Certificate of incapacity for work

On January 18, 2024, Ordinance 11/2024—amending the legal regime on social protection in the event of sickness and the certificate of incapacity for work—was published.

The main amendments are as follows:

• Employees can now declare their temporary incapacity for work using the Portuguese National Health Service’s digital service, or the digital services of the Regional Health Services in Madeira and the Azores.
• A temporary incapacity certificate may be issued with retroactive affect for the following periods: up to 30 days in situations certified by a medical certificate and up to 5 days for self-declarations.
• The certificate of incapacity has new exceptions to the time limit[1] established for both the initial period and any extension granted, in the following cases:

-        oncological disease: the time limit is 90 days;

-        cerebrovascular accidents: the time limit is 90 days;

-        cardiac ischemia: the time limit is 90 days;

-        post-surgery: the time limits is 60 days;

-        tuberculosis: the time limit is 60 days;

-        clinical risk pregnancies: up to the estimated delivery date indicated by a doctor.

Ordinance 11/2024 makes amendments to the regime on temporary work incapacity that may impact employers’ human resources management with regard to the rules on justifying absence due to sickness. In particular, the fact that employees can self-declare temporary incapacity for up to five days retroactively, may require greater control and monitoring of sick leave. Employers should therefore be aware of the new rules and their effects on work organization and employees’ social protection.