Paid Holiday and the 13th and 14th Months in Portugal

Last verified: September 2026.

Who this is for

• You are an employee on a Portuguese employment contract, full-time or part-time, EU or non-EU.
• You have a job offer and want to understand the real yearly pay.
• You are leaving a job and want to check your final payment.

Not for you if: you work self-employed on green receipts. Read Registering as Self-Employed (Recibos Verdes) in Portugal instead.

Updated September 2026. Parliament rejected the government's labour reform in June 2026, so the current Labour Code rules below still apply.

Every employee in Portugal gets at least 22 working days of paid holiday a year. You are also paid two extra months: holiday pay (subsídio de férias) before your holiday, and a Christmas bonus (subsídio de Natal) by 15 December. So a full-time salary is paid 14 times a year, not 12. On the 2026 minimum wage of €920 a month, that is €12,880 a year before deductions. In your first year, both the leave and the extra payments are smaller.

How much paid holiday you get

If you are an employee, you get at least 22 working days of paid holiday each year. Working days are Monday to Friday, not counting public holidays. So 22 days covers more than four calendar weeks.

• Part-time workers also get 22 working days. Your holiday pay is based on your part-time salary.
• If your rest days fall on weekdays, for example in shift or retail work, weekends that are not public holidays count as working days instead.
• Your full entitlement arrives on 1 January each year. It is based on the previous year's work, but it does not depend on your attendance.
• Collective agreements in some sectors give more than 22 days. Check the agreement that covers your job.

You keep your normal pay while on holiday. Days off for national and local public holidays come on top. See Public Holidays in Portugal for the calendar.

Giving up days for pay

You may choose to work some holiday days for pay instead. You can only give up days above 20, so at least 20 days off are always protected. You keep your holiday pay and receive your normal pay for the days you work. Your employer cannot make you do this.

Your first year in a new job

You do not get 22 days straight away.

1. In the year you start, you earn two working days of holiday for each month of the contract, up to 20 days.
2. You can take them once you have worked six full months.
3. If the year ends before your six months are up, you can take the days until 30 June of the next year.
4. On 1 January you also get the full 22 days for the new year. The law caps the total you can take in one calendar year at 30 working days, unless a collective agreement allows more.

Example. You start on 1 September. By 31 December you have earned 8 days, at two days a month. You reach six months at the end of February, so you take those 8 days by 30 June. On 1 January you also get 22 days for the new year. That makes 30 days in the new year, exactly the cap.

If your contract lasts less than six months, you earn two working days per full month worked. You normally take them just before the contract ends, unless you agree otherwise.

Booking your holiday

You and your employer agree the dates. If you cannot agree, your employer sets them, after hearing the workers' representatives.

When your employer sets the dates without your agreement:

• In small, medium, and large companies, the holiday must fall between 1 May and 31 October, unless a collective agreement allows other dates. Very small companies (micro-enterprises) are not bound by this window.
• In tourism businesses, the employer must place at least 25% of your holiday between 1 May and 31 October, taken as one block.
• The holiday cannot start on your weekly rest day.
• Popular periods should be shared fairly, rotating with what each person had in the two previous years.

If you and your partner work for the same company, you have the right to take holiday at the same time, unless this would seriously harm the business.

If you split your holiday, by agreement, at least one block must be 10 consecutive working days.

Your employer must publish a holiday map (mapa de férias) showing everyone's dates by 15 April. It must stay on display at work until 31 October.

Carrying days into next year

You normally take your holiday in the year it is due. You can carry days to 30 April of the next year in two cases:

• your employer agrees
• you want to spend the holiday with family living abroad

This second case matters for many newcomers. You can also agree to add half of last year's holiday to this year's.

If you fall ill on holiday

If you fall ill before or during your holiday, tell your employer. The holiday stops and you take the remaining days later. If you cannot take them in the year, you can take them by 30 April or be paid for them. You keep the holiday pay either way. Your employer may check the illness.

If your employer stops you taking holiday

If your employer wrongly prevents you from taking your holiday, you are owed three times the pay for the missed days. You must also be allowed to take those days by 30 April of the next year.

Holiday pay (subsídio de férias)

On top of your normal pay during your holiday, you get holiday pay. It equals your base salary plus any regular payments linked to how you do the job, such as shift or length-of-service supplements. For most people, it is about one month's salary.

• When it is paid: before your holiday starts. If you split your holiday, it is paid in proportion to each block. You and your employer can agree in writing to a different timing.
• In your first year: it is in proportion to the holiday you earned.
• If it is not paid: that is one of the most serious offences under the Labour Code. You can complain to the labour inspectorate (ACT).

The Christmas bonus (subsídio de Natal)

You get a Christmas bonus equal to one month's pay. Your employer must pay it by 15 December.

It is paid in proportion to the time you worked in the year in three cases:

• the year you start
• the year your contract ends
• a year in which your contract is suspended for a reason on your side, such as long sick leave

Paying the extra months in twelfths

By default, you get each extra month as a lump sum. Some employers instead add one-twelfth of each to every monthly payslip. This is called payment in twelfths (duodécimos).

This needs a written agreement between you and your employer. Neither side can impose it. The temporary rules that once allowed it without full agreement have ended, as the labour inspectorate (ACT) has confirmed.

Twelfths change when you get the money, not how much you get. If you choose them, there is no large payment in June or December.

Tax and social security on the extra months

Social security. Both extra months count as salary. You pay 11% and your employer pays 23.75% on them, the same as on your monthly pay. Working pensioners and some other groups pay lower rates.

Income tax (IRS). Your employer withholds tax from each extra month separately from your monthly salary. That usually means a lower withholding rate than if it were added to that month's pay. If you are paid in twelfths, each twelfth has its share of that separately calculated tax withheld. So twelfths do not increase your withholding.

Withholding is only an advance. Your final tax is worked out on your yearly return, and it is the same either way. See Filing Your Annual Income Tax Return (IRS) in Portugal.

Low earners. For 2026, yearly income from work up to €12,880 is protected by the tax-free minimum (mínimo de existência). A full-time minimum wage worker pays little or no income tax. The 11% social security still applies.

The minimum wage in 14 payments

The 2026 minimum wage for mainland Portugal is €920 a month. Paid 14 times, that is €12,880 a year before deductions. After 11% social security, each of the 14 payments is about €818.80.

When you compare a Portuguese salary with one from home, multiply the monthly figure by 14, not 12. Always ask whether an offer is quoted as monthly pay or as a yearly total. For typical pay levels, see Salaries and Minimum Wage in Portugal.

When you leave a job

Whenever your contract ends, by resignation, dismissal, or the end of a fixed term, your final pay must include:

• pay and holiday pay for any holiday you earned but did not take
• pay and holiday pay in proportion to the time you worked in the year you leave
• a Christmas bonus in proportion to the time you worked that year

If your contract lasted 12 months or less, or ends in the year after you started, the total holiday pay cannot exceed the share of a full year that you worked.

If you are not paid correctly, raise it with your employer in writing first. Then contact the labour inspectorate (ACT). For what comes next, see Claiming Unemployment Benefit in Portugal.

Common mistakes

• Reading an offer as 12 payments. Portuguese monthly salaries are almost always paid 14 times.
• Expecting 22 days in year one. You earn two days a month up to 20, usable after six months.
• Thinking twelfths cost you tax. They do not change your withholding rate or your final tax.
• Forgetting the proportional holiday pay when you leave. You are owed a share for the year you leave, on top of unused days.
• Missing the family abroad rule. You can carry holiday to 30 April to spend it with family outside Portugal.

For your contract, payslip, and other rights, see Employment Contracts, Pay, and Worker Rights in Portugal.

Sources

This guide is written from official Portuguese and EU sources and, for prices and contact details, the providers' own websites.

• Diário da República, Labour Code (Lei n.º 7/2009, consolidated): https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/legislacao-consolidada/lei/2009-34546475 (articles 237 to 246 on holiday; 263 and 264 on the Christmas bonus and holiday pay)
• Procuradoria-Geral Regional de Lisboa, Labour Code consolidated text: https://www.pgdlisboa.pt/leis/lei_mostra_articulado.php?nid=1047&tabela=leis (article wording used to check each rule)
• Autoridade para as Condições do Trabalho (ACT), end of the temporary twelfths regime: https://www.act.gov.pt/(pt-PT)/Itens/Noticias/Paginas/Regimetempor%C3%A1riodepagamentodossubs%C3%ADdiosdeNataledeF%C3%A9riasemduod%C3%A9cimosdeixadevigorar.aspx (twelfths need agreement)
• Portal das Finanças, IRS Code article 99-C: https://info.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt/pt/informacao_fiscal/codigos_tributarios/cirs_rep/Pages/irs99c.aspx (separate withholding on the extra months, including when paid in twelfths)
• Portal das Finanças, IRS Code article 70: https://info.portaldasfinancas.gov.pt/pt/informacao_fiscal/codigos_tributarios/cirs_rep/Pages/irs70.aspx (tax-free minimum of €12,880)
• DGERT, Minimum monthly wage for 2026: https://www.dgert.gov.pt/retribuicao-minima-mensal-garantida-para-2026 (€920 from 1 January 2026)
• Diário da República, Decreto-Lei n.º 139/2025: https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/detalhe/decreto-lei/139-2025-992879809 (2026 minimum wage)
• Segurança Social, Contribution rates table: https://www.seg-social.pt/ptss/pssd/documento/cmd3e0ssc0019hn2y4z341qa8 (11% worker and 23.75% employer rates)

Last verified September 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.