Portugal has taken a step towards extending parental leave, with lawmakers approving a joint proposal by the Socialist Party (PS) and the Social Democratic Party (PSD) that would allow parents to receive full pay for up to six months when leave is shared.
The proposal was approved on Tuesday by a parliamentary working group. It provides for 180 days of fully paid leave when both parents share the time off, compared with 150 days if only one parent takes leave. In single-parent families, the sole parent would be entitled to 180 days at full pay.
Under the shared-leave arrangement, each parent would need to take at least 30 consecutive days off, or two consecutive periods of 15 days, to qualify for a benefit equal to 100 per cent of their reference wage, calculated by Social Security.
Parents who do not share leave could instead receive 83 per cent of their reference wage over 180 days. The proposal also allows leave to extend to 210 days under certain conditions. Payment would be 90 per cent if the father takes at least 60 consecutive days in addition to his exclusive 28-day parental leave. Alternatively, the benefit would be 86 per cent if each parent takes one of the final two months of leave exclusively.
The proposed system would improve on the current rules, under which fully paid leave lasts 120 days when one parent takes the entire period, or 150 days when the father takes 30 days exclusively. Parents can extend leave by another month, but the payment rate falls to 80 per cent or 83 per cent of the reference amount, depending on the arrangement.
The measure will now be considered by the parliamentary Committee on Labour, Social Security and Inclusion before proceeding to a final vote in parliament. According to Portuguese newspaper Negócios, the changes would apply only to parental leave beginning next year and would not affect leave already under way.
The proposal follows a citizens’ legislative initiative submitted in 2023 that called for six months of fully paid leave, with the possibility of extending the period to 210 or 240 days when shared. The PS and PSD proposal draws on that initiative but offers a less extensive arrangement.
The legislation also proposes allowing private-sector employees to work a continuous day if they have children under 12 or dependants with disabilities, chronic illnesses or cancer. Employees could skip their usual lunch or dinner break to finish work earlier, while retaining the right to a break of up to 30 minutes.
Despite the proposed extension, Portugal would continue to offer less generous parental leave than several European countries.
Spain currently provides 19 weeks of fully paid leave for each parent in two-parent families, increasing to 32 weeks for single-parent families. Sweden offers a total of 480 days of paid parental leave, with benefits generally capped at 80 per cent of salary. Finland provides 320 working days per child, divided equally between parents, with 63 days transferable.
France introduced additional parental leave in July, allowing parents to share one or two extra months beyond their existing entitlements. The additional period is paid at 70 per cent of net salary in the first month and 60 per cent in the second.
