Portugal: Operating a Business

Legal Forms of Companies

Types of Companies and Capital (Max/Min)	Number of Partners/Shareholders and Liability
The "sociedade por quotas de responsabilidade limitada (Lda)" is a limited liability company. 5,000 EUR minimum, entirely taken up, with the obligation to release at least 50%.	2 partners minimum, just one in the case of an individual businessman. Liability is limited to the amount of capital contributed.
The "sociedade anonima de responsabilidade limidada (SA)" is a public limited company. 50,000 EUR minimum, entirely taken up, with the obligation to release at least 30%.	5 partners minimum; they may be foreigners and non-residents. Liability is limited to the amount of capital contributed.
The "sociedade em nome colectivo" is a general partnership. No minimum capital.	2 partners minimum Liability is joint and indefinite regarding third parties.
The "sociedade em comandita" is a limited joint-stock partnership. No minimum capital.	2 partners minimum, with active partners and silent partners. Liability is indefinite for active partners, and limited to the amount of capital contributed for silent partners.

Enterprises Federation: The government information website for SMEs
Businessman Association of Portugal (Porto)
Portuguese Industrial Association (Lisbon)
Search a Company or a Financial Report: Guianet

Source: Doing Business.

For Further Information: Consult Doing Business Website, to know about procedures to start a Business in Portugal.
Trade Register, in Portuguese.
The Competent Organization: Business Formalities Centres (CFE)

Principle: Within the framework of the safeguard scheme, two legal decisions are generally made:
- being put into receivership, a state where payment stops, it is impossible to face the liabilities due with the current assets.
- compulsory liquidation, a persistent state where payment stops and receivership is manifestly impossible.
Minimum Debt-to-Capital Ratio Triggering Liquidation: No minimum
Reorganization and Rehabilitation Laws: Company insolvency and recovery Code

	2010
Labor Force	5,570,000

Source: CIA - The world factbook

Source: UN - United Nations

Employed Persons, by Occupation (% of Total Labor Force)	2006
Farmers	10.8%
Craftsmen	19.5%
Shopkeepers and similar	14.3%
Managers and higher intellectual professions	17.3%
Intermediate professions	8.5%
Employees	17.4%
Workmen and unqualified workers	11.8%
Military service	0.6%

Source: INE

For Further Statistics: INE
Ministry of Labor and Social Security
For Further Information About the Labor Market: CES, The Economic and Social Council

Working Rest Day: Sunday
Paid Annual Vacation: 22 working days a year, +3 for regular attendance (no unjustified absences).
Retirement Age: 65
Child Labor and Minimum Age For Employment: 16
Informal Labor Market: Undeclared work is above all made up of only partially declared hours of work or undeclared overtime.
This is especially in Public Buildings and Works, where the control of workmen's wages (particularly foreigners) is inaccurate.

The Areas Covered: Health insurance (medical care, maternity, disability, death), retirement pensions, family allowances, unemployment benefit.
Contributions: Contributions Paid By the Employer: 23.75 %
Contributions Paid By the Employee: 11%
Competent Organization: Segurança Social

Method of Recruitment: More and more applications are being made via Internet or the press. Recruitment in Portugal is mainly carried out by inviting candidates for a face-to-face interview.
Recruitment Agencies: The public institution is the IEFP.
There are several recruitment companies: Egor, Psicoteste, Hays.
Recruitment Websites: Stepstone
Michael Page
Ofertas Emprego

Type of Contract: The work contract is governed by legal provisions and to a lesser extent by collective agreements and individual negotiation.
The formality of the work contract, and hiring and firing conditions are extremely rigid.

Breach of Contracts
Retirement: There are several ways of retiring: early retirement, automatic retirement and official retirement.
Dismissals: The employer initiates dismissals:
- redundancy comes in the form of either individual or mass redundancy
- dismissal for professional misconduct
Other Possible Methods: Resignation; this is initiated by the employee.
Labor Laws: National legislation (only in Portuguese)

Cases of Dispute: Physical violence, moral harassment, sexual harassment, working conditions, etc.
Legal Framework: Before going to court, forms of conciliation are possible: mediation, arbitration (which may be compulsory or not, by ministerial decision). Arbitration produces results with the same power as collective contracts. If it fails, the following step will be the « Tribunal do trabalho » of the competent jurisdiction.
However, at this time, the settlement of disputes is also under discussion between the government and the unions (employers' and union confederations).
Procedure: The Labor Code

Legal Framework: Defined in the Labor Code.
Competent Legal Body: The Labor Tribunal.
To appeal: the Tribunal of 2nd instance, labor section.

Social Dialogue and Involvement of Social Partners: There are 2 major Union confederations. The CGTP (very close to the Communist Party) which always very critical of and eager to challenge government measures, and the UGT (close to the Socialist Party and the Social-Democrats), a more moderate group, although it criticizes, but often manages to come to a consensus with the government. Negotiations usually take place at the Conselho Económico e Social for social dialogue between Employers' Confederations, the Government and Union Confederations. These discussions take place systematically at the beginning of each year, but also when important dossiers about labor law are discussed, as is the case at the moment.
Unionization Rate: 18.4%
Unions: CGTP
UGT
Regulation Bodies: Ministry of Agriculture
Confederation of Portuguese agricultural cooperatives (CONFAGRI)
Portuguese Agricultural Federation
Ministry of Labor

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