Portuguese Labour Research Articles

The effect of Brexit on British workers living in Portugal: a synthetic control method approach

Abstract The effect of Brexit is an important topic in European and British political agendas. In this study, we examine the effect of Brexit on the Portuguese labour market. We apply the synthetic control method to estimate how the number of UK citizens working in Portugal would have evolved if the Remain vote had won the referendum. Our results suggest that the Brexit referendum reduced the number of UK-dependent workers in Portugal, particularly in the case of non-university-educated, male individuals with temporary employment contracts. This reduction is explained by the decrease in the number of incomers. We also find that those UK citizens who were already working in Portugal before Brexit were more likely to continue working in the host country.

On the constitutional compliance of the 2023 reform of the Portuguese Labour Code

Este texto visa dar resposta a algumas questões de constitucionalidade que a reforma de 2023 (a Agenda do Trabalho Digno) do Código do Trabalho suscita. Analisaremos o artigo dos Professores Romano Martinez e Gonçalves da Silva e tentaremos contribuir para a análise de algumas das medidas mais controversas da reforma – a proibição de terceirização (artigo 338.o-A), a irrenunciabilidade dos créditos laborais (artigo 337.o, n.o 3), a atividade sindical na empresa (artigo 460.o, n.o 2), e a arbitragem para apreciação dos fundamentos da denúncia da convenção coletiva (artigo 500.o-A).

The First International Seen from the Periphery: The Portuguese Case (1871–1876)

This article discusses the influence the Spanish workers’ movement had in the creation of the Portuguese section of the First International (the International Working Men’s Association) and the political struggles faced by the First International in Portugal. From 1871 until 1876, a battle for the periphery became evident in Portugal, as conflicts grew between the London-based General Council (Marxists) and anarchists (Bakuninists) based in Switzerland, Italy, and Spain. The emergence of the Portuguese section opened the way for a new political arena for internal clashes of the First International as both factions sought to control the Portuguese labour movement. The influence on Portuguese socialism by the General Council’s supporters (mainly Engels, Marx, and Paul Lafargue) was clear, however. On the other hand, the anarchist International Alliance of Socialist Democracy persevered with its contacts with the Portuguese. Both factions were, above all, interested in the International’s potential to act as a transnational organization and to challenge for influence in the Portuguese section of the International.

The effects of contract-type mismatch and matching frictions on unemployment duration: evidence for Portugal

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the impact of matching frictions in the Portuguese labour market on individual unemployment hazard rates and unemployment durations. The coexistence of permanent contracts and temporary contracts in the Portuguese (dual) labour-market is akin to a matching friction, with a contract-type mismatch between jobseekers who prefer permanent contracts, whereas firms, in turn, prefer to offer temporary contracts. The paper uses a rich micro dataset which allows to compute a time and space varying contract-type mismatch index, over 86 local labour markets (job-centers of the Portuguese Public Employment System) and five years. Employing discrete time hazard models and a stock-flow matching mechanism, we find that local labour markets with higher contract-type mismatch rates are characterized by lower hazard rates and longer unemployment duration. Improving the desirability of temporary contracts and information about local contract-type mismatch rates may reduce matching frictions and average unemployment duration.

Revisiting Marginal Intra-Industry Trade and Portuguese Labour Market.

This study aims to empirically test the smooth adjustment hypothesis (SAH) in the Portuguese labour market during 2000-2018, considering changes in employment, wage, productivity, consumption and the marginal intra-industry trade. So, following the literature, a greater marginal intra-industry trade intensity should reduce adverse shocks expressed in temporary inefficiencies such as undesirable job search costs and workers' relocation and retraining. According to state of the art, our research strategy considered a battery of diagnosis tests about the random generating process of variables included in a dynamic panel data model. The extensive work developed in this paper is a further step to introduce recent techniques such as the Method of Moments Quantile Regression and the cointegration panel models to infer long-term dynamics. Overall, the main point is that we find evidence confirming the hypothesis mentioned above, showing that mutual interactions reduce adverse shocks above mentioned. Thus, the study demonstrates that the marginal intra-industry trade promotes smooth adjustment in the Portuguese economy.

The impact of the EU economic governance in Portugal

This article discusses the main changes introduced to the Portuguese labour market following the adoption of the Memorandum of Understanding of 2011. The intent behind the Memorandum's demands was to reduce the costs related to employment contracts, to expand both internal and external flexibility, and to relaunch collective bargaining under a new and more decentralised framework. However, several measures ended up being at odds not only with the Portuguese Constitution, but also with ILO Conventions and the (Revised) European Social Charter. We address the changes to wage policies, working time, employment protection legislation, and collective bargaining, which gave way to a new ‘flexibility-oriented’ labour relations model, characterised by a global reduction of labour protection levels. We argue that not only were these measures unable to fix the problems of the Portuguese labour market, but they also had crippling effects on social rights in general and, most particularly, on workers’ rights. Moreover, despite the overcoming of the economic crisis, as well as the changes to the political scene, the most significant alterations were maintained. This demonstrates that bailout reforms leave their mark, particularly when they correspond to measures previously under discussion and when their implementation is supported by external pressures.

Privacy at work

Today, there is a widespread recognition of the horizontal effect of fundamental rights. The labourcontract represented everywhere, in democratic systems, the natural framework for the development of such an effectiveness of constitutional precepts and values, with the need of answering to the question of whether-and to what extent–the interests that are in the basis of the employer's power require and justify in casuthe limitation of the employee ́s freedom.The Portuguese Labour Code, in articles 14 and following, expressly recognizes certain fundamental rights of the human being in the workplace,including the privacy. The employee has, in fact, the right to expect a certain degree of respect for his privacy in the workplace, which is where he develops an important part of his relations with others. This right shall, however, be balanced with other rights and legitimate interests of the employer, in particular the rights to effectively manage his enterprise and specially to protect himself from liability or damage caused by employee ́s actions.The case law –namely that of the Supreme Court of Justice -has influenced the evolution of the Labour Law, contributing to the interpretation of the lawand the resolution of some controversial employment issues, e.g. in matters related to fundamental rights. In the final part of this article we will seek toprovide a brief overview of some innovative case law issued by the Social Chamber of the Portuguese Supreme Court, particularly after entering into force the Portuguese Labour Code in 2003.

Conselhos de empresa europeus no contexto português: dos obstáculos às boas práticas no setor metalúrgico

Almost three decades after the emergence of the European Works Councils (EWCs), obstacles persist to the functioning of that body of information and consultation of workers. After placing the topic within the framework of the Portuguese labour relations system and mapping out some of those obstacles, good practices are mentioned in the light of the metallurgical sector and the Volkswagen EWC. It is argued that, even though it should be looked at carefully, the experiences of good practices are crucial to face uncertainties and reinforce the potential for labour participation in multinationals.

Professional digital journalists and entry in the Portuguese labour market

ABSTRACT This article analyzes the conditions in which Portuguese digital journalists enter the workplace by looking at certain choices they made while studying, during internships, and entering the ever-growing labour market. Thirteen biographical interviews were conducted with professionals who started working in journalism after 2005. The results show an opposition to the regressing conditions surrounding entry into journalism, as well as a set of strategies for insertion and permanence in the profession. The results also show that a journalist’s entry into journalism is a result of a combination of having a career project, of the individual choices that journalist makes, and how he or she has had to adapt their identity based on labour market limitations and the opportunities that have opened up ever since the onset of digital media.

Portugal has had in the last months several changes in Labour Law in different areas

I - The increase in the minimum wage In January 2020 the minimum wage was increased to 635 euros per month, and it was implemented on 1 January 2020 by Decree-Law no. 167/2019 of 21 November. The aim of the new Government is to reach 750 Euros in 2023. Article 273, no. 1, of Portuguese Labour Code guarantees all employees a minimum monthly wage, to be annually established by specific legislation, following consultation of the social partners because this topic requires a binding opinion by th...

The end of the weekly rest period on the seventh day?

The monologue that is reproduced has in its genesis two sentences related to the imperfect problem of the enjoyment of weekly rest at shift work: the judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union, of 9-11-2017 (Maio Marques da Rosa, case C - 306/16), and the Supreme Court of Justice, of 14-11-2018 (case 1181/15.4T8MTS.P1.S1). The fact that the issue in question was decided on the basis of rules of general scope (respectively, Article 5, first part, of the Directive 2003/88, concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time, and Article 232, paragraph 1, of the Labour Code) has given to give these decisions an innovative dimension, potentially disruptive in the social and legal sphere, if it is under-stood that the normativity of the first sentence is directly extendable to the com-mon of labour contracts. The final conclusion is that the Portuguese labour system enshrines the weekly rest rule on the seventh day, allowing for the possibility of derogations for a limited set of activities; however, in relation to these, the application of this regime depends on provision in terms of collective labour regulation instruments.

Ageing and Productivity

The Portuguese labour force is ageing rapidly, corresponding to an increase in the share of older cohorts in the workforce, and there are no prospects that this situation will slow down. This study carries out an empirical analysis of the impact of workforce ageing on labour productivity in the Portuguese economy considering data for the period 1971-2017. We investigate the main channels through which these demographic changes affect labour productivity, the accumulation of factors of production, physical or human capital, and total factor productivity (TFP), based on a Cobb-Douglas production function. The results from the estimation of our VAR model defined according to the aggregate production function that includes the capital-output ratio, educational attainment, TFP and an indicator of workforce ageing, and the corresponding impulse-response functions analysis do not allow us to identify any impact of the growth rate in the proportion of older workers on the growth rate of labour productivity. For the time being it thus seems that workforce ageing has not posed a serious threat to the Portuguese economy, but this situation could rapidly change in the near future given the dismal demographic forecasts that project that the Portuguese population will decrease from 10.5 millions of people in 2012 to 8.6 millions in 2060 (INE 2014).

O Centro Promotor dos Melhoramentos das Classes Laboriosas

Durante décadas o Centro Promotor funcionou como o grande pilar do movimento operário português, estando completamente integrado na sociedade liberal. Neste artigo pretendemos analisar a integração e a rutura do movimento operário na sociedade liberal através o Centro Promotor, entre 1850 a 1873. Uma baliza cronológica caracterizada por um despontar de um movimento operário ordeiro e conciliador com o regime liberal que, mais tarde, vai ser substituído por uma outra geração de socialistas mais radical que provoca a desintegração do movimento operário no regime liberal.

Spatio-temporal models for georeferenced unemployment data

The Portuguese National Statistical Institute is responsible for estimating and publishing quarterly labour market figures at national level for both NUTS I and NUTS II regions. Over recent years it has become increasinglyimportant to identify these figures at more disaggregated levels. However, based on the established direct estimation method, it is not possible to produce satisfactorily precise estimates at higher spatial resolutions. From the 4th quarter of 2014 onwards, all the sampling units, namely the residential buildings, of the Portuguese Labour Force Survey (PLFS) were georeferenced. To take full advantage of this information, Pereira et al. (2019) proposed applying a spatial marked point process approach to unemployment estimation, in which the estimation of the unemployment intensity becomes the focal point. There, the sampling units were assumed to be a realization of a spatial point process, specifically a log Gaussian Cox process, with the number of unemployed in each unit being their respective marks. Recently, further information on the geo-referenced locations of all units of the population, namely all residential buildings in the national territory, became available. Consequently, it is no longer necessary to model the spatial configuration of the units of the population. Thus, we propose a new point referenced model for the marks based on the sampled units and extrapolate this to all units of the population. As expected, this extra information, and as a consequence the new model itself, produce estimates with higher precision.

Unemployment estimation: Spatial point referenced methods and models

From the fourth quarter of 2014, the Portuguese Labour Force Survey (PLFS) started geo-referencing the sampling units, namely the dwellings, in which the surveys are carried out. This opens new possibilities in analysing and estimating unemployment and its spatial distribution across any region by employing point referenced methods and models. According to a preestablished sampling criteria, the labour force survey selects a certain number of dwellings from across the nation to study, and establishes the number of unemployed people in each dwelling. Based on this survey, the National Statistical Institute of Portugal presently uses direct estimation methods to estimate the national unemployment figures. Recently however, there has been increased interest in estimating these figures in smaller areas. Due to reduced sampling sizes in small areas, direct estimation methods tend to produce fairly large sampling variations. Therefore, model based methods should be favoured as these tend to borrow strength from area to area by making use of the areal dependence. These model based methods tend to use areal counting processes as models and typically introduce spatial dependence through the model parameters using a latent random effect.In this paper, we suggest using point referenced models as an alternative to the traditional small area estimation methods for unemployment estimation. Specifically, we model the spatial distribution of residential buildings across Portugal using a log Gaussian Cox process, and the number of unemployed people per residential unit as a mark attached to these random points. Thus, the main focus of the study is to model the spatial intensity function of this marked point process. The number of unemployed people in any region can then be estimated using a proper functional of this marked point process. The principal objective of this point referenced method for unemployment estimation is to produce reliable estimates at higher spatial resolutions, and at the same time to incorporate into the model any available auxiliary information of the residential units, such as mean age or education level as compared to areal unit averages used in small area estimation.

ANTHONY LEEDS: BEYOND BRAZIL

Abstract Anthony Leeds is best known for his work in Brazil. His doctoral fieldwork was conducted in Bahia, and he published extensively on his work in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. This article focuses instead on his work outside Brazil. An energetic fieldworker, the article follows his research in Venezuela, in Lima, in Texas hill villages, on Chukchi reindeer herders and pig breeding in Melanesia, and on Portuguese labour migration, as well as his theoretical contributions to understanding the linkages between the rural and the urban. Based on the accounts of Leeds’s former students and colleagues at the universities of Texas and Boston and on the consultation of the collection kept at the National Anthropological Archives, we present the phases in which Anthony Leeds’s professional career can be divided and the main studies that he worked on until his death in 1989.

The politics of labour reforms in Portugal: Politicization and Europeanization before and after the bailout

Abstract The article focuses on the politicization of Portuguese Labour Code reforms since the early 2000s. More specifically, it looks at the link between mechanisms of politicization and Europeanization from a variety of perspectives, including decision-making processes and agenda setting, political divides and reform coalitions. By adopting a longitudinal approach, the article shows how the economic crisis and troika bailout have affected connections between politicization and Europeanization. Portuguese labour market policies have followed a continuous process of increased flexibility in recent years irrespective of governments’ partisan orientations and without any significant variations. It remains that the economic crisis – and the memorandum agreed with the troika and implemented against the backdrop of a sovereign debt crisis – have had a considerable effect on political debate and social protest while deepening the polarization that divides Portuguese trade unions and governing parties. The processes of Europeanization and politicization are addressed from a qualitative perspective that is crucial in the understanding of the politics of labour reforms in Portugal as it sheds light on the political conditions of reforms coalitions and their constraints.

Liberalised dualisation. Labour market reforms and the crisis in Portugal

Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data, this article examines how the main dimensions of labour market legislation (employment protection, security in unemployment, collective bargaining and activation policies) changed in Portugal during the sovereign debt crisis from 2011 to 2014. We show that the reforms passed during the Troika years were qualitatively different to earlier reforms. Despite building upon previous trends, there were path-shifting changes. First, security in employment and in unemployment for standard workers (insiders) declined substantially. Second, a significant decentralisation of wage bargaining shifted the balance of power towards employers, while a move from joint to statutory regulation stalled social cooperation. Third, neither of these trends was offset by any relevant unemployment compensation strategy or activation effort targeted at outsiders: no recalibration occurred in a historically dualised labour market. The balance of power between employees and employers shifted towards the latter at the expense of the former. A worse situation for insiders and outsiders points to wide market flexibilisation and enduring segmentation at a lower level of security. The austerity-driven reforms brought the Portuguese labour market to a liberalized dualisation, signalling a new departure for Portuguese labour market relations.

Os direitos da personalidade dos empregados face a tríade dos poderes patronais: o monitoramento das correspondências eletrônicas

This work aims to study the breach of confidentiality and access to employee information by the employer in the workplace and its implications. It is known that the employment contract requires the recognition of workers' dignity and seeks to ensure and protect the social and fundamental rights of the human person and, since the worker is part of a disadvantage in the employment relationship. The right to privacy includes the Personality Rights listed in the Portuguese Labour Code, which in turn, is in line with human rights constitutionally guaranteed. From this perspective it appears that the rights to personality penetrate the working relationship and erect as an important limit on the employer's powers and at the same time, as a guarantee of the exercise of several fundamental rights. However, to what extent could the employer violates the electronic correspondence worker under their occupation? And to what extent can the employee to use the structure of the media company without setting abuse on your part? This study is relevant to the extent that seeks to answer questions and make reflections on this subject widely discussed in the legal system.

Collateral Damage? Labour Market Effects of Competing with China – At Home and Abroad

The increased range and quality of China's exports is a major ongoing development in the international economy with potentially far-reaching effects. In this paper, we examine the impact of the China's integration in international trade in the Portuguese labour market. On top of the direct effects of increased imports from China studied in previous research, we focus on the indirect labour market effects stemming from increased export competition in third markets. Our findings, based on matched employer-employee data in the 1991-2008 period, indicate that workers' earnings and employment are significantly negatively affected by China's competition, but only through the indirect 'market-stealing' channel. In contrast to evidence for other countries, the direct effects of Chinese import competition are mostly non-significant. The results are robust to a number of checks, and the negative impacts of indirect competition are found to be stronger for women, older and less educated workers, and workers in domestic firms.