Group of European Pensioners from Savings Banks and Financial Institutions

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Index of documents > Euromeetings Magazine > Euromeetings Number 10



IT is not easy to describe the situation of social protection in Portugal, given the  different aspects that this subject covers in most of the EU countries. However, we will try to offer a view on the Portuguese social protection adapted to the points we have been asked to analyse and to the space we have at our disposal.

RETIREMENT PENSIONS

 

Retirement pensions are granted through three different schemes:

The first scheme is the public one, in which the State relies on a body, called “CAIXA GERAL DE APOSENTAÇOES” (PENSIONS SAVING BANK) that deals with all the pension matters regarding civil servants. As for the amount of the pension, it depends on the years of service and the last salary received by the civil servant when he retired. In order to be granted the highest retirement pension (90%), it will be necessary, according to the current law, to have worked for 36 years and be at least 60 years old. However, there are some exceptions: in the case of teachers, military staff, etc. For these workers, age of retirement will be lower, since these jobs are considered more debilitating than others.

The second scheme, “SEGURANÇA SOCIAL” (SOCIAL SECURITY), is the one in place for those who work for private companies. In this case, conditions and amounts are different from those applied to the civil servants. For example: one can only retire at 65 and after 40 years of service. The pension reaches 80% of all working life average salary. Insurance companies are integrated in this scheme. Most of them have their own pension funds that supplement the pensions paid by the “social security”.

The third scheme is the one for banking employees (and that means it is the one for ANAC!). This scheme also relies on pension funds to pay for their employees’ pension. Conditions to receive a retirement pension are described on the ACTV: “Acordo Colectivo de Trábalho Vertical dos Trabalhadores Bancarios” (Vertical collective agreement on work for banking employees). Its wages and years of service differ considerably from the ones for the public and private sector. Pensions are granted according to a special chart, which is negotiated with the sector’s unions along with some other wage matters. These negotiations are held once a year.

Besides, there is a survivor pension, applicable to all the schemes, which is granted to the spouse (widow and widower) and to the minor or disabled children. The amount of this pension is 50% of the pensioner’s income at the time of death. 

SOCIAL ASSISTANCE

The State, as well as most of the biggest private companies, has social workers who deal with all the problems related to social assistance and try to find a solution for them.

The public bank (CAIXA GERAL DE DEPÓ-SITOS), and the rest of private banks, have also this type of social assistance system. 

PROTECTION OF HEALTH

There are several systems to deal with the protection of health: ADSE (Illness welfare for civil servants) in the public sector, and Social Security in the private one.

 

There are also some subsystems of protection of health, among which we can quote “SAMS” (Medical and social assistance for banking employees), and which are slightly different from those used by public bodies.

 

FIGHT AGAINST DISCRIMINATION

In Portugal, there is not a real organised system for fighting against discrimination. However, there are some NGOs (non-governmental organisations) that struggle every day for equal rights for all citizens.

PARTICIPATION IN SOCIAL AND POLITIC LIFE

In Portugal, democracy grants retired people all the rights and duties to participate in social and political life in the same way active workers do.

TRAINING

In Portugal, the right to receive a proper training during one’s lifetime does practically not exist. Nevertheless, some public departments or private companies offer to their employees the access to training or retraining, especially to those in senior positions. No existe propiamente en Portugal un sistema organizado de lucha contra la discriminación, a  pesar de que existen varias ONG’S –Organizaciones no Gubernamentales–, que en el día a día luchan por la igualdad de derechos para todos los ciudadanos.

Some private companies offer the possibility for retired employees to keep doing a working contribution, but nly as mere collaborators. In this case, most of the retired people receive proper training.

For retired civil servants, there is no special training programme like the ones offered by the private system.

 

Antonio Sirgado Serra

President of ANAC