Pay transparency rules in Portugal
Not yet. Portugal missed the deadline, but on 5 August 2026 the government published a draft bill partially transposing the Directive by amending Law 60/2018. It proposes reporting from 50 employees, not 100.
The EU Pay Transparency Directive (Directive (EU) 2023/970) is a European law that strengthens the principle of equal pay for equal work between women and men. It forces employers to be open about pay: telling job applicants the salary or salary range before they are hired, banning questions about a candidate's pay history, giving workers the right to ask what others in comparable roles earn on average by sex, and making larger employers report their gender pay gap.
Where an unexplained gap of at least 5 percent shows up in a group of workers, the employer must run a joint pay assessment with worker representatives.
Each EU country had to write these rules into its own national law by 7 June 2026. Portugal has not yet done so, so the precise Portuguese rules, thresholds and penalties are not yet fixed in law.
Where Portugal stands right now
A draft bill was published on 5 August 2026 for public consultation. It is not law and is not in force.
Portugal missed the EU-wide deadline of 7 June 2026 to turn Directive (EU) 2023/970 into national law. On 5 August 2026 the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security published a draft bill in Separata no. 26 of the Boletim do Trabalho e Emprego, the official bulletin used to put draft labour legislation out for public appreciation. The ministerial order opening it is dated 3 August 2026 and set a 20-day comment window, so consultation closed on 25 August 2026, shortened because the government considers publication urgent. The draft does not create a standalone pay-transparency act. It amends Law 60/2018, the existing equal-pay law, and the government itself calls the transposition partial: procedural guarantees and accessibility provisions in the Directive are not fully covered. Nothing here is binding yet. The draft still has to go to Parliament, be approved and be published in the Diario da Republica before any of it applies, and its own text says it would take effect on the first day of the month after publication. Because the deadline has passed, the European Commission can open infringement proceedings against Portugal in the meantime.
What the August 2026 draft bill proposes
Gender pay-gap reporting from 50 employees, tougher sanctions, and a longer protection window after a complaint.
The draft goes further than the Directive's floor in several places, which matters if you employ people in Portugal. Gender pay-gap reporting would reach employers with 50 or more workers, against the Directive's 100. The reporting calendar in the draft follows the EU milestones: employers with 250 or more workers report by 7 June 2027 and then every calendar year; employers with 150 to 249 workers report by 7 June 2027 and then every three years; employers with 50 to 149 workers report by 7 June 2031 and then every three years. Employers would also have to publish the criteria used to set pay, pay levels and pay progression, on a noticeboard or the intranet, with employers under 50 workers exempt from the pay-progression part. Workers would be told once a year of their right to ask for pay information. Sanctions are stiffened for repeat breaches, including possible loss of tax incentives and mandatory training, and the period in which a dismissal or disciplinary action following a pay discrimination complaint is presumed discriminatory would run to three years instead of one. All of this is a proposal and could change before it becomes law.
What will change for employers once Portugal legislates
Pay openness in hiring, a salary-history ban, worker information rights and gender pay gap reporting for larger employers.
When Portugal transposes, employers will face a step up from today's rules. In recruitment, you must tell applicants the starting pay or pay range before the interview, set on objective, gender-neutral criteria, and you cannot ask candidates about their current or previous pay. Job adverts and titles must be gender-neutral. Existing staff gain the right to ask for their own pay level and the average pay levels, broken down by sex, for workers doing the same work or work of equal value, and you must answer within a set period (the Directive sets two months). Pay-setting and progression criteria must be objective and gender-neutral, and must be made accessible to workers. These base rules apply to employers of all sizes. The exact Portuguese wording, timings and any local thresholds will only be confirmed when the national law is published.
Gender pay gap reporting and the joint pay assessment
The Directive sets reporting by employer size and a 5% unexplained-gap trigger; Portugal's exact rules are not yet enacted.
Under the Directive, employers with 250 or more workers report their gender pay gap every year, with the first report due by 7 June 2027 (covering 2026 data). Employers with 150 to 249 workers report every three years, also first due by 7 June 2027. Employers with 100 to 149 workers report every three years, first due by 7 June 2031. Employers under 100 have no EU reporting duty, though Portugal's existing Law 60/2018 already imposes annual gender pay reporting from 50 staff. If a report shows an average pay gap of at least 5 percent in any category of workers doing equal work that the employer cannot justify on objective, gender-neutral grounds and does not fix within six months, the employer must carry out a joint pay assessment with worker representatives. Because Portugal has not transposed, these dates and thresholds are the EU baseline, not yet confirmed Portuguese figures.
How this works when an Employer of Record is the legal employer
The EOR is the legal employer in Portugal and carries the statutory pay-transparency duties for the client's staff.
If you hire in Portugal through an Employer of Record (EOR) like Teamed, the EOR is the legal employer of record under Portuguese law. That means the statutory pay-transparency obligations attach to the EOR for the people it employs on your behalf: providing pay ranges in recruitment, not asking for salary history, answering employee information requests, and, where applicable, gender pay reporting and any joint pay assessment. In practice this is a shared effort. You, the client, control the role, the budget and the pay decision, so you need to give the EOR a defensible pay range and objective, gender-neutral pay criteria. The EOR makes sure the hiring and employment paperwork meets Portuguese requirements. Reporting headcount is normally measured at the legal-employer level, so discuss with your EOR how its Portuguese entity's total workforce affects any reporting band once the law is in force.
At a glance
| Pay shown in job ads | Not yet |
|---|---|
| Salary-history question banned | Not yet |
| Gender pay-gap reporting from | 50 or more (proposed) |
| First report due | 7 June 2027 (proposed) |
| Penalties | Not yet set |
Key figures
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Transposition status | Draft bill published 5 August 2026; consultation closed 25 August 2026; not yet law (source) |
| Draft bill entry into force (proposed) | First day of the month after publication, once enacted (source) |
| EU transposition deadline | 7 June 2026 (missed by Portugal) (source) |
| Pre-existing national law | Law 60/2018 (equal pay; reporting from 50 staff) - still the law in force; the draft amends it (source) |
| Pay in job ads / before interview (Directive baseline) | Pay range required before interview - not yet in Portuguese law (source) |
| Salary history ban (Directive baseline) | Banned - not yet in Portuguese law (source) |
| Reporting threshold (proposed) | 50+ employees under the draft bill (Directive baseline is 100+) (source) |
| Reporting cadence (Directive baseline) | 250+ yearly; 150-249 and 100-149 every 3 years (source) |
| First report due (Directive baseline) | 7 June 2027 (150+ workers); 7 June 2031 (100-149) (source) |
| Joint pay assessment trigger (Directive baseline) | Unexplained gap of at least 5% in a worker category, not fixed within 6 months (source) |
| Penalties | Not yet set in law; the draft proposes tougher sanctions for repeat breaches (source) |
Frequently asked questions
Has Portugal passed the EU Pay Transparency Directive into law?
Not yet. Portugal missed the 7 June 2026 deadline. A draft bill partially transposing the Directive was published on 5 August 2026 for public consultation, which closed on 25 August 2026, but it still needs parliamentary approval and publication in the Diario da Republica before it applies.
Do I already have to put pay in job ads in Portugal?
There is no national transposing law yet setting this out, so the Directive's specific Portuguese rule is not in force. The Directive requires telling applicants the pay range before interview, and the labour inspectorate (ACT) is already pushing equal-pay principles, so it is wise to start now.
Can I ask candidates in Portugal about their current salary?
The Directive bans asking about pay history, but Portugal has not yet enacted that ban in national law. Best practice is to stop asking already, as the rule will apply once Portugal transposes and aligns expectations now.
When is the first gender pay gap report due?
No Portuguese date is fixed in law yet. The August 2026 draft bill would follow the EU milestones: employers with 250 or more workers report by 7 June 2027 and then annually, 150 to 249 by 7 June 2027 then every three years, and 50 to 149 by 7 June 2031 then every three years. Separately, Law 60/2018 already requires annual gender pay reporting from 50 staff.
If I use an Employer of Record, who is responsible for compliance?
The EOR is the legal employer in Portugal and carries the statutory duties for the staff it employs for you. You still set the role and pay, so you must give the EOR a defensible, gender-neutral pay range and criteria.
Pay transparency is moving at different speeds across the EU. When Teamed is your legal employer in Portugal, these duties sit with us: compliant pay ranges, the salary-history rule, employee pay-information requests, and reporting where it applies. We track the law as it changes so your hiring stays compliant.
