The government would like to bring the duration of collective agreements from 5 down to 2 years. Social dialogue is going to start on the subject. Besides, the suspension of collective agreements’ standards on extraordinary work are extended until the end of this year. Enforced on July 1, 2012, this suspension should have come to an end on August 1. The existing law allows an increase ranging between 25 and 50 percent of the hourly tariff in force, whereas certain agreements bring this increase up to 50-100 percent. The open will to impose this cut to labor costs led to vivid protests among unions.
Additional work. In 2012, the Portuguese government decided to amend a series of rules and employment regulations in order to reduce labor costs and increase flexibility within the framework of the international loan received to pay off its det. Collective agreements’ provisions concerning overtime pay were suspended until August 1, 2014. Beyond 40 working hours a week, overtime is paid 25-50 percent more whereas, before, it could be 50-100 percent more than the normal hourly rate...
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