In Spain, Social Security provides specific rules for workers who, after exhausting their temporary disability or being refused permanent disability, become disabled again due to the same or similar pathology. In Portugal, the regime does not operate under the same terms, but there are also rules to protect those who remain temporarily unable to work.
In the Portuguese system, the equivalent support is sickness benefit, paid by workers who cannot work temporarily due to illness. According to the Gov.pt portal, payment is automatic when there is a Certificate of Temporary Incapacity, known as a medical license, issued by a doctor, as long as the legal conditions are met.
How long can sickness benefit last in Portugal
The main difference in relation to the Spanish regime is the maximum period. In Portugal, sickness benefit can be granted, as a rule, for up to 1095 days to employees. For self-employed workers and beneficiaries in equivalent situations, such as scientific research scholarship holders covered by Voluntary Social Security, the applicable limit is 365 days. In the case of tuberculosis, there is no such time limit as long as the disability remains.
Decree-Law No. 28/2004, which regulates social protection during illness, establishes that, for the purposes of counting the maximum period, situations of incapacity that occur within 60 days immediately after the end of a previous incapacity are considered.
This means that if there is a new low soon after, the period can be added to the previous one, rather than starting a whole new count. The rule does not just depend on it being the same disease: the relevant legal criterion is the proximity between the disabilities.
This rule departs from the Spanish logic of 180 days. In Portugal, the relevant period for linking successive disabilities is, in general terms, 60 days, although each situation depends on medical and administrative assessment.
What if the person remains incapable after the limit
When the worker exhausts the maximum period of sickness benefit and remains unable to work, the Portuguese regime provides for articulation with disability. The law determines that, if the beneficiary has exhausted the maximum period of 1,095 days and remains incapable of working, provisional disability retirement may be granted from the day following the termination of the benefit. This assignment can be done automatically, based on elements contained in the Social Security information system.
Afterwards, the beneficiary must be subject to an assessment by the permanent disability verification committee. If permanent disability is recognized, a disability pension may be awarded. If this permanent incapacity is not certified, the provisional pension ceases.
There is, however, an important exception: under the terms of Decree-Law No. 187/2007, there is no place for a provisional disability pension if the 1095 days are reached without a year having passed since a previous decision by the verification or appeal commission that did not recognize permanent disability, unless there is a worsening of the state of health. The beneficiary is notified of the provisional amount and the payment start date. The law allows you to withdraw your pension request within 15 days from this notification, with a refund of the amounts already received, when applicable.
Temporary leave and disability are not the same thing
Sick leave is for temporary situations, in which it is hoped that the worker can recover and return to work. Disability retirement requires permanent inability to work, certified by the Social Security Disability Verification System. This distinction is essential. A person may be unable to work for months, or even for an extended period, without this automatically meaning they are entitled to a disability pension.
Likewise, a refusal of the disability pension does not mean, in itself, that the worker is fully recovered. It simply means that, in the assessment carried out, a permanent incapacity in the terms required for this pension was not demonstrated.
Social Security can reevaluate the write-off
In case of prolonged absences, Social Security may call the beneficiary for evaluation by the Disability Verification System. If the commission concludes that there is no longer any temporary incapacity for work, the sickness benefit may cease.
Since the changes introduced to the disability verification regime, the reassessment committee can intervene in certain situations. The law provides that, when the beneficiary requests reassessment within the legal deadline, the maintenance of the right to sickness benefit depends on the deliberation of this committee. In practice, if the worker disagrees with the decision that considers him fit, he must act within the established deadlines and submit a request for reassessment when the law allows it. This point is important because continued payment may depend on this decision.
New sick leave for the same disease: what changes
If the worker takes a new leave for the same illness right after a previous one, Social Security may not treat the case as a completely new process. The 60-day rule is relevant for counting the maximum concession period. In other words, when two situations of incapacity are close in time, they can be added together for the purposes of the maximum limit of 1095 days, or 365 days in cases where this is the applicable limit. This prevents successive close drops from always resetting the counter.
But there is an important nuance: in Portugal, this rule is not formulated only for the same pathology. What the law refers to are situations of incapacity that occur within 60 days of the cessation of the previous incapacity.
If the new disability appears after this interval has elapsed, the analysis may be different and a new counting period may begin. Even so, the right to the subsidy always depends on compliance with legal conditions, the existence of a valid medical license and the checks that Social Security may determine. If the maximum period has already been exhausted, the counting of the guarantee period for a new subsidy starts from the date on which a new remuneration is recorded.
What if it’s a different disease
When the new license results from a different illness or accident, the clinical picture may be different. The situation must be assessed based on the new Temporary Incapacity Certificate and the available medical information.
Still, a different illness does not automatically eliminate the 60-day rule for purposes of counting the maximum period if the new disability appears shortly after the previous one. What changes is the medical assessment of the cause of the disability and the way the INSS frames the new certificate. The general rules of sickness benefit also continue to apply: guarantee period, medical certification, possible waiting period, maximum limits and possibility of verification by Social Security.
The Gov.pt portal reminds you that sickness benefit is paid to workers who pay into Social Security and who are temporarily unable to work due to illness. Payment depends on the existence of a Temporary Incapacity Certificate and compliance with other legal conditions.
What should the worker do
Anyone who is discharged but continues to be unable to work must request a new medical evaluation from the health services. If there is a new discharge, it is communicated electronically to Social Security, when issued through the usual means.
If Social Security terminates the benefit because it considers that there is no longer incapacity, and the worker disagrees, they must confirm the deadlines for requesting reassessment. The legal regime provides for the intervention of revaluation committees in specific situations and within short deadlines.
In the event of prolonged leave, disability refusal, new illness or conflict with Social Security’s decision, it is advisable to request information directly from Social Security and, if necessary, seek legal support. When there are also employment implications, it may make sense to contact ACT.
The answer for Portugal
In Portugal, there is no rule like the Spanish one that requires, in general terms, to wait 180 days to receive temporary disability again due to the same pathology. The Portuguese regime works with other deadlines and mechanisms.
Sickness benefit can last up to 1,095 days for workers with a formal contract, incapacities occurring in the following 60 days can count towards the same maximum period and, when this limit is exhausted, it can be combined with provisional disability retirement if the incapacity for work persists.
Thus, the central idea is this: if the incapacity is temporary, the path is sick pay and sick pay; becomes permanent, the disability pension comes into question. Between one situation and another, Social Security can evaluate, reevaluate and decide whether payment should continue.
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