Termination

It is a little known aspect of the EU Equal treatment directive (76/107/EEC) that it embraces the rights and obligations in respect to the giving of employment references …

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Former employees have up to two months from the termination date to file a claim for unfair dismissal …

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A fixed-term contract will expire at the end of the agreed term, provided that either party gives notice of their wish for the contract to terminate (15 days before expiry in the case of the employer and eight days before the expiry date in the case of employees) …

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Employers may unilaterally terminate an employment contract only if they have just cause …

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Termination by mutual agreement is known in Portuguese law as ‘revogaçÃo por acordo das partes’ …

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A contract may be suspended if an employer experiences an unpredictable problem leading to a temporary closure or reduction in production activity/service (force majeure) …

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Severance pay for employees on permanent contracts is now equivalent to 18 days’ base remuneration, plus seniority subsidies (diuturnidades), for each of the first three years of service, and 12 days’ salary for each year of service thereafter …

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Certain types of employee enjoy a special protection against dismissal which creates a legal presumption that their dismissal is unlawful which shifts the burden of proof onto the employer to prove that it was not …

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Where an employer proposes to dismiss an employee by reason of redundancy, it must serve notice appropriate to the employee’s seniority …

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Temporary layoffs may be introduced to cover periods of poor workflow …

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Dismissal due to individual redundancy may only take place if there has been a clear reduction in demand for goods or services, if automation is being introduced, or if a major restructuring exercise is being completed (including plant/office closure) resulting in the extinction of jobs …

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If, over any three-month period, two or more workers are to be dismissed due to economic reasons in a company employing up to 50 workers, or five or more employees in a company employing 50 or more workers, the dismissal is categorised as a ‘collective redundancy’ and special rules apply …

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