Portugal: new individual layoff criteria adopted for the termination of a position

The Parliament adopted, on Friday, March 14, 5 new criteria chosen to justify an economic layoff (but not for mass layoffs) for the cancelation of the position.  The order was defined as well: the first criterion is the assessment of performance at work.  So far, a single criterion was applied, the “last in first out” principle, which the government claims had a direct impact on youth employment.  In 2013, the Constitutional Court rejected a first version of this aspect of the 2012 Labor Code.  Once again, the opposition is ready to turn to the Court, arguing that most businesses don’t or can’t “assess” their employees.  Please note that, for the first time in Portugal’s modern social history, a law passed without the social partners’ prior consent.