal: termination of contracts of employment by the
employer and put into effect simultaneously or within a period of three
months, and covering at least two (if a micro or small enterprise) or at
least five employees (if a medium or large-scale enterprise), for economic,
structural or technological reasons;
- dismissal because the post has been eliminated for economic, structural or
technological reasons relating to the enterprise;
- dismissal due to the employee’s inability to adapt to the job.
Useful information:
- Código do Trabalho [Labour Code], Law No 99/2003 of 27 August
- IDICT – Instituto do Desenvolvimento e Inspecção das Condições de Trabalho [Institute for the Development and Inspection of Working Conditions]
Praça de Alvalade, 1 - 1749-073 Lisbon
Tel: 217 924
500
Fax: 217 924 597
Text last edited March 2008
Source: European Union
© European Communities, 1995-2009
Reproduction is authorised.
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