mobility

Mobility is deemed as the legal mechanism that allows for the public employee to temporarily perform the same or different functions within the same service, or between different services. It is grounded on public interest, with a view to increasing the services efficiency and effectiveness by way of a rational use and public administration human resources development.

Mobility is regarded as an organizational tool aiming at fulfilling services’ staff management needs, in a flexible and nimble way, thus contributing to a better public administration human resources alignment, at any given time.

Mobility may occur inside the same form of public employment relationship for an indefinite period of time or between both forms (contract and appointment) and may encompass the performance of work on a full or part-time basis

Mobility assumes the forms of:

  • Mobility in the category undertaken for the fulfilment of functions inherent to the category of which the public employee is holder, in the same activity or in different activity for which holds appropriate qualification;
  • Cross-career mobility for the fulfilment of functions inherent to a career of functional complexity degree equal, higher or lower than the career in which the public employee is integrated;
  • Cross-category mobility for the fulfilment of functions inherent to a higher or lower category than the career of which the public employee is holder.

The inter-career or inter-category mobility depends upon the degree of appropriate qualification of the public employee and may not change substantially his/her status.


The mobility, in whatever form, requires justification and may be carried out:

  • By agreement between the services of origin and of destination, by way of acceptance of the public employee;
  • By agreement between the services of origin and of destination, with exemption from acceptance of the public employee;
  • By decision of the body or service of destination, with exemption from agreement of the service of origin, by way of order of the member of the Government, in mobility situations between services of the ministry under her/his supervision, and with acceptance or exemption from acceptance of the public employee;
  • By decision of the service, in the case of mobility between organic units, and with acceptance or exemption from acceptance of the public employee.


The agreement of the service of origin of the public employee is exempted when:

  • The mobility is carried out for the service or organic units located outside the Lisbon and Oporto metropolitan areas;
  • Six months have elapsed as to the refusal of agreement of the service of origin, in a mobility situation related to the same public employee, even though for other service of destination.


The services of origin and destination must be part of direct or indirect state administration for the agreement exemption purposes.

The mobility has a maximum 18-month term and may be extended for a maximum period of six months when an open competition procedure is running, that targets the recruitment of a public employee for the work post filled under the mobility regime. Mobility has no maximum term within the scope of a service that may not form public employment relationships for an indefinite period of time.

The public employee compensation, during mobility, is paid by the service of destination, except otherwise stipulated by agreement between this one and the service of origin.

The mobility in the category and in the same activity, within the same service, is definitively consolidated by decision of the respective top manager, with or without the public employee’s agreement, according to the formation of the mobility situation has or not needed of the public employee’s acceptance.

On the other hand, the mobility in the category that is carried out between two services may be definitively consolidated, by decision of the top manager of the service of destination, provided that cumulatively the following conditions are met:

  • With the agreement of the service of origin of the public employee, when requested for the formation of the mobility situation;
  • When the mobility has had, at least, the term of six months or the term of the experimental period demanded for the category, where the latter is longer;
  • With the public employee’s agreement, when this one has been requested for the formation of the mobility situation or when this one involves change of origin’s activity;
  • When a work post is filled previously provided for in the staff list.


The mobility consolidation is not preceded or followed by any experimental period and the public employee maintains the pay step held in the juridical-functional situation of origin.