Part-time workers may be called upon to work overtime in Portugal, but this does not mean that the company can use this regime freely or permanently. The law allows the provision of overtime, but only in specific situations, with defined limits, mandatory registration and increased payment.
In , overtime work corresponds to work carried out outside working hours. In the case of a part-time worker, this means that hours worked beyond the fixed working day can be considered overtime, as long as situations excluded by the law itself or formal changes to the working day are not involved.
The company can only resort to overtime when it has to respond to a possible and temporary increase in work and when it is not justified to hire another worker for this purpose. You can also do this in cases of force majeure or when hours are essential to prevent or repair serious damage to the company or its viability.
The law provides that the worker is obliged to work overtime when the legal conditions are met. Still, this obligation is not absolute. The worker can request dismissal if he has reasonable reasons, and it is then up to the specific situation to be assessed.
There are also special protection situations. The CLT provides, for example, that pregnant workers and workers with children under 12 months of age are not obliged to work overtime. The breastfeeding worker is also not obliged to do so for the entire duration of breastfeeding, if this is necessary for her or the child’s health.
In the case of part-time contracts, there is an important caution: overtime must not serve to transform, in practice, a permanent need for work into a constant resource for overtime. If the company needs more hours regularly, every week or for long periods of time, it may be a stable need rather than an exceptional situation.
The part-time contract must be written and indicate the normal daily and weekly working period, comparing it with full-time work. If this indication is missing, it is assumed that the contract was concluded on a full-time basis. If the contract is not in written form, it is also considered to be concluded on a full-time basis.
There are also annual limits. As a rule, a part-time worker can work up to 80 hours of overtime per year, or the number of hours corresponding to the ratio of his or her hours to that of a comparable full-time worker, whichever amount is greater. This limit can be increased, by written agreement between employee and employer, up to 130 hours per year. Under a collective labor regulation instrument, it can reach 200 hours per year.
In addition to the annual limit, there are daily limits for additional work provided due to eventual and temporary increase in work. On a normal working day, the limit is two hours. On a weekly, mandatory or complementary rest day, or on a public holiday, the limit corresponds to the normal daily working period. For half a day of complementary rest, the limit is half a normal daily work period.
In cases of force majeure or when additional work is essential to prevent or repair serious damage to the company or its viability, the regime is different: the law subjects this benefit to the limit of the weekly working period.
Extra work also has to be paid at a premium. Up to 100 hours per year, the first hour on a working day is paid with an additional 25% and the following hours with an additional 37.5%. On weekly rest days or holidays, the increase is 50%. From 100 hours per year onwards, the increases increase to 50% in the first hour, 75% in the following hours on a working day and 100% on a rest day or holiday.
The employer must also keep a record of overtime work, indicating the start and end times, the basis for the work and the compensatory rest taken, when applicable.
Thus, in Portugal, a part-time worker can be called upon to work overtime, including in unforeseen situations, but the company must respect the legal conditions. Overtime must be exceptional, justified, recorded and paid. They cannot be used as a way to circumvent contracted hours or to meet the company’s permanent needs without formally changing the employment relationship.
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