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Ana Baptista Borges clarifies the legal framework for purchasing holidays | PÚBLICO
20 June, 2025
Ana Baptista Borges, Employment senior associate, argues that the purchase of holiday days does not face legal obstacles, but warns of the need to clarify how this possibility could be implemented, in a PÚBLICO article.
The Labour Code already answers the question of whether employees can sell holiday days, with the answer being yes for days exceeding 20 per year. What is now intended – with a clear intention to reinforce the purpose of holidays – is that employees can “buy” holidays from their employer, with a limit to be defined contractually between the parties.
In this context, Ana Baptista Borges emphasises that “although it is not yet clear how this possibility will be implemented, it seems to us that there are no legal obstacles to this measure, as it does not interfere with the legal principles and rules governing the right to holidays, in particular with regard to their irrevocability”.
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