Employment contract
Fill in the fields and the contract takes shape alongside, with the clauses already written: role, place of work, pay, term, probation period and the entries Portuguese law requires. Available in Portuguese, English or Spanish. When you are done, print it, and your browser's print dialog offers save as PDF.
Three steps, nothing to install.
Everything runs on your own computer, start to finish.
Name employer and employee
Name, tax number and contact for each. These go into the header and the signature blocks.
Set the role, the pay and the term
What the person will do, what they earn, where they work and for how long. The role has to be recognisable: it is what limits what can be required.
Print or save
The contract is already finished alongside. Hit generate and pick your printer, or save as PDF from the print dialog itself.
Open-ended is the rule, fixed-term is the exception
Under Portuguese law an employment contract is presumed open-ended. A fixed-term contract is only valid where the law allows a term, and the reason must be written into the contract itself, with the facts that justify it. A fixed-term contract with no written justification, or a vague one, converts into an open-ended contract.
The probation period exists even if unwritten
The law sets default probation periods, which vary with the type of contract and the role. Writing it into the contract serves to shorten it or to waive it, not to create it. During that period either side may terminate without cause.
Pay is more than the amount
Beyond the figure, what matters is frequency, method of payment, allowances, and what does or does not count as pay for holiday and social security purposes. The document prints what you write in the amount field: if there is a meal allowance or bonuses, write them there.
This is where a generic template gets you least far
Portuguese employment law is largely mandatory: rules apply even where the contract says otherwise, and clauses are void where they are less favourable than the law or than the collective agreement covering the sector. An employment contract written without looking at the sector's collective agreement can be paying below the minimum without anyone noticing.
It does not handle what comes next
Signing the contract is one part. What is missing is reporting the hire to Social Security before work starts, workplace accident insurance, health and safety obligations, and monthly payroll. None of that happens here.
Fixed-term, part-time and remote contracts need review
The template covers the ordinary case: open-ended, full time. Fixed term, part time, remote work, secondment and foreign workers each carry their own form and content requirements, and are worth a review by someone who knows them.
Questions about the employment contract.
Does an employment contract have to be in writing?
An open-ended full-time contract does not require writing, but almost every other kind does, and the written document is always what proves what was agreed. Without a written contract, the regime most favourable to the employee is presumed.
Can I set a six-month probation period?
It depends on the role and the type of contract. The law sets the maximums, and a probation period written above the legal maximum is only valid up to that maximum. Writing more does not extend anything.
Can I use it to hire someone in another country?
Not without review. The clauses point to Portuguese law, and hiring someone who works in another country raises questions of applicable law, social security and tax that a generic template does not solve.
Do I need an account?
Yes. Each document costs one euro, as a one-off purchase: you pay for that document and there is no monthly fee. The account is created by magic link, with no password. The declaration opens without paying, one a day.
About to hire someone?
Start with the contract.
Open the builder and fill it in. Nothing to install, nothing sent anywhere.
Open the contract builder