Lisbon, June 17, 2026 (Lusa) - Hospitals may pay doctors in A&E departments a premium of between 45% and 85.5% of their basic salary for overtime worked beyond the annual legal limit, according to the decree-law published on Wednesday, which also applies to staff at Portugal’s National Medical Emergency Institute (INEM).

The decree-law published today in the Diário da República stipulates that the healthcare unit’s expenditure on so-called “on-call doctors” (service providers) will fall by 120%, thereby offsetting the cost of overtime.

The exceptional scheme provides that the amount payable for overtime in excess of the legal limit (250 hours for full-time doctors and 150 hours for others), which represents a percentage of the doctor’s basic salary, is to be calculated in blocks of 48 hours.

There are 10 groups with increasing incentive percentages, ranging from 45% of the basic salary to 85.5%.

It also provides for a 20% increase whenever a doctor has worked at least 48 hours on a Saturday or Sunday during the eight-week reference period and makes themselves available for a further 48-hour block beyond their normal working hours.

The decree-law published today applies retroactively from May this year.

SO/ADB // ADB.

Lusa