Legal Questions
What is temporary work?
What are the legal grounds?
What is the anticipated duration of temporary employment contracts?
What are the legal duties of the User?

Functional Questions

How long does a placement process last?
Who is responsible for worker transport and accommodation?
Who ensures daily transport to the workplace?
Who is responsible for supplying the individual protection equipment?
Who is responsible for promoting the carrying out of Compulsory Check-ups?
Who has disciplinary power?
Will I pay more than I would pay if I went to a temping company based in my country?
Does the budgeted amount include accommodation and transport costs?
Will I be satisfied with the workers?
Will language be a barrier?
Will these workers receive any kind of monitoring by SPT whilst they are in the service of the client?

Legal Questions

What is temporary work?

It is a triangular relationship between worker, temping company and user, being characterised by the use in a given time period of manual or intellectual services provided by an worker assigned to a temping company.

What are the legal grounds?

The legal grounds for using temporary work differ depending on the country in question. However, in the majority of countries temporary work may be used whenever there are situations of:

• Exceptional increase in company activity;
• Intermittent labour requirements;
• Seasonal or irregular activities;
• Staging of projects of a nature which is limited in time.
• Implementation of an occasional given task or service and not long-lasting;
• Intermittent requirements for the rendering of direct family support of a social nature;
• Direct or indirect substitution of the worker;
• Workpost vacancy with an ongoing recruitment process;

What is the anticipated duration of temporary employment contracts?

Subject to consulting the specific legislation of each country, as a general rule, it may not exceed the duration of the underlying reason and it may be renewed for as long as the latter persists up to a maximum limit of two years.
If it has been brought about by a “need deriving from a workpost vacancy” when there is already a recruitment process ongoing to fill said vacancy”, it shall have a maximum limit of 6 months;
If the reasons is the “exceptional increase in company activity”, it shall have a maximum limit of 12 months.

What are the legal duties of the User?

The user shall always:

• Inform SPT in writing about any risks, measures and conditions relating to SHST;
• Draw up the temporary worker working hours;
• Schedule a holiday period for the temporary worker;
• Include the temporary worker in the Social Report;
• Include the temporary worker for SHST purposes;
• Include the temporary worker for company type classification purposes;
• Provide professional training if it lasts for an uninterrupted period of over 18 months;
• Inform the temporary worker about the workposts available;
• Consider temporary workers for the purposes of applying the regime relating to the worker collective representation structure.

Functional Questions

How long does a placement process last?Placement processes may vary in line with their complexity (technical level of the post, mission site, number of professionals requested etc.) and the number of professionals available at a given time. In any case, it is estimated that a placement process lasts around 5 working days as from the award until the 1st working day at the client’s worksite.

Who is responsible for worker transport and accommodation?
All the logistics inherent in the transport from Portugal to the destination location, as well as in the accommodation of the salaried workers is the sole responsibility of SPT. The client has no obligation nor does he have to worry about these matters.

Who ensures daily transport to the workplace?
SPT is wholly responsible for providing the worker with the means of transport which it deems appropriate for his daily trips from his place of accommodation to his workplace and vice-versa.

Who is responsible for supplying the individual protection equipment?
SPT ensures the provision of hard hats, high visibility jackets and protection boots.

Who is responsible for promoting the carrying out of Compulsory Check-ups?
SPT is responsible for compliance with this legal requirement, directing its workers to the protocoled occupational health companies. When the worker leaves Portugal, he takes the check-up report with him.

Who has disciplinary power?
All disciplinary actions are carried out by SPT. The User shall, whenever there are due grounds, communicate any facts which may be liable to disciplinary proceedings as regards the workers assigned.

Will I pay more than I would pay if I went to a temping company based in my country??
No. Quite the contrary. Owing to various factors, for the same project contracting with SPT has a much lower cost.

Does the budgeted amount include accommodation and transport costs?
The amount stated in the budget includes all the expenses foreseen for a given temporary worker or group of workers. The client shall only pay the amount stated in the budget and all the expenses are paid by SPT, with the client having no liability in this regard. The client only pays for a turnkey service.

Will I be satisfied with the workers?
No-one can guarantee that you will be satisfied with the workers placed at your company. However, SPT can guarantee that they have all been through a rigorous recruitment and selection process in which only the most skilled are chosen. Many workers have already worked with SPT for several years.
Even so, the client may ask SPT to substitute the worker at any time.

Will language be a barrier?
All the workers placed will preferably have a knowledge of the language of the country of destination and many of them have carried out previous missions there so language will not constitute  a barrier.

Will these workers receive any kind of monitoring by SPT whilst they are in the service of the client?
Yes. SPT has a production and logistics department with permanent technicians in the countries where the operations are carried out and who accompany SPT workers at their accommodation sites and on all the works in which they are involved.
These technicians are in permanent contact, providing all the necessary support to the workers, solving their problems, advising them and serving as mediators and liaisons between all the parties involved.

Note: The replies to the legal questions set out herein are merely a guideline and they do not replace consultation of the actual legislation of each country. Under no circumstances may SPT – Empresa de Trabalho Temporário, S.A. be held liable for any failure to meet legal requirements by third parties resulting from the reading of this page.

For those processes in which it is involved SPT – Temping company, S.A. has an office specialised in European legislation and the legislation of each country for work and temporary work related matters, ensuring strict compliance with the legal requirements.