Last Wednesday, the Portuguese Government and social partners began debating the draft bill to amend the Labor Law. The legislative proposal contains more than 100 amendments to the Labor Code, which aim to make the regime more flexible, namely:
- Increase in the maximum duration of fixed-term contracts;
- Return of individual time banks, allowing an increase in normal working hours;
- Repeal of the rule that allows the trial period to last up to 180 days;
- Elimination of the ban on outsourcing services when there have been dismissals for these functions in the last 12 months;
- Permission to waive labor credits owed;
- Increasing the number of sectors where minimum services can be established during strikes;
- Reduction in the minimum number of training hours for micro-enterprises and change in the consequence of non-compliance to a minor administrative offense;
- Possibility for the employee to waive two days pay per year in order to have two additional days off;
- Increase in paid parental leave to up to 180 days, provided that it is shared equally between both parents;
- Change the percentage paid for the parental leave period, depending on the length and sharing of the leave;
- 28 days of parental leave for the father, 14 of which must be taken immediately after the birth;
- Imposition of a two-year limit on leave from work for breastfeeding, with a medical certificate required every six months for that leave to continue;
- Elimination of absence due to pregnancy loss in cases where leave is not taken;
- Simplification of the dismissal process for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises;
- Elimination of the obligation to reinstate workers who have been unlawfully dismissed;
- Return of the option for employees to receive vacation and Christmas bonuses in twelfths;
- Flexible working arrangements and the right to refuse weekend work.
