In Portugal, the more common forms of “flexible” employment are selfemployment,
and fixed-term contracts, namely temporary work (Moniz et al. 2001:
125). The percentage of self-employed is high, not only in certain areas of traditional
(family) activities/businesses (e.g. small-scale family farming, traditional crafts) but
also in areas of innovative activity (e.g. information technology, consultancy)
(Hespanha 1999: 73)25. The employees’ condition towards employment is often insecure
(e.g. not having right to holidays, not having right to unemployment benefits, not
having stability of employment). While, in some cases, self-employment can be seen as
an alternative strategy to long-term unemployment and/or to low wages employment,
it is also characterised by rather few but highly paid jobs, performed by highly qualified
independent workers (Figueiredo 2003: 173). This attests for the different forms of
self-employment within the Portuguese labour market26
.
Temporary employment27 is also particularly high in Portugal. Again as it happens
with self-employment, it is characterized by very contrasting situations. While some
workers are highly qualified and very well paid, others are offered low salaries and
precarious jobs.
The proportion of part-time work, on the other hand, is relatively low when compared
to the EU average and to the Nordic countries, where the incidence of women
working part-time is particularly high28. However, we should note that there is, in Portugal,
25 Quantifying the percentage of self-employment in total employment is particularly difficult, since we
have to take into account the false independent work but also the fact that this kind of contract is, often,
used by entrepreneurs as a substitute to dependent, regular work. Nevertheless, according to Eurostat
for the year 2008 the percentage was of 18.5% (European Commission 2009: 177).
26 During the first phase of implementation of the EES (1997-2002), the Portuguese Government
adopted measures specifically directed to this form of employment. According to the mid-term national
evaluation study: «those measures, however, did not aim employment promotion but rather its decrease,
as it is the case of the fight against false self-employment and of the Public Administration effective
integration of workers paid through “green receipts”. Although we are not dealing with a matter of
policies inconsistency, since the real issue is the fight against false independent work and the promotion
of “legitimate” self-employment, the fact is that the simultaneous adoption of these two kinds of measures
does disrupt evaluating the effects of the measures which are intended to be evaluated”»
(DEPP/MTS 2002: 14).