As reported by Observador, the minister described a major overhaul of labour legislation as inevitable, arguing that the current framework is “deeply inadequate for work in the digital age”.

However, she acknowledged that the current Government might not complete the reform.

Salary transparency

The EU Pay Transparency Directive aims to reduce unjustified pay differences between men and women performing the same work or work of equal value.

Under European rules, employers must inform job applicants of the initial salary or salary range for a position in time to negotiate on an informed basis, and they are also prohibited from asking candidates about their current or previous salaries.

Once employed, workers can request information about average pay levels, broken down by sex, for categories of staff doing the same work or that of equal value.

Employers must also use objective, gender neutral criteria when determining pay and career progression.

However, the precise requirements in Portugal will depend on the final national legislation.

According to ECO, a draft proposal prepared by the Government would not require employers to include salary details directly in job advertisements, but the information would have to be provided before the employment contract is signed.

This approach has prompted calls for greater transparency from trade unions, with the UGT arguing that salary information should preferably appear in job advertisements, while also welcoming measures that reinforce workers’ rights.

Portugal missed the EU deadline to transpose the directive, which expired on 7 June 2026, and the European Commission subsequently opened infringement proceedings over the failure to implement the rules on time.

Digital workers

The second priority concerns Directive (EU) 2024/2831, which addresses working conditions for people whose jobs are organised through digital labour platforms.

These rules aim to make it easier to determine whether a person working through a platform should legally be classified as an employee rather than self-employed.

EU countries must establish procedures to assess employment status, including a legal presumption of employment where the relevant conditions are met, while platforms must be able to challenge that presumption under national law.

The directive also addresses the use of algorithms and automated systems to allocate work, monitor performance, and make decisions that affect workers.

Under the new framework, workers must receive information about automated monitoring and decision-making.

Decisions such as account suspensions must be subject to human oversight, while workers will have greater protection when challenging decisions made by automated systems.

Furthermore, the rules also restrict platforms from processing certain categories of personal data, including information about private conversations and data used to predict trade union activity.

EU member states have until 2 December 2026 to transpose the platform work directive into national law.

Revision uncertainty

In addition to the two European directives, Palma Ramalho reiterated her intention to pursue a revision of Portugal’s labour legislation following Parliament’s rejection of the Government’s previous labour package.

The minister argued that changes are needed to reflect the growing role of digital technology and evolving employment arrangements.

Nevertheless, she conceded that the reform could be left to a future administration.

The Government has also pledged to adapt public vocational training to new forms of work and continue efforts to reduce unemployment.

For workers and employers, the immediate changes will depend on the adoption and publication of the relevant Portuguese legislation.

Until then, the precise obligations, implementation arrangements and dates on which the new national rules will take effect remain subject to the legislative process.


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