Workers in Portugal may be entitled to Social Security support without knowing it. These are called compensatory installments, a mechanism that allows you to fully or partially recover holiday and Christmas bonuses that were not paid when the worker was on sick leave or parental leave for an extended period.
According to the Notícias ao Minuto website, this support can be requested directly through the Social Security portal. The request is made online and is intended for workers who, because they are receiving certain social benefits, have not fully received the subsidies that are normally part of their annual remuneration.
A little-known support for those who have been down
Compensatory installments exist to compensate for situations in which the worker did not receive holiday or Christmas benefits due to the suspension of the employment contract. As Notícias ao Minuto explains, this situation frequently occurs when a worker is receiving sickness benefit for a period long enough to suspend the employment contract. In these cases, the employer may not be legally obliged to pay the subsidies.
When this happens, Social Security can provide financial compensation to reduce this loss of income. This support may cover both the holiday bonus and the Christmas bonus, or both simultaneously, depending on the worker’s specific situation.
Who can benefit from this compensation
The support is mainly aimed at salaried workers. According to information released by Social Security and cited by Notícias ao Minuto, members of statutory bodies of companies may also be entitled to these benefits, provided that the right to the respective subsidies is proven and other legal conditions are met.
In practice, compensation applies when the worker received sickness benefit for at least 30 days and, for that reason, did not receive or only partially received holiday or Christmas benefits.
Illness situations that may give rise to support
One of the most common situations is related to periods of inability to work for health reasons. As the same publication explains, when the worker is on sick leave and receiving sick pay, the employment contract may be suspended. In this scenario, the employer may not pay the subsidies because the law does not require them to do so.
In these circumstances, Social Security may provide a compensatory benefit to make up for part of the lost income. For this to happen, the worker must have received sickness benefit for a minimum period of 30 days and the employer must not have paid the benefits, in whole or in part.
Parenthood cases can also give the right
Parental leave is another situation that can give rise to compensatory benefits. According to Notícias ao Minuto, during parental leave, holiday and Christmas bonuses must, as a rule, be paid by the employer. However, when these amounts are reduced proportionally to the period of leave, compensation may be available from Social Security.
In these cases, the value of the benefit depends on the type of support the worker received, and may vary depending on whether he or she is receiving sickness benefit or parental benefit.
How to make a request on the Social Security portal
The request can be made directly through Previdência Direta. According to information provided by the Social Security Institute and cited by Notícias ao Minuto, the worker must first log in to the portal.
Then you must access the Illness menu, select the Care during illness option and choose the functionality relating to the compensatory provision of holiday and Christmas allowances. After submitting the request, the process is registered and will be analyzed by Social Security services.
As explained by the same source, the worker also receives a message in the Direct Social Security notifications area confirming that the request was submitted successfully. If necessary, it is possible to obtain proof of submission directly on the platform.
Deadline to request compensation
There is a deadline for submitting the request. According to information released by Social Security and cited by , the worker must request compensatory benefits within six months.
This period starts from January 1st of the year following the year in which the holiday and Christmas bonuses were due by the employer. In the case of termination of the employment contract, the term starts from the date on which the contract ended.
Another important point is that this benefit can be accumulated with other Social Security support. As the same publication explains, compensation only applies when the employer did not pay the subsidies, in whole or in part, because they had no legal obligation to do so.
For many workers who have undergone extended periods of sick leave or parental leave, this support can represent the recovery of a relevant portion of lost annual income. Knowing that this possibility exists can prevent a right from being claimed.
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