The workers’ union has reported that a high-level technician was assigned to perform duties as a telephone operator upon her return to work in September 2025, after a 13-month medical leave due to ‘burnout’.
The complaint, which was filed with the Administrative and Fiscal Court of Viseu, notes that, based on medical advice, the employee requested the director of the Guarda Prison (EPG) to adjust her working hours and implement specific measures to accommodate her health limitations.
In response, Luís Couto assigned her the duties of handling external phone contacts related to inmates, processing daily inmate requests with subsequent service, and welcoming newly arrived inmates (either released or transferred from another facility).
The employee also became responsible for managing the Te.lio Platform, addressing all requests related to it.
The complainant argues that these assignments do not align with medical recommendations and significantly differ from the roles for which she was considered fit.
“Furthermore, she was assigned purely administrative tasks, a role not included in her employment contract,” the document states.
The union claims that the worker is “psychologically unwell” and accuses the EPG director of exploiting this to “humiliate” her by assigning tasks unrelated to the ones she was hired for, in addition to assigning administrative duties as a form of retaliation.
For the complainant, “this behavior not only violates the plaintiff’s rights, particularly her health, but also constitutes workplace harassment, abuse of power, and discrimination, as the change in roles appears to be punitive, retaliatory, intending to punish and harm her.”
“Such abuse of power is evident in exploiting the assigned functions to torment the plaintiff’s professional life and, consequently, her personal life, causing mental and professional harm.”
The employee also claims to have been “offended in her honor and consideration, experiencing anguish, emotional instability, despair, frustration, and humiliation, severely affecting her mental health to the extent of needing increased medication for anxiety and depression.”
She attempted an out-of-court resolution with SinDGRSP’s support, but without success, and subsequently reported the situation to the Authority for Working Conditions (ACT), the General Inspectorate of Justice (IGJ), and DGRSP, but received no responses.
This case has led the Union of Technicians of the Directorate-General for Reintegration and Prison Services to criticize the “Salazarist model” of selecting workers for roles “without any competition.”
SinDGRSP has stated it will continue “to advocate that these positions should be filled, like in all public administration, in a transparent manner by qualified individuals appointed through a formal competition.”
The union calls on the Minister of Justice to “prevent this questionable model from perpetuating” in the Directorate-General for Reintegration and Prison Services.
Contacted by the news agency, Luís Couto, director of the Guarda Prison, deferred comments until authorized by the director-general of Reintegration and Prison Services.
