Portugal's Justice Ministry has approved a sweeping salary restructuring for registry office workers, but the Sindicato dos Trabalhadores dos Registos e do Notariado (STRN) warns the new system creates more inequality than it solves—a dispute that will see approximately 3,500 professionals receive back payments from November while challenging the fairness of how those amounts were calculated.
Why This Matters
• New tables take effect retroactively from 1 July 2026, with first payments arriving in November payroll.
• Approximately 85% of registry workers will see roughly €200 more per month, but the STRN says lower earners get smaller increases.
• Career structure changes eliminate the specialist officer category and reshape progression rules for both conservadores and oficiais.
• Judicial challenges are already underway via two collective lawsuits filed by the union.
The Numbers Behind the Dispute
The Council of Ministers approved the decree on Friday, implementing an agreement reached with some unions—but not the STRN—that revises remuneration tables through 2027. Justice Minister Rita Alarcão Júdice defended the deal as a meaningful correction to years of accumulated wage disparities, pointing to raises of up to €289 monthly for conservadores and €230.79 for oficiais.
On paper, the changes appear substantial. The new tables establish salary ranges between €2,961.89 and €5,327.53 for conservadores (rising to €3,077.29–€5,385.23 by January 2027), while oficiais will see ranges of €1,499.15 to €3,769.65. The Government highlights that roughly 85% of the sector will receive about €200 more monthly, with payments retroactive to July.
But the STRN argues these headline figures mask a problematic reality. The union's central criticism is that the distribution methodology benefits higher earners proportionally more than those at the bottom—and that some of the announced increases merely reflect the general public sector raise of €56.58 (or 2.15% for salaries above €2,631) that all state workers received in January 2026 under the Plurianual Agreement.
How the Transition Rules Create "Inversions"
The core of the STRN's objection lies in the complex transition mechanics. The new system eliminates the Oficial de Registos Especialista category entirely—a move the union calls "a grave measure of professional devaluation"—while consolidating officer careers into 11 remuneration positions and conservador careers into 9.
Under the reposicionamento rules, workers are transitioned to the position corresponding to their current level, with a minimum increase threshold of €28. If the automatic placement yields less than that, the worker advances one additional position.
The STRN warns this creates remuneration inversions: scenarios where professionals in senior positions end up earning less than colleagues placed below them, with no objective justification based on seniority, performance, or job complexity. The union describes this as "creating new asymmetries by decree."
According to the additional research, the STRN has already taken concrete action—filing two collective lawsuits (one for conservadores, another for oficiais) and developing an internal reposicionamento simulator so workers can calculate their individual outcomes under the new rules.
What This Means for Residents
For Portugal's residents and property owners, this dispute unfolds as registry offices operate under a backlog recovery plan running since June. The Justice Ministry reports 26,000 pending processes have already been cleared—a figure the STRN previously questioned for transparency.
The practical implications include:
• Staff morale and service quality: If the union's predictions of wage inversions prove accurate, experienced staff may leave or reduce productivity, potentially slowing property registrations and notarial services.
• Retroactive payments in November: Workers will receive lump sums covering July–October differences, which could temporarily boost local spending but also fuel discontent if the calculated amounts disappoint.
• Ongoing legal uncertainty: The two collective actions mean some workers might eventually receive corrections or additional compensation if courts side with the STRN.
• Career planning uncertainty: Junior registry officers face abolished specialist tracks, while the elimination of performance evaluation points (those acquired before 31 December 2024 won't count for future repositioning) removes a previous advancement pathway.
Anyone currently buying property or requiring notarial services should anticipate potential service variations as the sector absorbs these changes.
Political Context and Government Response
Minister Alarcão Júdice dismissed the STRN's criticism as "normal" for a union that didn't sign the agreement, while defending the process as balanced. The Government secured deals with other registry sector unions, presenting the package as necessary to modernize careers and address historical salary gaps.
The STRN, however, contends that signing an agreement with some unions doesn't validate a flawed table. In its statement, the union called the measure "miserable—not just for the insufficiency of the valorization, but for the unjust, incoherent, and arbitrary way the increases are distributed."
The dispute highlights a broader tension in Portugal's public sector wage policy. The general public administration increase (the €56.58 minimum) was designed to provide baseline improvement across all careers. But career-specific revisions like this registry sector deal interact with that baseline in ways that can produce unintended consequences—particularly when complex transition formulas attempt to reconcile historical position structures with new simplified tables.
Looking Ahead
The phased implementation means further adjustments come in January 2027, extending uncertainty through next year. Workers can access the STRN's simulator to understand their individual positions, but official payroll calculations will only materialize in November.
For now, Portugal's registry offices continue processing the backlog recovery plan while their staff navigate the most significant career restructuring in recent years. Whether the new tables genuinely correct historical asymmetries or introduce new ones—as the STRN warns—will become apparent only when workers compare their November payslips against expectations.
