Law No 4/2019 of 10 January 2019 – What is it about?

Law No 4/2019 of 10 January 2019 established the system of employment quotas for people with disabilities, with a degree of disability equal to or greater than 60%, with a view to their recruitment by employers in the private sector, as well as by public sector bodies that are not covered by Decree-Law No 29/2001 of 3 February 2001.

Persons with disabilities covered / For whom is it intended?

Persons with disabilities with a degree of disability equal to or greater than 60% may benefit from the employment quota system established in Law No. 4/2019, of 10 January, who:

• are able to carry out, without functional limitations, the activity for which they are applying;
• with functional limitations, these can be overcome by adapting or adapting the workplace and/or supporting products;
• having reduced working capacity, the functional limitations that are evident are overcome by the adequacy of the job, through the introduction of adjustments in the work process and the tasks assigned to it.

How can I prove my eligibility for the job quota?

Eligibility for quota law purposes is evidenced by the following documents:

• Multipurpose Medical Disability Certificate (issued by Medical Committee);
• Similar document (issued by the Armed Forces, PSP or GNR).

The document must show a degree of disability equal to or greater than 60%.

Which Employers are covered?

• medium-sized enterprises or other private-law employers, with a number of employees between 75 and 249;
• large enterprises or other private-law employers with 250 or more employees;
• Public sector entities not covered by Decree-Law No 29/2001 of 3 February 2001,* which employ 75 or more employees and which for this purpose are treated as undertakings.

* Central and local government services and bodies, as well as public institutes which do not have the character of personalised services of the State or public funds.

How is the size of the company/employer determined for the purposes of the Law

To determine the type of company/employer with regard to size, the number of employees corresponding to the average of the previous calendar year is calculated. For this purpose, all employees are counted, including temporary agency workers assigned in accordance with the Labour Code (*).

In the case of companies/employer entities that start their activity, the number of workers to be taken into account for the application of the Law is the one existing in the year of the beginning of the activity.

(*) Note: For this purpose, temporary agency workers are counted either in the temporary employment business (since they are its employees) or in the user undertaking, in accordance with the final part of Article 189(2) of the Labour Code).

What percentage of workers with disabilities employers are obliged to employ under the Quota Act

• medium-sized enterprises and equivalent private-sector or public-sector employers employing between 75 and 249 workers – they must employ at least 1 % of their staff with disabilities;
• Large enterprises and equivalent private or public law employers employing 250 or more workers must employ at least 2 % of their staff with disabilities.

Where the percentage results in a non-whole number, it shall be rounded up to the next whole number.

How is the number of employees with disabilities required by the employer calculated?

To determine the number of workers with disabilities to which the employer is obliged, the average number of employees is taken into account, excluding trainees, trainees, service providers and temporary agency workers (in the case of user undertakings). Disabled workers assigned to temporary agency work shall be counted towards the fulfilment of the quota in the temporary employment agency.

The verification of compliance with the quota is made in the following year, based on the information contained in the Single Report submitted by the employer, and takes into account the average number of employees in the year to which the Single Report relates.

In the case of employers with one or more permanent establishments or representations and delegations, all employees of the various establishments, representations or delegations are counted.

(See also question 17)

From what date is compliance with the quota for workers with disabilities mandatory?

Compliance with the quota for workers with disabilities by the employers covered is mandatory from the following dates:

• Employers with more than 100 employees - 1 February 2023;
• Employers with between 75 and 100 employees - 1 February 2024.

What are the obligations of employers until the date from which compliance with the quota for workers with disabilities is mandatory (transition period)?

Between 1 January 2020 and the date from which compliance with the quota is mandatory, employers must ensure that at least 1% of admissions (annually concluded employment contracts) are made with persons with disabilities.

How can I prove compliance with the hiring percentage during the transition period?

During the transition period, if the employer wishes, it may, inter alia, ask the Instituto do Emprego e Formação Profissional, I.P. (IEFP) for a declaration concerning the offers submitted in the previous year (i.e. for the years 2020 to 2022 or 2023, as applicable).

Are employers with fewer than 75 employees obliged to comply with the quota?

No, employers with fewer than 75 employees are not required to meet the quota.

An enterprise that, at any date after January 2020, becomes a medium-sized enterprise with a number of employees of 75 or more, or a large enterprise with 250 or more employees, will have an additional period of 2 years to adapt.

How can I obtain applicants for quota law enforcement purposes?

Formalizing a job offer, through the iefponline Portal in https://iefponline.iefp.pt/IEFP/index2.jsp. Following the communication of the offer, the Job Centres begin the process of dissemination and recruitment.

For the purpose of presenting candidates with disabilities, the IEFP takes into account the functional profile required by the employer, namely, the academic and professional qualifications required for the job or position, regardless of disability.

Note: The assessment of the conditions under which the person with disabilities may exercise the professional activity will be carried out by the employer with the technical support of the IEFP, through the Resource Center team, if necessary. This assessment takes into account the concrete conditions under which the tasks are carried out, identifying which activities it could carry out, how and with what adaptations.

Updated in February 2025.

Is there technical support for employers who have to adapt or adapt jobs?

Yes. Technical support to employers who hire people with disabilities is a responsibility of IEFP, through Employment Centres and Employment and Vocational Training Centres, which may resort to the support of entities accredited by them as Resource Centres.

Technical support can take the form of post-placement monitoring during the first year of the contract, which includes, in particular:

• Technical support in adapting and adapting the workstation and removing architectural barriers;
• Support for the integration of the person into the social and working environment of the company;
• Providing information to the worker, employer and co-workers in order to create an inclusive environment.

Employers who admit or intend to admit a person with disabilities and want technical support for adjustment or adaptation of jobs can request it from the Employment Center of the area where the establishment where the person will develop its activity is located (see the network of services at https://www.iefp.pt/redecentros).

To this end, employers must complete and send to the Employment Centre the form "Resource Centre - Request for Post-placement Monitoring (APC)" available on the IEFP portal at https://www.iefp.pt/formularios.

How is the IEFP's technical support effective?

Following the request for technical support from the employer, made at the Employment Centre of the area where the establishment where the person will develop his activity is located, the Employment Centre:

• verify whether there is already a person with a disability employed or identified for the purpose of employment;
• Calls for the intervention of the Resource Centre to support its intervention in the field of disability and rehabilitation in the context of post-placement monitoring;
• Inform the employer of the person in the Resource Centre who will provide the technical support by arranging a first meeting with the presence of the employer’s representative and the Resource Centre.

Following the request of the Employment Centre, the competent Resource Centre shall:

• Informs the Job Centre of the person who will ensure or coordinate the support to the entity;
• Starts the support by liaising with the company's contact person;
• Prepares the work plan, together with the entity, and its schedule, referring it to the Employment Centre;
• It prepares a report, forwarding it to the Employment Centre, after completion of the process of adjustment or adaptation of the job, which contains information on the need for post-placement monitoring to continue until the end of the maximum period provided for.

How are candidates with disabilities selected? Is it possible to get technical support?

The selection process for candidates with disabilities should be appropriate, in the different strands, to their communication/expression skills.

Once the skills, abilities and aptitudes to be assessed have been identified, the employer must choose the techniques and tests, tests or other tools that are appropriate to the communication/expression skills of candidates with disabilities, or adapt the method of application to their characteristics.

If the employer needs technical support to assess the adequacy of the selection techniques and methods, it may request the intervention of the National Institute for Rehabilitation, I.P. (INR), which will provide the technical support that may be requested, and the request must be made with the minimum notice necessary to comply with the timetable set by the entity, through a form made available on the INR, I.P. website).

Are there any exceptions in the quota law?

The Act provides for two exceptions:

• Exception relating to the application of the Law. Employers may be exempted from the application of the Law if they can prove that it is actually impossible to apply it to their jobs.

This exception may apply to all or some of the employer’s jobs, depending on their characteristics.

To this end, employers must apply to the ACT for an exception.

In order to instruct the process before the ACT, employers must request a prior opinion from the INR, I.P., which, if necessary, will request the support of the IEFP.

The request for a prior opinion to be submitted to the INR, I.P. is made on a specific form, made available on its website. portal, which, once completed, must be sent electronically to the following address: INR-quotas.emprego.privados@inr.mtsss.pt It must be accompanied by substantiated information proving that it is actually impossible to apply quotas to their jobs, in particular on goods and services produced, number of establishments, organisation chart, job description, conditions of accessibility and mobility of the company, sector(s) of the company and jobs that cannot be occupied by people with disabilities.

The decision is taken by the Authority for Working Conditions (ACT) on the basis of the opinion of the INR.

The ACT’s exception decision remains in force as long as the conditions on which it was based are maintained.

Download the form here.

• Exception relating to compliance with the quota. Employers can be exempted from compliance with the quota (percentage of workers with disabilities), from the date on which compliance is mandatory (see question 8), if they prove to the ACT that there were no candidates with disabilities, namely registered with the IEFP, who met the necessary requirements to fill the offers they submitted in the previous year.

In order to be exempted from compliance with the quota, employers must prove this situation, in particular, by means of a statement from the IEFP confirming this situation. The IEFP only issues this declaration regarding the job offers presented to it, for which employers will have to resort to the IEFP to meet their needs of hiring workers, without prejudice to other forms of recruitment they adopt. In this context, with a view to its submission to the ACT, at the beginning of January of each year, the IEFP issues a declaration, which is sent to the management area of the entities registered in the Portal. Iefponline, who have communicated offers flagged under Law No 4/2019 of 10 January 2019 in the previous year and which have not been completed in full. In the case of offers carried over from one year to the next, because it was not possible to complete the recruitment and selection process in the year in which they were communicated, the corresponding declarations are issued as soon as they are closed. Updated in February 2025.

How is the number of disabled workers required by the temporary employment agency calculated?

In order to determine the number of workers with disabilities to which temporary-work agencies, as employers, are obliged, account shall be taken of the average number of employees, including temporary agency workers, excluding trainees, trainees and persons in the provision of services.

(See also question 7)