Country file
What it costs an employer to hire in Portugal
An employer in Portugal pays €84,250 on a gross salary of €60,000. That is 40.4% more than the salary.
At €120,000 the employer adds 40.4%, because the contributions are largely uncapped.
Every rate below comes from a statutory source with the date it was read. The figures are for 2026.
A mid salary of €60,000
| Contribution | Rate | Annual base charged | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Security, general scheme employer contribution (TSU) | 23.75% | no ceiling | €14,250 | source checked 2026-08-21 |
| Statutory employer contributions | €14,250 |
Scroll sideways on a phone.
| Gross salary | €60,000 |
| Statutory employer contributions | €14,250 |
| Mandatory extra pay (2 months) | €10,000 |
| Total employer cost | €84,250 |
| Added on top of the salary | 40.4% |
A senior salary of €120,000
| Contribution | Rate | Annual base charged | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Security, general scheme employer contribution (TSU) | 23.75% | no ceiling | €28,500 | source checked 2026-08-21 |
| Statutory employer contributions | €28,500 |
Scroll sideways on a phone.
| Gross salary | €120,000 |
| Statutory employer contributions | €28,500 |
| Mandatory extra pay (2 months) | €20,000 |
| Total employer cost | €168,500 |
| Added on top of the salary | 40.4% |
The formula
Time off, extra pay and leaving
| Statutory paid leave | 22 days |
| Public holidays | 13 |
| Mandatory extra pay | 2 months |
| Minimum employer notice | 2.14 weeks |
22 working days minimum under Article 238 of the Labour Code, plus 13 public holidays on the mainland.
A holiday subsidy and a Christmas subsidy, each one month's base pay, are both mandatory under the Labour Code.
Compensation on collective dismissal or abolition of the post is 12 days of base pay plus seniority allowances per full year of service, with the daily rate capped at twenty times the minimum wage and the total at twelve months' pay or 240 times the minimum wage (Article 366, as amended by Law 69/2013).
What the percentage hides
The 23.75% employer rate is uncapped and applies to the full salary, so the burden is identical for a junior hire and a senior one.
The FCT and FGCT funds, formerly 0.925% and 0.075% of base pay, were suspended in May 2023 and ended by Decree-Law 115/2023 from 1 January 2024. They are not a current cost.
Work-accident insurance must be bought from a private insurer. The premium is risk and insurer specific rather than a statutory percentage, so it is excluded from the total.
Not confirmed on a statutory source, and therefore not in any figure above: the private work-accident insurance premium rate.
Using an employer of record in Portugal
Everything above is what the state takes. An employer of record adds its own fee on top, and that fee is a flat monthly amount rather than a percentage, so it weighs far more on a junior salary than a senior one. The published prices are here, and the calculator will add one to the figures on this page.
Compare with another country
- Portugal compared with United States
- Portugal compared with United Kingdom
- Portugal compared with Germany
- Portugal compared with France
- Portugal compared with Netherlands
- Portugal compared with Spain
Written by Kaz, independent publisher. No commercial relationship with the providers named unless it is listed on the disclosure page.
Page last updated 2026-08-30. Sources: statutory bodies only, listed per figure. Rates last verified 2026-08-21. This is not legal, tax or payroll advice and we do not file anyone's payroll.
Every formula on this site is written out in full on Method. Ordering is by computed cost, never by what a provider pays us.
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