Law no. 60/2018, of August 21, has established, for companies employing 50 or more employees, measures to promote equal pay for women and men in order to encourage and reinforce this equal pay, thus complying with the principle of equal work, equal pay.

In the first semester of each year, the Gabinete de Estratégia e Planeamento (“GEP”), based on the information provided by the companies in the Sole Report, develops and makes available statistical information on the pay differences between men and women, identifying the main differences detected by sector of activity, profession and qualification levels (“Statistical Balance”).

Afterwards, this information is sent to the Portuguese Authority for Labour Conditions (“ACT”), in order to this entity can intervene accordingly, if necessary.

At the beginning of 2025, the ACT has begun notifying employers, by email, to present, within a deadline of 120 days, a plan for evaluation of the remuneration differences of all employees shown in the Statistical Balance drafted by GEP. This notification is a result of the detection in the Statistical Balance of remuneration differences between men and women which – in the understanding of ACT – should not exist.

Without prejudice that the companies are able to provide several clarifications to the results contained in the Statistical Review (pointing out, in particular, the limitations of filling in the Sole Report in terms of the list of professions made available, which often does not reflect the real situation of the companies), it is important to consider that the plan must be based on the evaluation of the components of the functions, based on objective criteria, common to both women and men, in order to exclude any possibility of discrimination on the grounds of sex, and any remuneration difference that are not justified by the employers are assumed to be discriminatory.

The non-presentation of the plan, as well as the non-implementation of the same and/or the non-communication of the results of its implementation to ACT, is deemed as an administrative serious offense and may result in a fine.

The of – Sucursal em Portugal has qualified professionals to provide legal advice to companies on drawing up the plan for evaluation of the remuneration differences, as well as providing clarification to ACT on remuneration differences that have been detected.