The general strike that will take place this Thursday could leave many Portuguese people out of the workplace, but not all absences are treated in the same way by law. In Portugal (under the Labor Code regime), the answer depends mainly on one thing: whether you joined the strike (i.e., went on strike) or whether you tried to work but were prevented from doing so by external factors, such as stopped transport.
When a worker joins the strike, the law does not treat it as a normal “absence”. The strike suspends the contract of the participating worker, including the duty of attendance and the right to remuneration, for the duration of the strike period.
If the worker is not on strike, but is unable to get to work due to the strike (for example, lack of transport), the absence can only be considered a justified absence if there is a real impossibility to perform work due to a fact not attributable to the worker, and this may have to be demonstrated.
The key difference: “joining the strike” vs. “be prevented”
If you have decided to go on a general strike, your contract will be suspended for the duration of your membership. This means that it is not an unjustified absence, but it also means loss of the right to remuneration corresponding to the period on strike.
On the other hand, if you did not join the strike and your difficulty was getting to the workplace (for example, transport was stopped), the decisive point is whether there was really an “impossibility” (and not just greater difficulty, delay or inconvenience).
In practice, if the employer understands that there were viable and required alternatives and that they were not tried, it may not accept the justification and record the absence as unjustified.
What you have to do to avoid risking “unjustified absence”
First step: communicate to the company as soon as possible. If the absence is foreseeable, you must give advance notice. If it is unpredictable (e.g. last minute cancellations and deletions), communication should be made as soon as possible. Failure to communicate may result in the absence being considered unjustified.
Second step: save evidence. The employer may require proof of the reason cited to justify the absence. Whenever possible, ask the transport operator for a statement and keep official notices of deletions/cancellations (screenshots, announcements, etc.).
Third step: propose alternatives in writing (email or formal message): coming in later, changing shifts, compensating hours, or teleworking if possible. This helps demonstrate good faith and attempt to comply.
Teleworking: can you require it? Not always (but there are exceptions)
As a rule, teleworking depends on agreement and may be refused, especially when the activity is not compatible.
Even so, there are situations in which the law gives the worker a reinforced right to telework, as long as the role is compatible and (in some cases) the company has resources and means: for example, a worker with a child up to 3 years old (and, in certain scenarios provided for by law, up to 8 years old), as well as other situations provided for in , such as protection linked to domestic violence and the status of informal caregiver.
In other words: a general strike does not automatically create a “general right” to telework for everyone, but it can be a negotiated solution, and, for some workers, it can even be an actionable right.
Is the absence justified, what about the salary?
The law says that justified absence does not affect the worker’s rights, with exceptions provided. It also lists situations in which, even if justified, there may be loss of remuneration (for example, illness with sickness protection, work accident under certain conditions, assistance to a member of the household and absence authorized/approved by the employer, among others).
In the case of “impossibility due to a non-attributable fact”, the critical point is to be able to demonstrate that impossibility actually existed, and, therefore, communication and proof are decisive.
To avoid surprises, the safest thing to do is ask for a written response about how the company will record the day (teleworking, change of schedule, compensation, justified absence, etc.).
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