How to communicate a hire, termination or changes to Social Security

What is it for?

The company must tell Social Security when each employee starts, when the contract ends, about suspensions and about some contract changes. fiscaldoo prepares each communication with the employee's and the contract's data, calculates the deadline, warns you when it is late and keeps the record of the filing.

fiscaldoo does not send anything to Social Security. The communication is made on Segurança Social Direta; in fiscaldoo you record that it was made and what Social Security replied.

When to use it?

• Hire: before the employee starts.
• Termination: after confirming the end of the contract. The communication appears by itself.
• Suspension and changes: they appear by themselves when you approve a long absence or change the pay, the working hours or the contract type of an employee whose hire has already been communicated.

Where to find it?

Payroll › What is there to do this month? screen › Supporting lists block › Social Security employment link

The list opens with the To communicate filter. The Out of time filter shows only the late ones.

Before you start

• Your profile is Payroll Processor or Payroll Administrator. Both can do every step.
• The employee has the Social Security number (NISS) on their record. For a hire, choose the Contract version and check the Permanent remuneration: without them, the communication cannot be validated.

How to use it

Communicate the end of a contract

1. Confirm the termination in Payroll › Prepare › Terminations (in the example, Hugo Miguel Santos, Expiry — fixed term (arts. 343.º a), 344.º), last day 30/11/2026). In New, as well as the Modality and the last day, fill in the Initiator (for example Employer) and the Date of the notice: without them, Confirm is refused with “Some required fields are empty”. When you click Confirm, the termination communication is created.
2. Open Social Security employment link. The list shows the Termination line, with the Worker, the Fact date, the Due date, the Days late and the State “Draft”.
3. Open the line. Check the Reason (it comes from the termination), the NISS, the Due date and the Legal basis.
4. Click Check and validate. fiscaldoo checks the data and the communication becomes Data validated.
5. Make the communication on Segurança Social Direta, with the data in the Content of the communication block.
6. In fiscaldoo, click Deliver (simulation) and, in the window “Nothing is sent to the Social Security: this only generates the data and a simulated reference.”, Confirm. The communication becomes Delivered (simulation), with Delivered on and a Simulated reference (for example SIM-SSLINK-1).
7. When Segurança Social Direta confirms, click Registered by the Social Security. If it refuses, click Rejected by the Social Security and correct the data before communicating again.

Communicate a hire

1. In Social Security employment link, click New. The Communication is set to Admission.
2. Choose the Worker. The NISS comes from the employee record.
3. Choose the Contract version and check the Fact date (the first working day). The version fills in the Contract type (for example Indeterminate (sem termo)), but the Permanent remuneration does not come from the contract: enter it (the content of the communication then shows it, for example “Remuneração permanente: 800,00”). Tick Special case (24 hours) only if the contract type requires it.
4. Follow steps 4 to 7 of the termination.
5. Attach in Proof for the worker (Choose a file) the copy of the communication you will give the employee; the date you gave it to them goes in Proof handed on. The field is optional and exists from Draft: the communication is recorded without it.

The hire of Gabriela Sousa Reis was taken to Registered (simulated reference SIM-SSLINK-1), with the contract version chosen and the permanent pay entered (800); without the version or without the pay, Check and validate is refused (see “Common problems”).

Example. Hugo Miguel Santos's fixed-term contract ends on 30/11/2026. Once the termination is confirmed on 01/11/2026, the communication appears with the Fact date 30/11/2026 and the Due date 10/12/2026, and the Legal basis says: “gov.pt, serviço “Entidade empregadora — comunicação da cessação da atividade de trabalhador por conta de outrem”: até ao dia 10 do mês seguinte (CRC art. 32.º); suspensão e alterações: mesmo dia, NÃO confirmado (a confirmar pelo contabilista certificado)” (by the 10th of the following month; suspension and changes: same day, NOT confirmed). The hire of an employee who started on 01/03/2026 has the Due date 01/03/2026 and the Legal basis “Decreto-Lei n.º 127/2025, art. 29.º/2 a) do CRC: a admissão é comunicada até ao início da execução do contrato” (the hire is communicated before the contract starts). Pending validation by a certified accountant: deadlines for the hire (before the contract starts, or within the next 24 hours in special cases), the termination (the 10th of the following month), the suspension and the changes (fiscaldoo itself says “NÃO confirmado”).

Communicating the employment link does not create journal entries.

Expected result

• The communication is Registered, with Delivered on, the Simulated reference and Answer on, and leaves the To communicate filter.

Important notes

• Out of time. A late communication shows, for example, “Fora de prazo há 245 dia(s): a admissão devia ter sido comunicada até 01/03/2026. Sem ela presume-se que o trabalho começou no primeiro dia do terceiro mês anterior à verificação (CRC art. 29.º/4) e a falta é uma contraordenação; o valor da coima não é indicado aqui. Comunique-a agora e guarde o comprovativo.” (Out of time by 245 day(s): the hire should have been communicated by 01/03/2026. Without it, work is presumed to have started on the first day of the third month before the inspection (CRC art. 29/4) and the failure is an administrative offence; the amount of the fine is not shown here. Communicate it now and keep the proof.) Communicate it anyway, and soon.
• A filed communication cannot be changed. From Delivered (simulation) on, the record says “This record is already closed…”. What you can do afterwards depends on the type of communication:
  • Hire: Cancel is only possible in the month the fact started (the Fact date). Seen with an employee whose contract starts on 02/11/2026, in November: the hire taken to Registered (reference SIM-SSLINK-3), with Cancel and then Confirm on the question “Annul this communication?”, becomes Cancelled. A cancelled one cannot be cancelled again: “is already annulled. Why: an annulled communication is final and is not annulled twice. How to fix it: check the list and, if the link still has to be communicated, create a new communication.” A hire from an earlier month (that of Gabriela Sousa Reis, from 01/03/2026, Registered) cannot be cancelled: the window says “the annulment of a link already communicated is only possible in the month it started (03/2026)”. A hire still in Draft can be cancelled at any time.
  • Filed termination: Cancel is refused, even in the month of the fact. Seen with the termination of Hugo Miguel Santos, Fact date 30/11/2026 and communication Registered on 01/11/2026: after Confirm on the question “Annul this communication?”, the window says “cannot be annulled here. What happened: the annulment of a link already communicated is only possible in the month it started (11/2026). How to fix it: go to a counter of the Social Security and ask for the correction; record its answer in the note.”. You request the correction at a Social Security counter and record the reply in the communication's Note.
  • Filed suspension and changes: they are refused in the same way, even in the month of the fact. Seen in November with a suspension (02/11/2026 to 30/11/2026) and with a change of the permanent pay, both Registered: “cannot be annulled here. What happened: the annulment of a link already communicated is only possible in the month it started (11/2026). How to fix it: go to a counter of the Social Security and ask for the correction; record its answer in the note.” Only the hire can be cancelled in the month it started.
  • Delete is refused on all of them (“Um registo fechado não se apaga… A tentativa ficou registada na auditoria” — a closed record cannot be deleted… the attempt was recorded in the audit log).
  • Duplicate creates a second draft of the same termination: do not use it, because the communication of a fact already communicated would be duplicated.
  • Reopen the termination, in Terminations: it is refused when the communication has already been filed. The window says “A cessação de “Hugo Miguel Santos” não se reabre: a comunicação à Segurança Social já foi entregue (Cessação / Hugo Miguel Santos / 30/11/2026). …” (The termination of “Hugo Miguel Santos” cannot be reopened: the communication to Social Security has already been filed … What happened: confirming it again would create a second communication for the same fact. How to fix it: if the communication is wrong, go to a Social Security counter, ask for the correction and record the reply in the communication's note.)
• What the list does not see. It only has the communications created in fiscaldoo: those made on Segurança Social Direta without going through here do not appear. A hire never appears by itself: create it with New for each employee who joins.
• The monthly pay return to Social Security is another obligation: see How to send the pay return to Social Security.

Common problems

“The communication … cannot be validated”

• Symptom: “Invalid Operation. The communication “Admissão / Gabriela Sousa Reis / 01/03/2026” cannot be validated. What happened: the contract version is not chosen; the permanent remuneration is missing. How to fix it: correct these data and validate again.”
• Cause: required data for the communication is missing; the message says which.
• What to do: click Close, fill in what the message asks for and click Check and validate again.

The termination communication does not appear

• Cause: the termination is still in Draft in Terminations, or the list has the To communicate filter and the communication has already been recorded.
• What to do: confirm the termination; to see all of them, remove the To communicate filter from the search.

“Some required fields are empty” appears when you click Check and validate

• Cause: the Fact date is missing.
• What to do: choose the date and click Check and validate again.