For many, the Christmas season is synonymous with rest, family life and a break from work. But not everyone is lucky enough to switch off on December 25th. In Portugal, Christmas is a mandatory holiday, which means that working on this date can only happen within well-defined rules and with specific compensation.
The Labor Code determines that, on mandatory holidays, activities that do not operate on Sundays must close or suspend work. In practice, according to the Authority for Working Conditions (ACT), this means that only companies or services that are legally authorized to work on Sundays can have workers working on Christmas Day.
Who can work at Christmas
Not every company can keep running as if it were a normal day. Normally, health professionals, hotels, transport, emergency services, surveillance, security, cleaning and other activities that, by law, already work on Sundays, work at Christmas.
Compensations provided for by law
Even working on a holiday, the worker maintains the right to the remuneration corresponding to that day. When performing normal work on a public holiday in companies that can operate on that day, there is also additional compensation: the employer must grant compensatory rest equivalent to half the number of hours worked or pay an increase of 50% on the normal remuneration.
It is up to the company to choose the form of compensation. Failure to comply with these rules is considered a serious offense and may be reported to ACT.
Additional hours and increments
If work over Christmas is carried out outside normal hours, other surcharges apply. For each hour or fraction of overtime worked on a public holiday, the worker is entitled to an additional 50% up to 100 hours per year. Above this limit, the increase increases to 100%.
Compensatory rest and the “three working days” rule
It is important not to confuse regimes. Half-hour compensatory rest applies to normal work on holidays.
In the case of overtime work, when it prevents the enjoyment of daily rest or is provided on a mandatory weekly rest day, the law provides for paid rest to be taken on one of the following three working days, defined by agreement or, failing that, by the employer.
Normal or supplementary work: the essential difference
Knowing how to distinguish between working on holidays as part of normal hours and working outside of working hours is essential.
In the first case, the holiday rules apply with compensatory rest or a 50% increase. In the second, additional work applies and, sometimes, the right to compensatory rest under the stipulated terms.
Individual contracts or collective agreements may establish more favorable conditions than the minimum provided by law, so it is always useful to know what applies in the specific case.
What to do in case of non-compliance
Anyone who feels harmed must gather evidence of the work performed, such as scales, time records or internal communications, and ask the employer for formal clarification. If there is no correction, it is possible to file a complaint or complaint through official channels.
The law protects those who work at Christmas, but compensation always depends on the type of work and the applicable regime. Knowing these differences is the best way to ensure that the effort is properly recognized.
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