Getting dismissed in Portugal: notice, severance and your rights

In short: In Portugal you cannot be dismissed on a whim. Article 53 of the Constitution guarantees segurança no emprego and bans dismissal without just cause, so an employer must fit any termination into one of the grounds in the Código do Trabalho and follow its procedure. For economic dismissals the statutory severance (compensação) is 14 days of base salary plus seniority payments per complete year of service (art. 366), and the notice period runs from 15 to 75 days depending on your seniority (art. 363). CourtStairs answers Portuguese and EU employment questions like these in plain language, with citations to the Diário da República.

Being let go is stressful, and the rules are easy to misread — especially for expats used to "at-will" employment. Portuguese law is the opposite of at-will: the type of dismissal decides everything about your notice, your severance, and whether the employer even had the right to do it. Below is how the Código do Trabalho (Lei n.º 7/2009) organises it, current as of 2026.

What are the ways an employment contract can end in Portugal?

A Portuguese contract can end by expiry, mutual agreement, resignation, or employer dismissal — and only the last is a despedimento, which comes in four legal forms. The Código do Trabalho lists the modes of ending a contract (cessação) in art. 340. Not all are "dismissals". Expiry of a fixed term (caducidade), mutual agreement (revogação), and your own resignation (denúncia or resolução) are separate routes. A dismissal (despedimento) is specifically employer-initiated, and it comes in four legal forms.

1. Dismissal for misconduct (art. 351)Despedimento por facto imputável ao trabalhador. Serious, culpable behaviour that makes continuing the relationship immediately impossible. Requires a disciplinary procedure. No severance.
2. Collective dismissal (arts. 359–366)Despedimento coletivo. At least 2 (small firms) or 5 workers over three months, for market, structural or technological reasons. Severance applies.
3. Elimination of the post (arts. 367–372)Despedimento por extinção do posto de trabalho. The specific job disappears for the same economic reasons, below the collective threshold. Severance applies.
4. Unsuitability (arts. 373–380)Despedimento por inadaptação. The worker cannot perform the role, typically after changes to the job. Narrow and procedure-heavy. Severance applies.

The crucial split is disciplinary vs economic. A dismissal for justa causa punishes the worker's own serious misconduct and carries no compensation. The other three are "objective" grounds tied to the business, and each triggers the statutory severance and a notice period.

Do I get severance if I am dismissed for misconduct?

No — a valid dismissal for just cause (misconduct) carries no severance, because it punishes the worker's own culpable conduct. Under art. 351, just cause is culpable conduct by the worker that, by its gravity and consequences, makes it immediately and practically impossible to keep the relationship going. The article gives examples: unlawful disobedience, serious harm to the company's assets, repeated failure to work with due diligence, false absence declarations, or five consecutive / ten interpolated unjustified absences in a year.

Two things must both be true: the conduct is culpable (subjective) and the relationship truly cannot continue (objective). The employer must run a formal disciplinary procedure — a written nota de culpa, a chance for the worker to respond, and a reasoned decision. Skip the procedure or overstate the facts, and the dismissal is unlawful even if something did go wrong.

How is severance pay calculated in Portugal?

Severance for an economic dismissal is 14 days of base salary plus seniority payments (diuturnidades) for each complete year of service, with a proportional amount for a partial year. For the three economic dismissals, severance is set by art. 366. Since the Agenda do Trabalho Digno (Lei n.º 13/2023, in force 1 May 2023) the standard is:

14 days of base salary and seniority payments (diuturnidades) for each complete year of service, calculated proportionally for a fraction of a year.

A worked example: on a €1,200 base salary, one day is €1,200 ÷ 30 = €40. Fourteen days is €560 per full year. After 5 complete years, roughly €2,800, plus a proportional slice for any extra months.

Two caveats matter. First, the monthly base salary fed into the formula is capped at 20 times the guaranteed minimum monthly wage (RMMG), and there is a ceiling on the total. Second, older contracts keep higher rates from earlier reforms (contracts before November 2011 or before October 2013 accrued 20 or 18/30 days for their early years), so long-tenured employees may be owed more than a flat 14-day sum. If your service predates 2013, do the split calculation.

How much notice must an employer give before dismissal?

Notice for an economic dismissal runs from 15 to 75 days, scaling with your seniority; a misconduct dismissal has no notice. Economic dismissals require advance written notice (aviso prévio). The length scales with seniority under art. 363 (collective dismissal), and the same brackets apply to elimination of the post and unsuitability. Misconduct dismissals have no notice — they end the contract on disciplinary grounds.

Collective agreements can set different (often longer) periods. During the notice period the worker keeps working and being paid; if the employer cuts the notice short, it must pay the salary for the missing days.

When is a dismissal unlawful in Portugal?

A dismissal is unlawful (ilícito) whenever the legal ground was invalid or the required procedure was not followed correctly. If the ground was invalid or the procedure was botched, a court can declare the dismissal ilícito. The consequences are set out around art. 389–391: the worker is entitled to lost pay from the dismissal to the judgment, plus either reinstatement in the same role with preserved seniority, or — at the worker's choice — an indemnity in place of reinstatement.

That indemnity runs from 15 to 45 days of base salary and seniority payments per complete year or fraction, set by the court according to the salary and how serious the illegality was, and it can never be less than three months of base salary. That is why procedure matters so much: a dismissal that is "right in substance but wrong in form" can still cost the employer far more than doing it correctly. Our guide on unfair dismissal in Portugal walks through how a court weighs these consequences.

How long do I have to challenge a dismissal?

You have 60 days to react. Under art. 387 of the Código do Trabalho, a dismissal communicated in writing — misconduct (art. 351), elimination of the post, or unsuitability — must be challenged in the labour court within 60 days of receiving the notice (or the date the contract ends, if later). Only a court can declare a dismissal unlawful; you cannot simply refuse to accept it.

What should I check if I am dismissed?

Check four things fast: the type of dismissal, whether the correct procedure was followed, your severance sum, and the 60-day deadline to challenge.

1. Identify the type. Misconduct (no severance) or economic (severance + notice)? The employer's written decision should say.
2. Check the procedure. Was there a nota de culpa for misconduct, or the required consultation and notice for an economic dismissal?
3. Recompute the severance. Apply 14 days per year to your base salary and diuturnidades, and add transitional years if your service is long.
4. Watch the 60-day deadline. A written dismissal must be challenged in court within 60 days (art. 387), and the clock does not pause — so act quickly rather than waiting.

This is the kind of question CourtStairs is built for: a plain-language answer with each point tied to the article of the Código do Trabalho, Lei 13/2023, or the Constitution it rests on, so you can open the Diário da República and read it yourself.

This is general information, not legal advice. Amounts, thresholds and rates change, transitional rules are technical, and collective agreements can vary the defaults — so confirm anything important against the primary source or a lawyer. CourtStairs answers Portuguese and EU legal questions in plain language, in English and Portuguese, with citations you can verify.