Earlier today, Presidential Decree no. 79/17, of 24 April 2017, was made available to the public. The new Presidential Decree amends Articles 2, 7 and 10 of the general rules on labor local content and the hiring of foreign non-resident employee, which had been recently approved through Presidential Decree No. 43/17, of 6 March 2017.

The most relevant changes relate to the duration of employment contracts entered into with expatriate employees and the remuneration set out in said contracts:

• The duration of the employment contract can now be freely agreed between the employer and the employee, being subject to a maximum of two renewals. This provision needs to be harmonized with the various immigration statutes that still refer 36 months as the maximum duration for this type of contracts.
  
  
• The amount and the currency of payment of the expatriate employees’ salaries may be also freely agreed between the parties under the General Labor Law’s principles. The payment of the salaries may take place in the currency agreed between the parties, which can be a foreign currency. Further, in the case of salaries paid in cash, all payments shall be mandatorily processed through a finance institution.

For more information, please contact the following Miranda Alliance’s members:

Jayr Fernandes
[email protected]
Elieser Corte Real
[email protected]
Nuno Gouveia
[email protected]