How to deduct and pay union dues

What is it for?

It stores the employee's written authorisation, deducts the dues on the payslip and shows what you must pay each union and by when. fiscaldoo does not send anything to the union: the payment and recording it are your steps.

When to use it?

• When an employee gives you the written, signed declaration to deduct the dues.
• On each payslip of that employee, while the authorisation is in force.
• Every month, by the 15th, to pay what was deducted in the previous month.
• When the employee hands in the declaration ending the collection.

Where to find it?

On the Payroll › Prepare › What is there to do this month? dashboard, Trade unions and representatives group:

• Trade unions;
• Union dues authorisations.

In the menu: Payroll › Prepare › Union dues to deliver.

Before you start

• Your profile is Payroll Administrator. The Payroll Processor sees the unions and the authorisations, but does not have New.
• You have the signed declaration as a file, with the amount or percentage and the union.
• The union exists in Contacts. If not, ask someone with the Accountant profile to create it: Contacts › New. Today, with the Payroll Administrator profile, the field does not offer to create one.
• The Union dues pay item has a posting template. In the demo company it did not: create it as explained in How to post the payroll, with Debit account 231290, Credit account 2781 and Partner Trade union.

How to use it

1. Open Trade unions and click New. Fill in Trade union, NIF, IBAN and Contact (accounting), and save.
2. Open Union dues authorisations and click New. Fill in Worker and Trade union.
3. In Basis, choose The collective agreement provides for it and the worker authorizes (art. 458.º/1) or Express option of the worker (art. 458.º/1).
4. In Dues, choose Value or Percentage of the remuneration and enter the number in Amount or percentage.
5. In Delivered to the employer on, enter the day the declaration was handed in. Deducted from fills in by itself: the 1st of the following month.
6. Tick Written and signed, upload the file in Declaration, save and click Activate.
7. On the month's payslip, click Calculate. The Union dues line comes in by itself while the authorisation is in force, and calculating again does not repeat it.
8. Click Validate and Account. The dues move to Union dues to deliver, per union, with Deliver by on the 15th of the following month.
9. Pay the union in Payroll › Pay › Settlement with creditors, as in How to process wage assignments: untick the lines you will not pay now.
10. In Union dues to deliver, open the union, click the line and fill in Delivered on and Delivery reference. Save in the list itself. The line leaves the To deliver filter: remove the filter to see it again.
11. To end the collection, open the authorisation, fill in Cessation delivered on and click End the collection. The state becomes Ceased and No longer deducted from shows the 1st of the following month. In the example, with the cessation handed in on 20/11/2026, the date is 01/12/2026, and the December payslip no longer has the Union dues line.

Example. An employee with €1,900.00 of base pay authorises 1 %. She hands in the declaration on 20/10/2026, so the deduction starts in November. The November 2026 payslip was:

Line	Amount
Base pay and meal allowance	€2,029.15
IRS withheld	−€124.00
Employee Social Security	−€209.00
Union dues: 1 % of €1,900.00	−€19.00
Net	€1,677.15

Journal entry for the dues, checked in the ledger:

Account	Debit	Credit	Contact
231290 Remunerações em processamento	€19.00
2781 Outros devedores e credores (corrente)		€19.00	Sindicato do Comércio do Norte

The deadline for paying the union was 15/12/2026. Paid on 20/12/2026, the line turns red: the delay stays visible.

Expected result

• The authorisation is Active, with the date from which it is deducted.
• The payslip has the Union dues line, and How was it calculated? explains the amount.
• In Union dues to deliver, each union shows the total and the deadline.

Important notes

Source: Labour Code (Código do Trabalho), arts. 457 and 458, text read on PGDL on 04/11/2026.

• When dues are collected. When the collective agreement provides for it and the employee authorises it, or by the employee's express choice (art. 458, no. 1). Failing to collect the dues from someone who authorised it is a very serious administrative offence (art. 458, no. 8).
• The declaration. It is written and signed, and states the amount or percentage and the union (no. 2). The employee sends a copy to the union (no. 6).
• Payment. By the 15th of the following month (no. 3).
• Effect. The authorisation and the cessation take effect from the month after they are handed to the employer (no. 7).
• Sensitive data. Union membership may only be used to collect and pay the dues (art. 457, no. 3).

Pending validation by a certified accountant: the basis of the percentage (fiscaldoo used base pay, without the meal allowance); the dues being outside the one-sixth limit of Labour Code art. 279, no. 3; account 2781 in the posting template; and the dues field in the DMR.

Common problems

On activating: “without the written, signed declaration”

• Message: “The authorization of … cannot be activated without the written, signed declaration. What happened: art. 458.º/2 of the Labour Code requires the worker to write and sign it, stating the amount or the percentage and the union. How to fix it: attach the declaration and tick “Written and signed”.”
• Cause: the file or the tick is missing. The tick alone is not enough.
• What to do: do both and click Activate again.

The percentage is refused

• Message: “The percentage of the union dues cannot pass 100 %. How to fix it: copy the percentage from the declaration of the worker.”
• What to do: enter the percentage as a number, for example 1 for 1 %.

On calculating: the line has no authorisation

• Message: “A linha “Quotas sindicais” do recibo de … desconta quota sindical mas não tem autorização deste trabalhador. …” (The “Union dues” line of …'s payslip deducts union dues but has no authorisation from this employee. What happened: dues are only deducted with the employee's written authorisation (Labour Code art. 458/1-2). How to fix it: in the payslip lines, choose the employee's authorisation in the “Union authorization” column, or remove the line.)
• What to do: choose the authorisation on the line, save and calculate again.

On calculating: the dues are not deducted on this payslip

• Message: “The union dues of … are not deducted in this payslip: the authorization takes effect on 01/11/2026 and ends on 01/12/2026 (art. 458.º/7: from the month after the delivery). How to fix it: remove the line from this payslip.”
• Cause: the payslip month is outside the authorisation period.
• What to do: remove the line.

On ending: “The collection … cannot be ended”

• Message: “The collection for … cannot be ended. What happened: only an active authorization ends, and with the day the worker delivered the written declaration of cessation. How to fix it: fill “Cessation delivered on” and attach the declaration.”
• What to do: fill in the date and click End the collection again.

The cessation date is refused

• Message: “The cessation was delivered before the authorization. How to fix it: correct “Cessation delivered on”.”
• What to do: enter the date shown on the cessation declaration.

On saving the union: “Some required fields are empty”

• Cause: the Contact (accounting) is missing.
• What to do: choose the contact. If it does not exist, see Before you start.

On posting: “Posting blocked”

• Message: “Contabilização bloqueada: 1 rubrica(s) com valor não têm modelo de contabilização em 30/11/2026: Quotas sindicais. […]” (Posting blocked: 1 pay item(s) with an amount have no posting template on 30/11/2026: Union dues.)
• What to do: create the pay item's template (see Before you start) and post again.