Self-certification or a medical certificate?
Two different instruments, issued by different people, with different effects. Choosing the wrong one is the most common reason an absence ends up unjustified.
The autodeclaração de doença is completed and submitted by you, on Segurança Social Direta, on your word of honour, and justifies a short absence from work. No doctor is involved and it does not open sickness benefit. The baixa médica is something else: it rests on a Certificado de Incapacidade Temporária (CIT) issued by a doctor — in the SNS or in private practice — and sent to Segurança Social, and that is what reports the incapacity to Segurança Social and what can open sickness benefit. Rule of thumb: a very short absence with no clinical need to be examined, self-certify; illness that keeps you off work longer, see a doctor.
Instrument 1
What the autodeclaração de doença is
It is your own declaration, on your word of honour, that you were ill and unable to work for a short period.
It is submitted on Segurança Social Direta, in your own worker area, and is meant for mild illness where there is no clinical need to be seen by a doctor. It was created precisely to stop people travelling to a health unit purely to obtain a piece of paper.
- It is the worker who completes and submits it — not the doctor, not the employer.
- It serves to justify the absence to your employer.
- It does not generate sickness benefit, because there is no clinical certification of incapacity.
- How many days it covers, and how often per year it may be used, are set in law and shown on the Segurança Social Direta form itself.
The employer's side
How your employer confirms the self-certification
Your employer does not have to take your word for it — and equally does not get to ask you for clinical explanations.
Submitting on Segurança Social Direta produces a receipt that can be looked up and confirmed. That mechanism replaces the signed paper: the company confirms the declaration exists and which period it covers, without any access to information about your health.
Your employer has no right to know your diagnosis, neither for a self-certification nor for a baixa médica. What is communicated is the existence and the period of the justified absence. Clinical information is protected by medical confidentiality and by health-data protection rules.
Submission and lookup: Segurança Social.
Instrument 2
What a baixa médica and the CIT are
When illness goes beyond the scope of self-certification, what exists instead is a Certificado de Incapacidade Temporária.
The CIT is issued by a doctor — in the SNS or in private practice, ours included — and sent to Segurança Social. It is the document that clinically attests that you are temporarily unfit for work, and it is the basis on which entitlement to sickness benefit is assessed.
- It is the doctor who decides whether incapacity exists and for how long — not the patient and not the employer.
- Most CITs travel electronically and the patient carries nothing; paper CITs still exist, and those the patient files with Segurança Social themselves.
- If incapacity continues, there is medical reassessment and the period can be extended by the doctor treating you.
- The waiting period before payment starts and how the benefit is calculated are defined in law and published on the Segurança Social portal.
Official information on baixa médica: SNS 24.
Transparency
What a private consultation can — and cannot — issue
This is the part most sites avoid saying clearly, so we say it first.
In a private consultation, including by video, the doctor assesses you and may issue a medical declaration justifying absence from work. That is the service we provide, and that is what it is called. It serves to justify the absence to your employer.
A private consultation can issue a CIT — we do. What decides which of the two documents makes sense is how long the illness is likely to last: sickness benefit only starts to be paid after a waiting period set in law, so an absence of two or three days rarely justifies a CIT, and a medical declaration covers what the employer needs. When the illness runs past that period, the CIT is the right instrument.
- You only need to justify the absence to your employer: a medical declaration achieves that.
- You need sickness benefit: you need a CIT, and therefore the SNS circuit.
- You do not know which of the two applies to you: that is exactly what a consultation settles in a few minutes.
You can confirm any doctor's registration with the Ordem dos Médicos, with us as anywhere else.
Decision
Which of the two applies to your case
Three questions settle almost every situation.
- How long will you be off? A very short absence, within what the law allows you to declare, with no clinical need to be seen: self-certification.
- Do you need to be paid by Segurança Social while absent? If so, you need a CIT, and therefore a doctor.
- Does the illness need assessing? If there is doubt about what you have, if symptoms are worsening, or if you have already used up what self-certification allows, the answer is a consultation — the justification is the by-product, not the objective.
There is a fourth situation people often forget: illness of a dependent family member, care of a child and other absences for someone else's health. They have their own name and their own rules, distinct from both instruments above, but they are issued through the same system as the CIT — and we issue them too. The conditions are set out on the Segurança Social portal.
Safety
When the paperwork is not the problem
There are situations where sorting out the justification is the last thing to do.
- Chest pain or tightness, especially with breathlessness, sweating, or pain radiating to the arm or jaw.
- Sudden weakness on one side of the body, facial droop, difficulty speaking, or a sudden severe headache.
- Difficulty breathing at rest, or blue lips or face.
- Skin blotches that do not fade under pressure, with fever, neck stiffness or confusion.
- Heavy bleeding or vomiting blood.
- Any thought of harming yourself.
In these cases call 112, or contact SNS 24 if you are unsure how serious it is. The absence gets justified afterwards — and it always does.
Global Health Portugal
Next steps
Our doctors in Portugal assess you by video and tell you plainly which of the two routes is yours.
- Consultation and medical justification of absence from work
- Our doctors in Portugal
- Contact Global Health Portugal
Not sure whether you need a doctor?
A short consultation clarifies whether your situation is settled by self-certification or genuinely needs clinical assessment — and, where it applies, issues the medical justification for the absence.
Official sources
Where to confirm the rules
Days covered, uses per year, the waiting period and benefit amounts are defined in law and change. Always confirm at the source.
Links open on the competent bodies' own websites. Global Health is not part of Segurança Social or the SNS, does not issue Certificados de Incapacidade Temporária, and cannot decide, expedite or guarantee any social benefit.
FAQ
Common questions
Does the autodeclaração de doença entitle me to sickness benefit?
No. It justifies the absence to your employer, but involves no clinical certification of incapacity. Sickness benefit depends on a Certificado de Incapacidade Temporária issued by a doctor, in the SNS or in private practice.
Where is the autodeclaração de doença submitted?
On Segurança Social Direta, in your own worker area, on your word of honour. Submitting produces a receipt your employer can confirm, without any access to clinical information about you.
How many days does it cover and how often can I use it?
The limits are set in law and shown on the Segurança Social Direta form at the moment of submission. Because they change, confirm them on the Segurança Social portal rather than in an article.
Can my employer require me to say what is wrong with me?
No. For both self-certification and a baixa médica, what is communicated is the existence and period of the justified absence. The diagnosis is clinical information protected by medical confidentiality and health-data protection rules.
Can a private online consultation give me a baixa médica?
Yes. A private consultation can issue a medical declaration justifying absence from work, and it can also issue the Certificado de Incapacidade Temporária, which is what opens sickness benefit. For short absences we usually issue the declaration, because the benefit only starts after the waiting period set in law; when the illness runs longer, we issue the CIT.
I have already used self-certification and I am still ill. What now?
Book a consultation. Once illness goes beyond the scope of self-certification the situation stops being administrative and becomes clinical: what you have needs assessing, treatment deciding, and incapacity certifying if that is warranted.