Paid leave in Portugal does not work the same way as in France, Germany or the Netherlands. The number of days is set by the Portuguese Labour Code, the public holiday calendar is one of the fullest in Western Europe, and your salary is paid 14 times a year instead of 12. If you are moving to Lisbon or Porto for work, understanding these rules changes how you plan your whole year.
Here is the complete guide to paid leave in Portugal, with real numbers: how many days you actually get, when you can start booking them, what extra money lands in your account, and how to organise trips home without spending half a salary.
How many days of paid leave in Portugal do you get?
The baseline is simple: 22 working days per year, which is just over four weeks. These are dias úteis, so Monday to Friday only. Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays are never deducted from your balance, which is more generous than the six day week calculation used in some neighbouring countries.
Your first year follows a different rule. You earn 2 days for every full month worked, capped at 20 days, and you can start booking them after six months with the company. Start in September and you will have roughly 8 days available the following spring, then your full entitlement from 1 January.
| Situation | Days earned | When you can take them |
|---|---|---|
| First year, hired mid year | 2 days per full month, 20 maximum | After 6 months on contract |
| Full calendar year | 22 working days | All year, following the agreed plan |
| 12 month contract starting in January | 22 working days | Full balance available from the start of the year |
| Days left when the contract ends | Paid out, never lost | Added to your final payslip |
These rules come from the Código do Trabalho and apply to every employee regardless of nationality. The body that enforces them is the ACT, the Portuguese labour inspectorate, which you can contact for free if an employer does not respect the legal minimum.
The 13 national public holidays, full list
Portugal has 13 national public holidays, plus one municipal holiday specific to each city. Several of them fall midweek, which regularly creates long weekends that most teams plan around.
| Public holiday | 2026 date | 2027 date |
|---|---|---|
| New Year’s Day | 1 January | 1 January |
| Good Friday | 3 April | 26 March |
| Easter Sunday | 5 April | 28 March |
| Freedom Day | 25 April | 25 April |
| Labour Day | 1 May | 1 May |
| Corpus Christi | 4 June | 27 May |
| Portugal Day | 10 June | 10 June |
| Assumption | 15 August | 15 August |
| Republic Day | 5 October | 5 October |
| All Saints’ Day | 1 November | 1 November |
| Restoration of Independence | 1 December | 1 December |
| Immaculate Conception | 8 December | 8 December |
| Christmas Day | 25 December | 25 December |
On top of that comes your city festival: 13 June in Lisbon for Santo António, 24 June in Porto for São João. These are two of the biggest street parties in the country, grilled sardines on every corner, and they are a day off for employees based in that municipality.
One important difference with most of Northern Europe: in Portugal, a public holiday that falls on a Saturday or Sunday is not moved and not compensated. It is simply lost that year. In exchange, taking a single day to bridge a Tuesday holiday to the weekend is completely normal and rarely refused.
The two bonuses that make 14 salaries a year
Paid leave in Portugal comes with two bonuses that the law makes compulsory, and this is the part that surprises newcomers the most. On top of your 12 monthly salaries you receive the subsídio de férias, the holiday allowance, usually paid before your main summer break, and the subsídio de Natal, the Christmas allowance, which must arrive by 15 December. Each one is worth roughly a full month of pay.
| Item | Typical amount |
|---|---|
| Starting net monthly salary in a customer service role | from 1,060 € |
| Number of payments per year | 14 |
| Subsídio de férias, holiday allowance | around 1 month of salary |
| Subsídio de Natal, Christmas allowance | around 1 month of salary |
| Annual paid leave | 22 working days |
| National public holidays | 13, plus the city holiday |
Some companies offer to spread the two bonuses across twelve months, known as duodécimos. You then receive a little more each month but nothing extra in June or December. Check this clause before you sign, because it changes your cash flow exactly when you want to buy flights. Our article on salary in Portugal breaks down every line of a Portuguese payslip.
How to book your paid leave in Portugal without mistakes
The process is straightforward but it has its own habits. These are the points worth knowing from day one.
- The leave plan is built early in the year, often before 15 April. Booking early means you get the dates you want.
- The law guarantees you can take at least 10 consecutive working days, so two full weeks, if you ask for them.
- In customer service, peak periods such as December are harder to get approved. September, October and February are the easiest months.
- Requests go through the internal HR tool in writing, and an answer usually comes within a few days.
- If you fall ill during your leave and have an official medical certificate, those days are given back to you.
Flying home: when to go and what it costs
Once your paid leave in Portugal is approved, the next step is booking the flight. Lisbon and Porto are very well connected to the rest of Europe by low cost carriers, and the real lever is not the destination, it is the date. A return flight booked for February costs two to three times less than the same route in August.
| Route from Lisbon | Return, off season | Return, July and August |
|---|---|---|
| Paris | 80 to 150 € | 200 to 320 € |
| Brussels | 70 to 140 € | 190 to 300 € |
| Amsterdam | 90 to 160 € | 210 to 330 € |
| Berlin | 90 to 170 € | 220 to 340 € |
| Munich | 95 to 175 € | 225 to 345 € |
These are the ranges commonly seen on direct routes booked six to eight weeks ahead. Many colleagues keep one week of leave for December and spread the rest across spring and autumn, when tickets are cheapest and Portugal is still warm.
End of contract: what happens to unused paid leave in Portugal
Nothing you have earned is lost. If you leave the company with untaken holiday, those days are paid out in your final settlement together with the matching share of the allowances. That is a real difference from countries where unused leave simply expires on 31 December.
If your 12 month contract is renewed, your counter resets on 1 January with the full 22 days. You do not have to serve another six month waiting period, that rule only applies to your very first year of employment.
What this looks like with a job found through Expat-U
To be clear about who we work with: we recruit French, German and Dutch speakers who also speak English. We do not place candidates who speak English only, because the roles our partners open are language specific. If you are a French, German or Dutch speaker reading in English, you are exactly the profile these positions are built for.
The roles we offer in Portugal are local 12 month renewable contracts in customer service, so the paid leave in Portugal rules described above apply to them exactly as written: 22 working days, 13 public holidays, 14 payments a year and a net salary from 1,060 €. On top of that come accommodation provided for the whole duration of the contract, paid training from day one, and support with the flight to Portugal. That means when you book your first holiday you have no surprise rent and no relocation debt hanging over you.
Useful reading before you commit anywhere: check your rights as an EU worker on the official Your Europe portal and browse verified vacancies on the EURES network. On our side, see healthcare in Portugal, public transport in Lisbon and the current openings on our jobs in Portugal page.
Frequently asked questions about paid leave in Portugal
Can I take three weeks in a row?
The law guarantees at least 10 consecutive working days. Beyond that it depends on your manager and on team coverage. In practice three weeks in September or October is rarely a problem if you request it early in the year.
Do public holidays count against my 22 days?
No. The 13 national holidays and your city holiday are on top of the 22 working days. A public holiday falling inside a week of leave is neutralised and not deducted from your balance.
Does paid leave in Portugal carry over if I change employer?
No, the counter does not follow you. Days earned with your previous employer are paid out in your final payslip and you start again from zero with the new one, under the 2 days per month rule for the first year. The subsídio de férias itself must be paid before your main holiday starts, and many employers pay it in June.
