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Holiday Entitlement Calculator

How many days of holiday are you entitled to? This calculator gives the number of working days of holiday under the Portuguese Labour Code: 22 days in a full calendar year, proportional days in the year you start work (2 per month of contract, up to 20) and proportional days in the year you leave. Pick your situation and enter the complete months of work in the year.

Holiday is counted in working days (Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays), under the Portuguese Labour Code: 22 in a full year (art. 238), 2 per month of contract in the year of admission up to 20 (art. 239), and proportional in the year you leave (art. 245).

Holiday days you are entitled to
22 working days

How the result is reached

Rule appliedFull calendar year: 22 working days of holiday (article 238 of the Labour Code).
Calculation22 working days (fixed annual amount).

Educational estimate, not legal advice. It counts the working days of holiday under the general regime of the Labour Code; collective agreements and the public sector may grant more days. It does not include the holiday pay or holiday bonus (use the holiday and Christmas pay calculator).

Video: how to use the calculator

22 working days a year (the general rule)

Under the general regime, the annual holiday period is 22 working days (article 238 of the Labour Code). These are working days, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays. The right vests on 1 January each year and refers, as a rule, to the work done in the previous year. Some collective agreements and the public sector may grant more, but 22 is the legal minimum.

In the year you start work

In the year of admission, instead of the 22 days, you are entitled to 2 working days of holiday for each month of contract duration, up to a maximum of 20 working days (article 239). In practice: 3 months give 6 days, 6 months give 12, and from 10 months you sit at the maximum of 20. These days can only be taken after 6 complete months of contract. If the calendar year ends before you reach those 6 months, the holiday may be taken up to 30 June of the following year, with one ceiling: you cannot take more than 30 working days of holiday in the same calendar year (article 239(3)).

Fixed-term contract shorter than 6 months

In a contract whose duration does not reach 6 months the count is different: 2 working days of holiday for each complete month of contract duration, with no vesting on 1 January (article 239(4)). This holiday is taken immediately before the contract ends, unless the parties agree otherwise (article 239(5)). To get the days, use the calculator’s “year you leave” mode with the complete months of the contract.

In the year you leave

When the contract ends, you are entitled to holiday proportional to the time worked that year (article 245), in practice 2 working days for each complete month worked in the year you leave, without exceeding the annual 22 days. Added to these, and paid separately, is any holiday already vested in the previous year that you had not yet taken.

No more extra days for low absence

Until 2012, the law gave up to 3 extra working days for good attendance (low absence). That bonus was repealed, so the reference duration today is 22 working days, with no attendance bonus. It is a common mistake to count on those extra days, which no longer exist in the general regime.

Selling holiday days: only those beyond 20

The right to holiday cannot be waived, with one exception: you may give up taking the days that exceed 20 working days (or the corresponding proportion in the year of admission), still receiving the holiday pay and the holiday bonus for those days, on top of the salary for the work done in them (article 238(5)). In other words, of the 22 annual days at most 2 can be “sold”; the first 20 must actually be taken.

Holiday days are not holiday pay

This calculator counts the holiday days you are entitled to. The money (the holiday pay and the holiday bonus, subsídio de férias) is a different calculation that depends on your salary. For that amount, use the holiday and Christmas pay calculator.

Worked example

Say you joined a company in June and, by the end of the year, completed 7 months of contract. In the year of admission you are entitled to 2 × 7 = 14 working days of holiday (below the maximum of 20). As you have passed the 6 months of contract, you can take them this year. The following year, with a full calendar year, you move to the usual 22 working days.

Frequently asked questions

How many days of holiday am I entitled to per year?
Under the general regime it is 22 working days a year (article 238 of the Labour Code), counted Monday to Friday and excluding public holidays. The right vests on 1 January. Collective agreements or the public sector may grant more, but 22 is the legal minimum.
How many holiday days do I have in my first year of work?
In the year of admission you are entitled to 2 working days for each month of contract duration, up to a maximum of 20 working days. For example, 7 months of contract give 14 days. They can only be taken after 6 complete months of contract.
When can I take the holiday for the year I was hired?
After 6 complete months of contract performance. If the calendar year ends before you reach those 6 months, that year’s holiday can be taken up to 30 June of the following year.
How many holiday days do I get if I leave mid-year?
You are entitled to holiday proportional to the time worked that year, in practice 2 working days for each complete month worked, up to the annual limit of 22 days. Added to these is any holiday vested but not taken from the previous year, paid in the final settlement.
Are holiday days working days or calendar days?
They are working days: counted Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays. 22 working days correspond, in practice, to about one calendar month of holiday.
Does the holiday right vest on 1 January?
Yes. The right to holiday vests on 1 January of each calendar year and refers, as a rule, to the work done in the previous year (article 237 of the Labour Code). The exception is the year of admission, where days accrue at 2 per month of contract.
Can I sell holiday days?
Only the days that exceed 20 working days (article 238(5)). You may give up taking those days without losing the holiday pay or the bonus, which add to the salary for the days worked. The first 20 days cannot be waived and must be taken.
What about a fixed-term contract shorter than 6 months?
You are entitled to 2 working days of holiday for each complete month of contract duration (article 239(4)), taken immediately before the contract ends, unless agreed otherwise. For example, a 4-month contract gives 8 working days.
Are there still extra holiday days for low absence?
No. The attendance bonus (up to 3 days) was repealed in 2012. Today the reference duration is 22 working days, with no bonus for low absence.

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Author: Thorben Rasmus Idel · Reviewed by: Nahar Geva · Last reviewed: 2026-07-15