Parental leave by country / Portugal
Maternity, paternity and parental leave in Portugal
How long each parent can be away, who pays and how much, the notice rules and the job protection — in plain English, whether you run a team in Portugal or work on one.
Portuguese parents share an initial parental leave of 120 days at 100% of the reference salary or 150 days at 80%, extended by 30 days — 150 at 100% or 180 at 83% — when each parent takes at least 30 consecutive days alone. The mother must take 42 days immediately after the birth; the father must take 28 days, seven of them consecutively right after the birth and the rest within 42 days, and may add seven days taken together with the mother, all at 100%. Social Security pays the benefit, and each parent may add three months of extended leave at 25%.
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How it works
The Código do Trabalho’s parentalidade chapter, as amended in 2023, gives the licença parental inicial of 120 or 150 consecutive days shared between the parents, with a 30-day bonus when they share so that each takes at least 30 consecutive days (or two periods of 15) alone. Six weeks are exclusive to the mother after the birth (up to 30 days may be taken before it); the father’s exclusive leave is 28 days, seven consecutive immediately after the birth and 21 more in periods of at least seven days within the following 42 days, plus seven optional days taken at the same time as the mother. Social Security pays the subsídio parental at 100% of the reference remuneration for 120 days (or 150 shared), 80% for 150 days (or 83% for 180 shared), and the father’s exclusive days always at 100%; six months of contributions are required. Each parent may then take licença parental alargada of three months at 25%, and the law adds breastfeeding dispensation, a right to part-time or flexible hours until the child is 12, and up to two years of unpaid leave to care for a child (three for a third child).
Worth knowing: The 2023 reform lengthened the father’s compulsory leave from 20 to 28 days and allowed the last 60 days of a 180-day shared leave to be taken part-time by both parents simultaneously.
If you run a team in Portugal
You do not pay the benefit — Social Security does — but you must grant the leave, keep the position and continue seniority. The father’s seven days immediately after the birth and the mother’s six weeks are compulsory; notice of the shared leave and the extended leave is due seven and 30 days ahead respectively. Dismissal of a pregnant, recently delivered or breastfeeding worker, or a worker on parental leave, requires a prior opinion of the equality commission (CITE). Holiday accrues in full during initial parental leave.
If you work in Portugal
Tell your employer how you will share the initial leave, within seven days of the birth, and apply to Social Security for the subsídio through the Segurança Social Direta portal. Fathers must take seven days straight after the birth and 21 more within six weeks. Decide together on 120 days at 100% or 150 at 80%, and whether to share for the 30-day bonus.
Parental leave and annual leave
Initial parental leave counts as effective service for holiday accrual, and holiday coinciding with the leave is postponed. Extended and unpaid parental leave do not accrue holiday.
The annual leave entitlement itself is covered on our Portugal annual leave page — 22 working days minimum.
Keeping the record straight
Long leaves are where leave records go wrong quietly: holiday that kept accruing for months and was never credited, a return date nobody diarised, a reduced entitlement applied where the law forbids it. In Portugal the rules above decide what is owed on return, and the record has to show it. A tracker like Leavo keeps the leave, the accrual and the approvals in one place so the return is a date, not a dispute. We compare the options in our leave management software guide, and the policy side — carryover, payout, accrual — in our guides.
Parental leave in Portugal: common questions
How much is the benefit?
100% of the reference remuneration for 120 days (or 150 when shared with the 30-day bonus), 80% for 150 days (83% for 180 shared). The father’s exclusive 28 + 7 days are always paid at 100%, and extended leave at 25%.
What is the 30-day sharing bonus?
If each parent takes at least 30 consecutive days of the initial leave alone (or two periods of 15), the family gets 30 extra days: 150 at 100% instead of 120, or 180 at 83% instead of 150 at 80%.
Are the father’s 28 days optional?
No. They are compulsory: seven consecutive days immediately after the birth and 21 more within the following 42 days, in blocks of at least seven. The additional seven days taken together with the mother are optional.
Does annual leave accrue during maternity or parental leave in Portugal?
Initial parental leave counts as effective service for holiday accrual, and holiday coinciding with the leave is postponed. Extended and unpaid parental leave do not accrue holiday.
Source
Primary source: Código do Trabalho arts. 39–65 (parentalidade); Decreto-Lei 91/2009 (subsídio parental). Benefit rates and ceilings change every year and collective agreements frequently improve on the statutory scheme — confirm against the current text before acting. See our methodology.