PORTUGAL Law and Practice Contributed by: Nuno Ferreira Morgado and Júlia Mendes da Costa, PLMJ
• the dismissal was motivated by political, ideologi - cal, ethical or religious grounds; • absence of cause for termination; or • invalidity due to non-compliance with the legal requirements. When a dismissal is declared unlawful, employees are entitled to: • compensation for financial and personal damage arising from the unlawful dismissal; • reinstatement without prejudice to their category and length of service; and • the earnings they did not receive from the time they were dismissed until the time the court decision becomes final. Any sums they may have received as a result of the termination of their employment contract, which they would not have received were it not for their dismissal (eg, unemployment subsidy), will be deducted from this compensation. In lieu of reinstatement, employees may choose to receive a compensatory award, the amount of which is established by the courts and is equivalent to between 15 and 45 days of basic pay and length of service pay - ments for each full year or fraction of a year of service. If companies have a maximum of ten workers, or if the workers are directors or managers, the employer is entitled to oppose reinstatement provided it can justify that the return of these workers would seriously interfere with and prejudice the normal running of the company. The court must assess the grounds alleged by the employer. 8.2 Anti-Discrimination The grounds for anti-discrimination claims include any direct or indirect discrimination that privileges, ben - efits, wrongs or deprives of any right or exemption from any duty based notably on ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, fam - ily situation, economic situation, education level, ori -
gin or social status, genetic heritage, decreased work capacity, handicap, chronic disease, nationality, eth - nic origin or race, country of origin, language, religion, political or ideological convictions, or union affiliation. Employees who seek to enforce discrimination rights may lodge judicial claims. They must indicate the employee with whom they consider themselves to be discriminated against. The employer must prove that the different treatment between the two employees is based on non-discriminatory reasons. Employees may be entitled to compensation and, to the extent possible, to be placed in an equal position with their colleagues compared with whom they con - sider themselves to be discriminated against. 8.3 Digitalisation There are no new regulations with regards to the digi - talisation of employment disputes. The Portuguese judicial system has specialised courts specifically dedicated to labour and employment cas - es. Portuguese law does not specifically allow class action cases related to employment and labour cases. However, unions are entitled to represent their affiliate works in judicial proceedings seeking to defend col - lective rights of employees. 9.2 Alternative Dispute Resolution In Portugal, arbitration is currently not possible in employment disputes. 9.3 Costs Nominal compensation will be awarded to the prevail - ing party for attorney’s fees incurred, to be paid by the non-prevailing party. This compensation corresponds to 50% of the legal fees and other costs associated with the legal action paid by both parties to the court during the judicial procedure. 9. Dispute Resolution 9.1 Litigation
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