Care worker: Are you fully aware of all your rights regarding the organization of working hours?

The informal caregiver statute aims to provide greater protection to those who informally care for dependent individuals, such as certain oncology patients.

According to the latest data released by the Social Security Institute in September 2024, there were already nearly six thousand non-primary informal caregivers in Portugal (those who regularly, but not permanently, accompany the person being cared for, and may or may not receive remuneration for their professional activity or for the care they provide).

The law grants a set of specific rights to the working caregiver who has been recognized as a non-primary informal caregiver, regarding the organization of working time:

1. The working caregiver may take five consecutive working days of annual leave to assist the person being cared for, without losing any rights except remuneration, and it is considered as effective work performance.
2. The working caregiver may be absent for up to 15 days, to provide urgent and essential assistance to the person being cared for in case of an accident or illness. Although justified, such absences may result in the loss of remuneration for the days of absence.
3. The working caregiver is exempt from performing overtime work as long as the need for assistance exists.
4. The working caregiver may request part-time work for a maximum period of four years, or a flexible schedule as long as the need for assistance exists. The employer may only refuse the request on the grounds of imperative requirements of the company's operation, or the impossibility of replacing the working caregiver due to their indispensability, and the CITE (Commission for Equality in the Workplace and Employment) must assess such an intention to refuse.
5. The working caregiver has the right to perform their duties in a telework regime for a maximum period of four years, provided that it is compatible with the activity performed, and provided that the employer has the resources and means to do so. Such a request may only be refused if those two conditions are not met, or on the grounds of imperative requirements of the company's operation, and the CITE must assess such an intention to refuse.

Some of the prerogatives indicated above reflect rights already recognized to workers with parental and family responsibilities, hence it is not permitted to combine both regimes when the working caregiver is the holder of parental rights in relation to the person being cared for.

Like the others, the rights enjoyed by the working caregiver are essential for the reconciliation of the worker's professional life with their personal life, namely with the provision of care.