Compared to 2021, employees in Portugal are more likely to be aware of each of four building blocks of an ethics programme. However, the percentage of employees who are aware of four main building blocks of an ethics programme is still relatively low, compared to the global average. 

Employees in Portugal are among the most likely to say that they have felt pressured to compromise their organisation’s standards of behaviour and among the most likely to say that they have been aware of misconduct at work. Employees’ opinion on their line manager’s commitment to ethics has also worsened since 2021. Furthermore, compared to the global average, they have a worse view on their organisation’s ability to effectively engage with internal and external stakeholders. 

Data for Portugal were first collected in 2018 as indicated in the global report. The findings in this country-specific report compare 2024 data against 2021 data, the last data point.

 

Organisational culture

  • Employees in Portugal are among the least likely of the 16 surveyed countries to find each of eight ethically questionable practices outlined on p9 of the global report to be acceptable. They are much less likely than the global average to find each of the practices acceptable (12% vs 20% global average).
  • Around eight in ten employees in Portugal say that honesty is practised always or frequently in their organisation (81%), which is consistent with findings from 2021(84%) and the global average (84%). Employees in Portugal are amongst the least likely to say this, alongside those in South Africa (81%), Italy (78%) and the Netherlands (77%).
  • Around one in five employees in Portugal say that they feel pressured to compromise on ethical standards of behaviour (22%), similar to 2021 (21%) and higher than the global average (15%). Employees in Portugal are among the most likely to feel pressured to compromise on standards, alongside those in India (36%), Japan (20%) and South Africa (19%). Around four in ten employees in Portugal who have felt pressured to compromise on ethical standards say that time pressure / unrealistic deadlines (38%) and following their boss’s orders (37%) are the main sources of pressure.
  • Consistent with past trends, abuse of authority is the type of misconduct that employees in Portugal are most likely to have been aware of (43% of those aware of misconduct cited this aspect). In particular, women are more likely than men to mention this (51% vs 34%), employees aged 55+ are more likely to mention it than those aged 18-34 (63% vs 33%) and employees in large organisations are more likely raise this compared to those in SMEs (51% vs 37%).
  • Around two in ten employees in Portugal reported being aware of conduct that they thought violated either the law or their organisation’s ethical standards in the last year (24%). However, the figure in 2024 (24%) is neither statistically higher than in 2021 (20%), nor the 2024 global average (25%).

Speaking up

  • Around six in ten employees in Portugal who were aware of misconduct spoke up about it with management, another appropriate person, or through any other mechanism (56%). This figure is considerably higher than in 2021 (46%) but lower than the percentage of employees who say that they spoke up globally (64% global average). Of the 16 surveyed countries, employees in Portugal are among the least likely to speak up after being aware of misconduct. In Portugal, men are more likely to speak up about misconduct they have been aware of compared to women (66% vs 45%).
  • Of all those who did not report a concern, around four in ten of them cited a lack of belief that corrective action would be taken (41%) and a fear of jeopardising their job (36%) as the key deterrents to speaking up.
  • Around six in ten employees in Portugal say they were satisfied with the outcome after raising concerns about misconduct (59%). This figure is higher than in 2021 (45%) but lower than the percentage of employees who say so globally in 2024 (71% global average). Employees in Portugal are among the least likely to be satisfied, along with those in the UK (54%), Italy (53%), France (52%) and New Zealand (49%).
  • Of those reporting a concern, nearly half (51%) say that they experienced a form of personal disadvantage or retaliation as a result. This figure is higher than in 2021 (42%) but similar to the percentage of employees who say so globally in 2024 (46% global average). Employees in Portugal are among the most likely to say that they have experienced retaliation, along with those in Germany (53%), France (64%) and India (65%). Women are more likely to say so than men (62% vs 44%) and younger employees (aged 18–35) are more likely to say so than their older colleagues (55+) (61% vs 10%). Employees in the public sector are also more likely than those in the private sector to say so (63% vs 46%).

The ethics programme

  • Compared to 2021, employees in Portugal are more likely to be aware of their organisations providing each of four building blocks of an ethics programme. The biggest increase has been recorded in relation to awareness of training on standards of ethical conduct (58% vs 50% in 2021) and a means of reporting misconduct confidentially (51% vs 43% in 2021), both of which are the highest level ever recorded for Portugal in this survey.
  • However, employees’ awareness of the four building blocks in Portugal remains low compared to some other countries. For example, 51% of them say that they are aware of their organisations providing a means to report misconduct confidentially, compared to 76% in India and 81% in South Africa.
  • Written standards of ethical business conduct appear more common, as 65% of employees in Portugal are aware of them being offered in their organisation. However, this is lower than the global average (71%).

Embedding ethics through a supportive environment

  • In Portugal, 64% (vs 72% global average) of employees say that their line manager sets a good example of ethical business behaviour, 63% (vs 68% global average) say that their line manager explains the importance of honesty and ethics in the work they do, and 65% (vs 72% globally) say that their line manager supports them in following their organisation’s standards of ethical behaviour. While 62% (vs 72% globally) say that senior management takes ethics seriously in their organisation, 35% (vs 38% globally) also say that their line manager rewards employees who get good results, even if they use practices that are ethically questionable.
  • Employees in Portugal are less likely than average to say that their organisation acts responsibly in all its business dealings (67% vs 76% global average) and that it lives up to its stated policy of social responsibility (65% vs 72% global average).
  • They are also likely to have poorer views than average about how their organisation engages with employees on ethics. They are less likely than average to say that people in their organisation know what is expected of them in terms of ethical behaviour (74% vs 77% global average), that issues of right and wrong are discussed in staff meetings (54% vs 62% global average) and that in their organisation decisions about people are made fairly (54% vs 67% global average).
  • Finally, they are significantly less likely than average to say that their organisation disciplines employees who violate its standards of behaviour (59% vs 65% global average).