Compliance checks on employment disability quota

At a glance

• A new law, effective from 10 January 2019, mandates employment quotas for hiring persons with disabilities.
• Companies with over 74 employees have had to comply since 1 February 2024, with quotas varying by company size.
• The Portuguese Authority for Labour Conditions will conduct inspections from September 2024 to March 2025 to ensure compliance. Non-compliance can result in fines.
• Exemptions apply in certain cases.

A new law from 10 January 2019, established an employment quota system for hiring persons with disabilities who have a degree of incapacity which is equal to or greater than 60%.

The Portuguese Authority for Labour Conditions announced that from September 2024 until the end of the first quarter of 2025, it will promote labour inspections to verify compliance with the hiring quota.

Effective 1 February 2024, companies with more than 74 employees must adhere to specific hiring quotas for disabled employees with a disability degree of 60% or higher. The quotas vary by company size:

• Companies with over 249 employees must ensure that at least 2% of their workforce comprises disabled employees.
• Companies with 75 to 249 employees are required to have at least 1% of disabled employees.

Failure to with these quotas is considered a serious administrative offence and can result in fines ranging from EUR 612.00 to EUR 9,690.00, depending on the company’s size and degree of fault.

In certain cases, companies may be exempt from meeting the quota:

• if it is genuinely impossible to allocate a disabled person to the job for which the company is hiring; or
• there are insufficient disabled applicants for the position.

For further information, please contact any of DLA Piper’s Portuguese Employment Team.