Portugal: 20 days of bereavement leave for the death of a spouse

On 23 January 2023, Portugal’s parliamentarians approved an amendment to the country’s labour code that increases paid bereavement leave for the death of a spouse from an original 5 days to 20 days. The amendment removes some of the vagueness in the wording of the 2009 labour code, which was amended in 2022, by clarifying the types of relationship that can qualify for leave. New article 251 now specifies that an employee can benefit from an absence of 20 days ‘for the death of a spouse who is n