Extension of SOCIOHABITAFUNCHAL company agreement to non-unionised workers

The Regional Secretariat for Inclusion, Labour and Youth (SRITJ) intends to make applicable to SOCIOHABITAFUNCHAL - Empresa Municipal de Habitação, E.M. workers not represented by the signatory union the company agreement concluded between the company and the Sindicato dos Trabalhadores da Administração Pública e de Entidades com Fins Públicos (SINTAP). The notice was published in the Jornal Oficial da Região Autónoma da Madeira (JORAM) on 7 November 2026, in the same edition that transcribes the agreement. Interested parties have 7 days to submit a reasoned objection.

What changes#

For now this is a draft. The extension ordinance has not yet been issued; the notice announces the SRITJ's intention to issue it. If published, it will extend the agreement's provisions to the group of workers in question, excluding clauses contrary to mandatory legal rules. Clauses of a pecuniary nature take effect on the same terms set out in the agreement, and the ordinance enters into force the day after its publication.

The draft's explanatory note gives the reason: the agreement covers only the employment relationships of workers represented by the union, yet identical employment relationships exist within the same company and fall outside it. The stated aim is to fairly standardise the working and pay conditions of the company's workers.

Who is covered#

Clause 1 of the agreement applies to all of the company's workplaces and to workers whose contract is governed by the Labour Code and who are represented by SINTAP. The signatory entities estimate that, at the time of signing, 28 associated workers will be covered, as well as those who join during the agreement's term. The preamble states that the agreement applies to all the company's workers, but Clause 1 limits its scope to those represented by SINTAP, and it is precisely this difference that the extension draft seeks to resolve.

The company's staff is mixed: it includes workers engaged under the General Labour Law and workers from central, regional and local administration, seconded under public interest agreements, notably employees of the Funchal Municipal Council. The agreement aims to place the two regimes on an equal footing.

Main terms of the agreement#

• Normal weekly working period of 35 hours, with seven hours per day. No more than five consecutive hours nor more than nine hours per day may be worked, including overtime. The rest break lasts between one and two hours.
• Two days of weekly rest, one of which is Sunday.
• Attendance recorded by fingerprint (biometrics). A negative balance exceeding seven hours in the monthly record leads to unjustified absence, unless the hours are compensated with the agreement of the line manager.
• 22 working days of annual leave. One additional working day applies from the year in which the worker turns 39, another from 49 and another from 59, provided the most recent performance assessment is positive. Three further working days are added for a positive assessment rating. These additions do not generate additional holiday pay.
• A limit of 150 hours of overtime per year.
• Telework only by written agreement, for a maximum period of three years, which may be terminated by either party within the first 30 working days. The worker must attend in person one day per week, to be agreed with the line manager.
• Insularity Supplement paid annually to all permanent staff, equal in value to the insularity allowance of public officials in the Regional Public Administration.

The agreement refers to the company's Internal Regulations for the career structure, pay positions and recruitment, which must respect the principles of equal opportunity, merit, impartiality and non-discrimination. The document includes no salary tables. Workers keep the pay position and level they held on the date the agreement entered into force.

Background#

A company agreement is a collective agreement negotiated between a company and a union, which as a rule binds unionised workers. The extension ordinance is the instrument the Regional Government uses to make such an agreement applicable to other workers in the same situation, under Articles 514 and 516 of the Labour Code, approved by Law No. 7/2009 of 12 February, and Article 8 of Regional Legislative Decree No. 21/2009/M of 4 August, which adapts the Labour Code to the Autonomous Region of Madeira.

The agreement was signed in Funchal on 27 October 2026 by the company's sole administrator, Maria Graça Fernandes Correia, and by representatives of SINTAP. It was deposited on 10 November 2026, under registration No. 21/2026. It is valid for two years and renews for equal periods, unless denounced with three months' notice.

Next steps#

Interested parties may submit a written, reasoned objection within the 10 days following publication of the notice. Any private persons, natural or legal, who could be affected, even indirectly, by the issue of the ordinance may do so. The notice does not state the date on which the SRITJ will decide.