Portugal: the future of collective agreements at the center of the debate on the reform of the Labor Code

The talks between the social partners on the reform of Labor Law (see our article No. 080331) are stumbling against issues concerning the modification of rules' hierarchy and on the termination of collective agreements. The government warned that the reform will pass with or without social partners' agreement if necessary. (Ref. 080426)
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Back to the advantageous principle. Article 4 of the 2003 Labor Code had revolutionized the rules’ hierarchy by establishing the principle of subsidiarity for statutory rules compared to collective agreements. Beforehand, the latter were regulated by the principle of the most favorable. Now, it is possible to derogate from laws with collective agreements, even if it is not the most advantageous option for workers, expect for police regulations, which are of general application or ‘relatively im

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