Youth Employment in Portugal

Opportunities and regulations for part-time work for teenagers in Portugal...

The minimum working age is 16 years.

The maximum legal workday is 10 hours, and the maximum working week is 40 hours. A maximum of two hours of paid overtime is allowed per day, up to 200 hours of overtime per year, with a minimum of 12 hours between workdays.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity (Ministério do Trabalho e Soliedaridade Social) monitors compliance through its regional inspectors.

There is a minimum national wage (salário mínimo nacional) in Portugal for all workers above the age of 18. Sixteen and seventeen-year-olds may be paid less, but must earn at least 75 percent of the minimum wage.

Young people of up to 25 years of age who have been unemployed for a minimum of six consecutive months are entitled to sign up to the government's Interjovem programme aimed at getting young jobseekers into work.