Your right to holiday: how many days?
Under the general regime, you are entitled to 22 working days of holiday a year (article 238 of the Labour Code). In the year of admission it is 2 days per month of contract, up to 20; in the year you leave, it is proportional to the time worked.
TL;DR
Under the general regime, the annual holiday period is 22 working days (article 238 of the Labour Code), vesting on 1 January. In the year of admission you are entitled to 2 working days per month of contract, up to a maximum of 20, and can only take them after 6 complete months of contract. In the year the contract ends, holiday is proportional to the time worked that year (in practice, 2 days per complete month). These are working days (Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays). The old attendance bonus of up to 3 days was repealed in 2012.
How many days of holiday are you entitled to?
The short answer is 22 working days a year. That is what the Portuguese Labour Code sets out in article 238 for the general regime1. But there are two situations where the count changes: the year you start work and the year you leave. You can check your case in our holiday entitlement calculator.
Full year: 22 working days. Year of admission: 2 days per month, up to 20. Year you leave: proportional to the time worked.
The general rule: 22 working days
Under the general regime, the annual holiday period lasts 22 working days1. These are working days, that is Monday to Friday, not counting public holidays, so 22 working days correspond in practice to about one calendar month.
The right to holiday vests on 1 January each year and refers, as a rule, to the work done in the previous year. Some collective agreements (IRCT) and the public sector may grant more days, but 22 is the legal minimum that cannot be reduced.
In the year of admission
In the year you are hired, instead of the 22 days, the law applies its own rule (article 239): you are entitled to 2 working days of holiday for each month of contract duration, up to a maximum of 20 working days2.
| Months of contract in the year | Working days of holiday |
|---|---|
| 3 months | 6 days |
| 6 months | 12 days |
| 7 months | 14 days |
| 10 months or more | 20 days (maximum) |
There is also an important condition: this holiday can only be taken after 6 complete months of contract. If the calendar year ends before you reach those 6 months, the holiday can be taken up to 30 June of the following year.
In the year you leave
When the contract ends, you are entitled to holiday proportional to the time of service worked that year (article 245)2. In practice, that is 2 working days for each complete month worked in the year you leave, without exceeding the 22 days of the annual period.
Added to these, and paid separately in the final settlement, is any holiday already vested in the previous year that you had not yet taken. So someone who leaves may receive, in one go, the proportional holiday for the year of leaving plus any vested holiday left over.
No more extra days for attendance
Until 2012, the Labour Code gave up to 3 extra working days to those who rarely missed work. That attendance bonus was repealed and no longer exists in the general regime. It is a common mistake to count on those days: today the reference duration is simply 22 working days.
Holiday days are not holiday pay
Be careful not to confuse two different calculations:
- The holiday days (this article) are the time off you are entitled to.
- The holiday pay and the holiday bonus (subsídio de férias) are the money, which depends on your salary.
For the amount in euros, use the holiday and Christmas pay calculator. And if you work beyond your hours, the overtime uplifts are worked out on your base hour, not on your holiday.
An example from start to finish
Say you joined a company in June and, by the end of the year, completed 7 months of contract:
- Year of admission: 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 that year.
- Following year: with a full calendar year, you move to the usual 22 working days, vesting on 1 January.
Work out the figure for your case in the holiday entitlement calculator.
Common mistakes
Counting on extra days for low absence
The bonus of up to 3 working days for good attendance was repealed in 2012. Today the reference duration is 22 working days, with no bonus for low absence in the general regime.
Assuming you get the full 22 days in your first year
In the year of admission the rule is different: 2 working days per month of contract, up to 20 days, and only after 6 complete months. The 22 days appear in the following calendar year.
Counting holiday as consecutive calendar days
Holiday is counted in working days (Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays). 22 working days correspond to about one calendar month, not 22 consecutive days.
Frequently asked questions
How many days of holiday am I entitled to per year?
How many holiday days do I have in my first year of work?
When can I take the holiday for the year I was hired?
How many holiday days do I get if I leave mid-year?
Are there still extra holiday days for low absence?
Related reading & calculators
Sources
- 1.Código do Trabalho (Lei n.º 7/2009), art. 238.º — Diário da República · retrieved 26 Jun 2026
- 2.Código do Trabalho (Lei n.º 7/2009), art. 239.º e 245.º — Diário da República · retrieved 26 Jun 2026
- 3.Work and employment: holidays — ePortugal (Government of Portugal) · retrieved 26 Jun 2026
Author / Reviewed by
Author
Thorben Rasmus Idel
Co-founder & writer
Co-founder of Calculadora Capital and the writer behind the methodology on every calculator and article. An entrepreneur and active investor, Thorben founded Idel Versandhandel GmbH, an international trading company operating across 16 countries, and invests across stocks, ETFs and cryptocurrency. He writes the methodology and verifies the math behind each page, drawing on hands-on business and investing experience to keep the tools and explanations grounded in how money, markets and taxes actually work for everyday people in Portugal.
Reviewed by
Nahar Geva
Co-founder & reviewer
Co-founder of Calculadora Capital and the independent reviewer behind every calculator and article. An entrepreneur and active investor, Nahar brings a data- and product-driven mindset together with hands-on experience in the markets — investing across stocks and ETFs as well as cryptocurrency and other digital assets, alongside broader personal finance and real estate. On each page Nahar reviews the methodology and double-checks the math and figures, pressure-testing how the tools and explanations hold up against the way money, markets and taxes actually work for everyday investors.
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