From Sunday, every employer in Portugal must tell you what a job pays.

In five days, every employer in Portugal will be required to tell you what a job pays before you apply. It's Tuesday, 2 June. Twenty-four degrees. Doja Cat plays MEO Arena tonight. The general strike is tomorrow. Here's what you need to know.

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FROM JUNE 7, EMPLOYERS IN PORTUGAL MUST DISCLOSE SALARY RANGES. THE EU PAY TRANSPARENCY DIRECTIVE IS HERE.

On Sunday, the EU Pay Transparency Directive takes effect in Portugal. From June 7, employers will be required to include salary ranges in job postings. Employees will gain the right to request information about pay levels for their role and comparable positions within their company. Companies with 150 or more employees will be required to report on gender pay gaps starting next year, with smaller companies joining on a phased basis through 2031.

If you work in Portugal, this changes how you negotiate. If you are hiring, this changes how you recruit. If you are job-hunting, this changes everything.

Until now, the Portuguese labour market has operated on a culture of pay opacity that benefits employers. Salaries are rarely disclosed in job ads. Candidates are expected to state their expectations first. Internal pay disparities between employees doing the same work are common, widespread, and deliberately hidden. The directive is designed to end that.

The practical implications are immediate. Every job listing published from June 7 must include either a salary range or a reference to the applicable collective bargaining agreement. Employers cannot ask candidates about their salary history. Workers can request written information about average pay levels, broken down by gender, for employees doing the same or equivalent work. Employers must respond within two months.

For companies with more than 100 employees, a reporting obligation kicks in. Organisations must publish data on their gender pay gap. If the gap exceeds 5% and cannot be justified by objective, gender-neutral criteria, the company must conduct a joint pay assessment with worker representatives.

For expats working in Portugal, this is significant. Many international workers accepted Portuguese salaries without knowing how they compared to colleagues in the same role. The directive gives you the legal right to find out. For remote workers employed by Portuguese entities, the same rules apply. For freelancers and contractors, the directive does not apply directly, but the cultural shift toward transparency will affect the rates you can negotiate.

The enforcement mechanism matters. Portugal's labour inspectorate (ACT) will oversee compliance. Fines for non-compliance are set at national level and are expected to be published in the coming weeks. Companies that fail to include salary ranges in job ads or refuse information requests will face financial penalties.

Bottom line: From Sunday, salary secrecy in Portugal is legally over. If you're working, you can ask what your colleagues earn. If you're hiring, you have to say what the job pays. If you're job-hunting, the guessing game is over.

⚡ QUICK HITS

The general strike is tomorrow. CP trains confirmed. SNPVAC cabin crew confirmed. AIMA already on strike (since Monday). Government services reduced. This is the most disrupted day in Portuguese public services this year. If you haven't rebooked flights, rearranged your commute, or planned childcare, this is your last chance.

The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh are in Lisbon. The royal visit celebrating the 640th anniversary of the Treaty of Windsor continues through tomorrow. The Duke visited the Oceanário yesterday and met with business leaders. Events continue across Lisbon today and Wednesday.

Median Portuguese families now spend 48% of income on mortgage payments. Bank valuations have surged to €2,174/m² nationally. The new DSTI cap is 45%, meaning families who bought recently are already at the limit the central bank considers safe. The Bank of Portugal warned last week of an "abrupt" correction. The data keeps confirming why.

📚 IMMIGRATION CORNER WITH IMIGRATA

This week we're launching something new: a regular immigration and residency update every Tuesday this month in partnership with the team at Imigrata, who work with expats navigating Portugal's visa system every day. If you're here, planning to stay, or helping someone who is, this is for you.

The Residence Path Most Expats Overlook: Education-Based Programmes

Most people looking at Portugal start with the D7 (passive income), the Digital Nomad visa, or the Golden Visa. But study-based routes can be just as smart, and sometimes better. University in Portugal is also one of the fastest ways to settle in, meet people, and start feeling like part of local life. Studying at any age here is completely normal, and student residency usually comes with no or minimal tax expectations.

Professional courses are the most flexible option and often the easiest to combine with work. Many programmes are mostly online, cover a wide range of specialities, and typically don't require a diploma or entrance exams. Residency is granted for about one year. Cost: around €800/year in Portuguese or €1,800/year in English. This route is popular, but there is currently a political risk that residency through professional courses could be restricted, so anyone interested should move quickly. AIMA appointments for this route are currently obtained through legal action.

Master's and PhD programmes are the most attractive academic routes for adults who want a real study experience. They usually don't require entrance exams, and classes often take place only a few evenings per week, which makes them practical for working people. Many programmes are available in English. Costs range from €1,500 at smaller universities to €4,000-7,000/year in larger cities. Some PhD programmes are around €3,000. Residency is usually granted for 2+1 years and can be renewed online.

Bachelor's programmes are the classic university route and best for people who want full academic immersion. More preparation is needed, but it's still possible to apply from inside Portugal. Fees are typically €2,500-7,500/year depending on the university and language.

School-based residency: if a child is enrolled in Portuguese high school, this can create a residency path for one parent. Especially relevant for families already living here.

Timing: applications from inside Portugal usually depend on getting an AIMA appointment, which takes about 1-3 months with legal support. For most article types, AIMA has enabled online portals.

Imigrata handles all residency cases: articles, D-visas, legal actions, family reunification, and more. Offices in Lisbon and Atlanta. Their website has a free 24/7 online consultation through a smart chatbot trained on Portuguese visa and AIMA matters. Talk to the bot first; if you need more help, it connects you to their live team.

4.7 stars on Trustpilot. 150+ reviews.

→ Visit their website | Chat on WhatsApp | Try the AI consultation bot

We only partner with businesses we think genuinely help our community. If this is useful to you, or if you know someone navigating the visa process, every click and every share goes a long way to keeping this newsletter free every morning.

🍽️ SPOT OF THE DAY

BRICK CAFÉ (ANJOS)

There is a café on Rua de Moçambique in Anjos that has been quietly doing the same thing well since 2013: good coffee, generous brunch, honest prices, and a room that feels like it belongs to the neighbourhood rather than to Instagram.

Brick Café opened with the idea of reinventing the traditional Portuguese café. The result is a space that borrows from European coffee shop culture without losing the warmth of the old Lisbon café it replaced. Exposed brick walls (the name is literal), a small outdoor terrace, and an interior that's cosy without being cramped.

The Brick Brunch is the reason most people come the first time and the reason they come back. It's generous: scrambled eggs, croissants, bread, bacon, cheeses, ham, guacamole, fresh-squeezed juice, and coffee. There's a half-portion (the Half Brick) if you're not ready for the full thing. The avocado toast, the smoked salmon salad, and the omelettes all get consistently good reviews. The pastel de nata arrives warm with cinnamon. The daily lunch specials have recently taken on an Asian influence, with seasonal ingredients and homemade desserts.

The staff speak fluent English. Dogs are welcome on the terrace. The WiFi works (this is a laptop-friendly spot, which not every Lisbon café is). And the prices are what Lisbon brunch prices used to be before the rest of the city decided that eggs and avocado cost €18.

→ Good brunch, honest prices. Find them here ←

Anjos, on Rua de Moçambique.

Insider tip: Go for brunch on a Tuesday before 10am. The full Brick Brunch is enough for two people if you're not starving. The fresh-squeezed orange juice is consistently the best thing on the table. If you're here for lunch, ask about the daily special.

📅 WHAT'S ON

See you tomorrow morning.