Employer of record in Portugal: costs and rules

Portugal's 14-payment year and other rules

Fourteen payments a year. The subsídio de férias (holiday subsidy) and subsídio de Natal (Christmas subsidy) are each about one month's pay. Even the national floor follows the pattern: Decreto-Lei 139/2025 raised it to EUR 920 monthly for 2026 (from EUR 870), which over 14 payments is EUR 12,880.

No ceiling. The general-regime employer rate of 23.75% (employee 11%, 34.75% combined) applies to all pay, including both subsidies. Our source for the rate is a Millennium BCP rate sheet last updated April 20, 2015, more than ten years old; the rate is long-standing, but we have not yet confirmed it on seg-social.pt.

Funds that changed. The FCT compensation fund has been closed since January 1, 2024 (DL 115/2023). The FGCT guarantee fund charge of 0.075% of base pay is suspended until December 31, 2026 and is due to resume after that. Work-accident insurance is mandatory and bought from private insurers.

Leave is 22 working days. Three items remain open in our Portuguese research: the number of public holidays, the probation limits and the weekly hours. Expect the provider's contract to state all three.

Employment costs and rules in Portugal

What an EOR charges to employ someone in Portugal

Pricing a EUR 34,000 Portuguese hire

Try other salaries in the calculator for international employee cost, and compare Portugal with Spain in the cost index by country.

Leaving: notice and compensation in Portugal

For collective dismissal and job extinction, the Labor Code (art. 363) sets employer notice of 15 days with under 1 year of service, 30 days from 1 to under 5 years, 60 days from 5 to under 10 years and 75 days at 10 years or more. Compensation is 14 days of base pay plus seniority supplements per full year of service, up from 12 days before Lei 13/2023 (May 2023). The caps on that compensation remain unverified on our side. Whatever the figure, it reaches you through the provider's invoice, so settle who funds it before the first payslip.

Selecting an EOR for Portugal

The points system we publish gives Multiplier 79, Oyster 64, Remote 62 and Deel 54. A useful twist for Portugal: providers bill their fee 12 times a year while you pay salary 14 times, so the fee as a share of pay is lower than it looks. Multiplier's $459 annual-plan rate is $5,508 a year; Oyster's $699 is $8,388 plus a deposit of at least a month of its charges; Remote and Deel at $599 come to $7,188. Before choosing, check that the estimate lists both subsidies and names the work-accident insurer with its premium. The scorecard is in our best EOR services list; contract terms are in the Oyster, Remote and Deel reviews.

Self-employed contractors in Portugal

Hiring a Portuguese professional who invoices as an independent worker avoids the 23.75% employer charge and the two subsidies. Exclusivity, set hours and day-to-day direction from your side point toward a disguised employment contract, and then both subsidies and the contributions would be owed back. A contractor of record takes on that risk; a contractor platform only handles contracts and pay.

When to set up in Portugal yourself

Through a $599 provider, a Lisbon or Porto hire costs $7,188 a year in fees. Your own Portuguese company avoids that but brings registration, accounting, a payroll that handles 14 payments and your own work-accident policy. Our EOR or entity guide explains where the break-even sits.