How to manage a bank of hours

What is it for?

With a bank of hours, the employee works more hours on some days and gets them back later: as less working time, longer holidays or money. fiscaldoo keeps the scheme, each movement and the balance, refuses what goes beyond the legal limits and takes the hours paid in money to the payslip.

When to use it?

• When the applicable collective agreement provides for a bank of hours, or when the scheme was approved by referendum.
• Every time there are hours to put in or give back.
• Do not use it for overtime: see How to record overtime. The individual bank of hours, agreed only between the company and the employee, no longer exists in law.

Where to find it?

Payroll › Prepare › What is there to do this month? › Supporting lists › Prepare the month › Banks of hours.

Before you start

• Your profile is Payroll Administrator.
• You have the reference of the collective agreement or the result of the referendum, and the compensations it allows.
• There is one bank per employee and per period.

How to use it

1. Open Banks of hours and click New. Choose the Worker.
2. In Origin of the regime, choose By IRCT (art. 208.º), Group, by IRCT (art. 208.º-B/1) or Group, by referendum (art. 208.º-B/2).
3. Fill in From and Up to. For a scheme set by a collective agreement, write the Collective agreement (IRCT). For group schemes, write Workers covered or in favour (%).
4. Tick at least one compensation: Compensation: reduction of the working time, Compensation: longer holidays or Compensation: payment in money. Fill in Notice of the extra work (days), as the collective agreement says.
5. If the collective agreement is stricter than the law, fill in IRCT: daily increase (h), IRCT: weekly limit (h) or IRCT: annual limit (h). Daily increase limit (h), Weekly limit (h) and Annual limit (h) show what is in force.
6. Save. In Movements, click Add a line and fill in Date, Movement and Hours. The options are Hours put in the bank, Reduction of the working time, Longer holidays and Paid in money. In Note, do not write personal or health data. Save. Balance (hours) is updated.
7. To pay hours in money, record Paid in money with a date in the month to be paid and click Calculate on that month's payslip. The Bank of hours paid in money line is added by itself.

Example. An employee earning €960.00 with 40 hours a week, in November 2026:

Date	Movement	Hours	Effect on the balance
03/11/2026	Hours put in the bank	3	+3
04/11/2026	Hours put in the bank	4	+4
10/11/2026	Reduction of the working time	2	−2
20/11/2026	Paid in money	3	−3
	Balance (hours)		2

On the payslip, the 3 hours paid are worth 3 × €5.538462 = €16.62. The hourly rate is the normal one: €960.00 × 12 ÷ (52 × 40). How was it calculated? shows “IRS: subject. Social Security: subject.”

Expected result

• The bank shows the limits in force and the balance.
• Only the Paid in money hours reach the payslip. The other ways of giving hours back only change the balance.
• On the final payslip, a positive balance appears on the Balance of the bank of hours at the end of the contract line.

Important notes

Source: Labour Code (Código do Trabalho), arts. 208.º and 208.º-B, text read on PGDL on 04/11/2026.

Origin of the regime	Per day	Per week	Per year	Law
Collective agreement	4 more hours	up to 60 hours	200 hours	art. 208.º, no. 2
Referendum	2 more hours	up to 50 hours	150 hours	art. 208.º-B, no. 3

• Annual limit waived. The collective agreement can waive it to avoid reducing the number of employees, for a period of up to 12 months (art. 208.º, no. 3). Use Annual limit waived by the IRCT.
• Referendum. The scheme lasts at most 4 years (art. 208.º-B, no. 4, point b).
• Compensation. The collective agreement regulates it: reduction of working time, extra holidays or money (art. 208.º, no. 4).

Pending validation by a certified accountant: the rate for hours paid without the overtime premium, which How was it calculated? also marks as pending validation; and liability to IRS and Social Security.

Common problems

On saving: “has no compensation”

• Message: “The bank of hours of … has no compensation. What happened: art. 208.º/4-a requires at least one of the reduction of the time, the longer holidays or the payment in money. How to fix it: tick at least one compensation.”
• What to do: tick the compensation the collective agreement provides for.

On saving: “more than the 4.0 hours a day”

• Message: “The hours put in the bank of … on 03/11/2026 are more than the 4.0 hours a day the law allows. What happened: the normal period can grow only that much (CT art. 208.º/2, 208.º-B/3). How to fix it: put fewer hours in the bank on that day.”
• What to do: correct the hours. Anything above the limit may be overtime: confirm with the accountant.

On saving: the week goes over the limit

• Message: “The week of 09/11/2026 of … would have 64.0 hours and the law allows up to 60.0. What happened: the normal weekly period (40.0 h) plus the hours of the bank cannot pass the limit. How to fix it: put fewer hours in the bank that week.”
• What to do: reduce the hours for that week.

On saving: “has no such balance”

• Message: “… has no such balance in the bank of hours. What happened: the hours given back are more than the hours put in up to 20/11/2026. How to fix it: correct the hours.”
• What to do: check the date and the hours. The balance only counts what was put in up to that date.

Referendum: “lasts more than 4 years or has no end”

• Message: “The group bank of hours of … lasts more than 4 years or has no end. What happened: art. 208.º-B/4-b limits the period of a scheme approved by referendum. How to fix it: fill in an end date no more than 4 years after the start.”
• What to do: correct Up to.

Referendum: the percentage is refused

• Message: “The group bank of hours of … has 0.0 % of the workers and the law asks for at least 65.0 %. What happened: arts. 206.º/1 and 208.º-B/6 set the minimum. How to fix it: correct the percentage or do not apply the regime to the group.”
• What to do: write the real percentage in Workers covered or in favour (%). Below the minimum, do not apply the scheme.

On saving: “Some required fields are empty”

• Cause: for a scheme set by a collective agreement, the reference is missing.
• What to do: fill in Collective agreement (IRCT).