Spain may be famous for its easy-going culture, siestas and beaches, but did you know it’s also a hotbed of highly skilled international remote talent? Here’s how you can hire employees in Spain while saving a ton of money and staying away from a complex web of legal hassles.
If you’re considering hiring your next candidate in Spain, you’ve landed in the right place. After helping hundreds of businesses onboard their remote hires, we have achieved excellent expertise in the country. Our team of experts and tech solutions will make this incredibly easy for you.
Access an easy work permit sponsorship process on the platform during onboarding.
Receive process support by an experienced team of experts & pay your talent on time and in their local currency.
Calculate net salary in Spain post deductions and compare it with the salary in other countries instantly.
Fast-track your talent onboarding while ensuring 100% compliance with local regulations.
Easily onboard your remote talent in Spain through our Employer of Record (EOR) solution. Our subsidiaries and network partners make this process fast and 100% compliant.
We have helped onboard hundreds of employees in Spain for our customers who needed qualified and cost-effective talent. We are also the only player in the market that provides work permits and visa support for hiring employees in Spain. We handle all the paperwork and data submission, while you receive constant support and timely notifications at every step.
UTC+1
22 days
€1134 in 14 instalments
EUR
14 days
Monthly
Spain’s economy is mainly based on tourism. This means there’s a big number of university graduates with skills but don’t often find a job they desire. Qualified candidates in Spain are looking for jobs but do not necessarily want to move out of the country. The obvious answer here is finding remote work.
Cost-effective for you, life-effective for talent in Spain. A clear win win.
Spain is a country in the Southwest corner of Europe. The Spanish economy is the fourth-largest in the Eurozone and the fifth-largest in the European Union. Spain is well known for its vast monuments, snow capped mountains, stone castles, sophisticated cities, and cultural diversity. The total land area is 505,990 square kilometers, with 12,500 square kilometers of islands. Spain is bordered to the west by Portugal; to the northeast, it borders France, from which it is separated by the small principality of Andorra and by the great wall of the Pyrenees Mountains.
Madrid
48.37 M
21%
The national holidays (non-working days) mentioned below are valid for the year 2025.
There are 14 bank holidays (dias festivos), eight of which are non-substitutable and six chosen by the region and local municipality. Furthermore, throughout the Spanish national territory, Saturdays and Sundays are declared non-substitutable national holidays.
The table below contains public holidays that will be celebrated nationally in 2025. Five additional holidays are based on the region and local municipality in which the employee resides.
National Holidays | ||
Date | Holiday Name | Extra Information |
January 1 | New Year’s Day |
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January 6 | Epiphany |
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April 17 | Maundy Thursday |
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April 18 | Good Friday |
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|---|---|---|
May 1 | Labor Day |
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August 15 | Assumption of the Virgin |
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October 12 | Fiesta Nacional de España |
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November 1 | All Saints’ Day |
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December 6 | Spanish Constitution Day |
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December 8 | Immaculate Conception |
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December 25 | Christmas Day |
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The employee must either receive additional compensation for working on public holidays, which is set at 75% more than the normal hourly rate for each hour worked, or the employer may agree upon a rest day as compensation. The choice of the rest day is best agreed upon with the employee.
NOTE: The Talent enjoys public holidays afforded to the region they reside in.
The approximate time for sharing the contract with an employee in Spain ranges from a few minutes to 2 days assuming no special requests or changes to our standard employment contract. Any such requests or changes would need to undergo internal or external review, directly leading to a time delay. If all talent data is available, the contract can be generated immediately.
The contract of employment is presumed to have been concluded for an indefinite period.
A fixed-term employment contract may be concluded only under production circumstances or when a worker is replaced. Fixed-term contracts (FCTs) for “specific work or service” are forbidden.
To understand that there is a justified cause of temporality, it is necessary to specify precisely in the contract the enabling cause of the temporary contract, the specific circumstances that justify it, and its connection with the expected duration.
Production circumstances mean the occasional and unforeseeable increase in activity and fluctuations, which, even in the case of the normal activity of the company, generate a temporary mismatch between the stable employment available and that required
Fixed-term Contracts due to Production Circumstances
Where the fixed-term contract is due to these production circumstances, its duration may not exceed six months. By sectoral collective agreement, the maximum duration of the contract may be extended up to one year. If the contract has been concluded for a duration shorter than the maximum legally or conventionally established, it may be extended, by agreement of the parties, for a single time, without the total duration of the contract being able to exceed that maximum duration
Likewise, companies may formalize contracts for production circumstances to meet occasional, foreseeable situations that have a reduced and delimited duration in the terms provided in this paragraph. Companies may only use this contract for a maximum of 90 days in the calendar year, regardless of the workers who are necessary to attend to the specific situations on each of these days, which must be duly identified in the contract. These 90 days may not be used continuously. Companies, in the last quarter of each year, must transfer to the legal representation of workers an annual forecast of the use of these contracts.
The performance of the works within the framework of contracts, subcontractors, or administrative concessions that constitute the usual or ordinary activity of the company may not be identified as the cause of this contract, without prejudice to its conclusion when the circumstances of the production in the previous terms concur. Fixed-term contracts may be concluded for the replacement of a worker entitled to reservation of a post, provided that the name of the person replaced and the cause of the replacement is specified in the contract. In such a case, the provision of services may begin before the absence of the replaced person occurs, coinciding with the development of the functions the time necessary to guarantee the adequate performance of the position and, at most, for 15 days.
Fixed-term Contracts due to Replacement Circumstances
A replacement contract may be concluded to complete the reduced working day by another worker when said reduction is covered by causes legally established or regulated in the collective agreement, and the name of the substituted person and the cause of the substitution are specified in the contract.
The replacement contract may also be concluded for the temporary coverage of a job during the selection or promotion process for its definitive coverage by means of a fixed contract, without its duration being in this case exceeding three months, or the shorter term included in the collective agreement, nor can a new contract be concluded with the same object once this maximum duration has been exceeded.
Persons hired in breach of the provisions of this article should acquire the status of fixed
The Maximum Duration for Fixed-term Contracts
Workers who (in a period of 24 months) have been hired for a period of more than 18 months, with or without a solution of continuity, for the same or different job with the same company or group of companies, through two or more contracts due to circumstances of production, either directly or through their provision by ETT, acquire the status of permanent workers.
For more information on employment contracts, refer to the Workers Statute Act, Article 15.
WorkMotion’s Provision for Employment Contracts
All talents hired through WorkMotion in Spain are now offered indefinite employment contracts. WorkMotion cannot offer fixed-term contracts anymore following the announcement of new FTC regulations.
The maximum normal working time is 40 hours per week, computed on a yearly basis.
Rest period between one working day and the next: 12 hours;
Maximum normal working hours per day: nine hours;
After 6 hours of continuous work, an employee must take a break of 15 minutes;
Workers under the age of 18 may not perform more than eight hours of actual work per day.
Working hours can be distributed on an irregular basis pursuant to the collective agreement. In the absence of an agreement, the company may distribute 10% of the working day irregularly throughout the year. However, this distribution must respect the minimum periods of daily and weekly rest provided for in the law, and the worker must know with a minimum notice of five days the day and time of the provision of work resulting from it (Workers’ Statute Act, Article 34.2).
For example, many Spanish companies do not work on Friday afternoons. For this reason, they work 8.30 hours from Monday to Thursday.
The company is mandated to guarantee the daily recording of working hours, which must include the specific start and end times of each worker’s working day. The company must keep these working hours records for four years and make them available to workers, their legal representatives, and the Labor and Social Security Inspectorate (Workers’ Statute Act, Article 34.9).
Adaptations for Work-family Balance
Employees who are responsible for a child under 12 years of age or a person with a disability who does not perform a paid activity can request a reduction in their working hours, with a proportional reduction in their salary. This reduction can be at least one-eighth of the working day and at most half of the working day. This request cannot be denied by the employer. The exemption is if, in the same company/department, there are many employees in the same situation, in which case the reduction needs to be negotiated (Workers’ Statute Act, Article 37.6).
The right to reduce the working day for the care of children or dependents with disabilities who are under 26 years of age and who have cancer or another serious illness is extended, when the degree of disability exceeds 65%, provided that this condition is accredited before reaching the age of 23.
Adaptation of the Day
The right to adapt to a working day extends to people who have childcare duties over 12 years of age, spouse or common-law partner, relatives up to 2nd degree of consanguinity and dependents living at home. In case of refusal by the company, you must justify your opposition or seek an alternative solution.
CBA Provision for Working Hours
During the term of the collective agreement, the maximum ordinary effective working day, in annual computation, should be 1,800 hours per year, without prejudice, in any case, to the most favorable working days currently agreed for people. Its weekly distribution may be agreed with the legal representation of the workers in the company, taking into account that, in no case, more than nine ordinary hours of effective work per day may be carried out.
Companies subject to this CBA enjoy an intensive working day in August. Companies that have an intensive working day established during the summer may not exceed 36 hours per week during the period in which they have it implemented, unless agreed with the legal representation of the workers.
In companies where continuous working hours are carried out, the most beneficial season conditions are maintained as they are currently carried out in each company, without exceeding the existing weekly distribution or the one that could be agreed upon in accordance with the provisions of the two sections precedents.
After 14 hours, except during intensive working hours, Saturdays should be considered non-working days. The personnel who perform surveillance functions in the premises of the companies are excepted (CBA, Article 20).
CBA Provision for Reduced Working Hours
Anyone who, by reason of legal guardianship, has in their direct care a child under 12 years of age or a person with a disability who does not carry out a paid activity, should be entitled to a reduction in the daily working day, with the proportional reduction of the salary between at least one eighth and a maximum of half of the duration of the same (CBA, Article 40.2).
Overtime work is voluntary. The maximum number of overtime hours must not exceed 80 hours in a year. It is compensated for either in the paycheque (which in no case may be less than the value of the ordinary hour) or by rest periods over the next four months (Workers’ Statute Act, Article 35).
Time spent working to prevent or remedy incidents and other extraordinary and urgent damages is not considered overtime.
CBA Provision for Overtime
Overtime should be reduced to the essential minimum, adjusting the following criteria in this matter:
Regular overtime: Suppression;
Extra hours that are required by the need to repair claims and other extraordinary and urgent damages, as well as in the case of risk of loss of raw materials: Performance;
Overtime necessary for orders or peak production periods, unforeseen absences, shift changes, and other circumstances of a structural nature derived from the nature of the activity in question: Maintenance, provided that the use of the different modalities is not possible of temporary or partial hiring provided for in the Law;
The Management of the company should periodically inform the Legal Representation of the Workers of the number of overtime hours worked, specifying the causes and, where appropriate, the distribution by sections or departments. Likewise, based on this information and the aforementioned criteria, the company and the legal representatives of the workers should determine the character and nature of overtime;
With regard to surcharges for overtime, as well as the limitation of the number of them, it must be, in any case, in addition to what was agreed in the two previous sections, to what is provided for in the general legislation in force at all times;
Unless there is an individual agreement to the contrary, overtime should be compensated by equivalent increased rest times, at least 75%. Prior agreement between the company and the worker, compensation with rest time should be made by accumulating hours until completing, at least, the time equivalent to one working day, which should be enjoyed within the same calendar year in which the overtime was performed or, at most, in the first week of the following January (CBA, Article 29).
Pay for Holiday Work
Working holidays must be remunerated at the usual rate, and they are not recoverable (Workers’ Statute Act, Article 37.2).
A probation period may be arranged in writing, subject to the duration limits that, if applicable, are established in the collective agreements. In the absence of an agreement, the duration of the probationary period is provided as follows:
Education level /Enterprise size | Probation Period |
|---|---|
Qualified technicians (college and junior college graduate specialists). | Must not exceed 6 months |
Other workers | Must not exceed 2 months |
Enterprises with less than 25 workers | Must not exceed 3 months for workers who are not qualified technicians |
Fixed-term contracts not exceeding 6 months | Must not exceed 1 month (Workers’ Statute Act, Article 14) |
CBA Provision for the Probation Period
Article 10 of the CBA provides the following probation periods for different categories of employees. More information on the classification of personnel can be found in Article 15 of the CBA.
Classification of personnel | Consulting, Development, and Systems Area | Technical and Administrative Support Area and Media and Process Management Area | Market Research Area |
|---|---|---|---|
Group A | 6 months | 6 months | 6 months |
Group B | 6 months | 6 months | 6 months |
Group C | 6 months | 4 months | 3 months |
Group D | 6 months | 3 months | 3 months |
Group E | 3 months | 3 months | 3 months for discontinuous fixed contracts; 15 days for eventual contracts for specific work or service |
Once the trial period has elapsed without withdrawal, the contract takes full effect, calculating the time of the services provided in the person’s seniority in the company.
We strongly advise our clients to immediately inform WorkMotion about any conflict or development that could eventually lead to the requirement to terminate or dismiss a candidate so that a joint strategy can be developed to achieve this with the least damage to parties.
Termination may be done at any time so long as the applicable notice period is respected.
Objective Dismissal
The statutory notice period for an employer when terminating the employment contract based on objective reasons is 15 days. The employer may pay the employee in lieu of this notice. Employees are also entitled to paid leave of six hours per week during the notice period to look for alternative employment (Workers’ Statute Act, Article 53.1C & 2).
However, during the probation period, both parties may terminate the employment relationship without prior notice (Workers’ Statute Act, Article 14.2).
Disciplinary Dismissal
Disciplinary dismissal does not require any notice period. However, a written notice is required, stating the facts that motivate it and the date on which it takes effect (Workers’ Statute Act, Article 55).
Resignation
There is no statutory minimum notice period. The period of notice is generally determined by the employment contract or, alternatively, by the applicable collective bargaining agreement.
CBA Provision for Notice Periods in the Case of Resignations
In the event of the worker’s resignation from the company, they must notify the management of the same in writing, with a minimum of 15 working days in advance, computed according to the work calendar of the center of work where the resigned render their service. If this notice is not given, the interested person loses the proportional part of the extraordinary payment for July or Christmas that was accrued as compensation for the damages that such omission of the term causes to the company.
In the event of partial non-compliance, that is, when the worker gives advance notice of termination, although less than 15 working days in advance, the penalty, that is, the loss of extra pay earned, is equally partial, in proportion to a 15th of the amount of the corresponding extra pay for each working day that is missing to complete the 15 fixed by this Agreement (CBA, Article 32).
During Probation
During the probation period, both parties may terminate the employment relationship without prior notice (Workers’ Statute Act, Article 14.2).
Post Probation
Based on the provisions of the Workers’ Statute Act, Article 49 during the employment relationship, the contract may end for the following reasons:
By mutual agreement of the parties;
For the reasons validly stated in the contract;
By the end of the temporary contract;
By resignation of the worker and must mediate the notice indicated in the collective agreements;
Due to death, disability, or permanent total or the absolute incapacity of the worker;
By retirement of the worker;
Due to death, retirement, or incapacity of the employer;
By circumstances that definitively prevent the provision of work;
For collective dismissal, economic, technical, organizational, or production causes;
By the will of the worker, based on a contractual breach of the employer;
By dismissal of the worker;
For legally relevant objective causes;
By the decision of the worker who is forced to leave their job permanently as a result of being a victim of gender violence.
There are three main grounds for dismissal of an employee:
Disciplinary action
Objective grounds
Collective layoff
Disciplinary Dismissal
Reasons for disciplinary dismissal include a serious and negligent breach of contract by the employee like repeated and unjustified absenteeism or lack of punctuality; a lack of discipline or disobedience at work; or a verbal or physical offense against the employer, fellow employees, or their relatives; or a breach of contractual good faith; or a continued and wilful reduction in normal or agreed efficiency and output; or regular drunkenness or drug addiction if this has a negative effect on the employee’s work (Workers’ Statute Act, Article 54).
Objective Dismissal
Objective dismissals may be based on:
Ineptitude towards work
A lack of adaptation to technical modifications relevant to their role; or redundancy due to financial, technical, organizational, or production-related reasons
Absenteeism, even if legitimate and intermittent, when the degree of absenteeism reaches certain legal quotas (Workers’ Statute Act, Article 52).
Collective Dismissal
Collective dismissal is regarded as the termination of employment contracts based on economic, technical, organizational, or production reasons when, within a period of ninety days, the termination affects at least:
Ten workers, in enterprises employing less than one hundred workers
Ten percent of the number of workers of the company in those that occupy between one hundred and three hundred workers
Thirty workers in enterprises with more than three hundred workers (Workers’ Statute Act, Article 51).
Suspending or Pausing an Employment Contract
Spanish employment law distinguishes between suspension and termination of employment contracts. Suspension of the employment contract is only a temporary interruption to the employer-employee relationship.
Workers’ Statute, Article 45 lists the causes for suspending an employment contract involving regular employees:
Mutual agreement between the parties;
The reasons are validly reflected in the contract;
Workers’ temporary incapacity;
Maternity, paternity, risk during pregnancy, risk during the natural breast-feeding of a child of less than nine months, and pre-adoptive as well as permanent or simple adoption or fostering of minors of less than six years or minors older than six years where these are handicapped minors or minors who, owing to their circumstances and personal experiences, or because they come from abroad, may have special difficulties in social and family insertion, duly accredited by the competent social services, in compliance with the Civil Code or the civil laws of the Regional Government regulating this, as long as its duration is not less than one year, although provisional;
Compliance with military service or with the substituting social service;
The exercise of representative public office;
The worker’s privation of liberty, while no condemnation sentence condemning exists;
Suspension of salary and employment for disciplinary reasons;
Temporary force majeure;
Economic, technical, organization, or production reasons;
Compulsory leave;
Owing to the exercise of the right to strike;
Legal closure of the company;
Owing to the decision of a worker obliged to abandon their work post as the result of having been a victim of gender violence.
Suspension exonerates the employee and employer from the mutual obligations of working and compensating for work.
For more information on the suspension of the work contract, visit the Government of Spain website.
Dismissal Basis | Severance Pay |
|---|---|
Objective dismissal | 20 days’ pay for each year of service, up to a maximum of 12 months’ pay (Workers’ Statute Act, Article 53.1B). |
Unfair dismissal | 33 days’ pay for each year of service, up to a maximum of 24 months’ pay (Workers’ Statute Act, Article 56). |
End of a fixed-term contract | 12 days of pay for each year of service (Workers’ Statute Act, Article 49.1C). |
Disciplinary dismissal | No severance pay |
In enterprises with less than 25 employees, the Public Fund of Wage Warranty (Fondo de Garantía Salarial) pays 40% of the legal indemnification of employees in collective redundancies (within 90 days, more than five employees are made redundant if the whole workforce is affected; at least 10 employees in companies with fewer than 100 employees; 10% of the employees in companies between 100 and 299 employees; and at least 30 employees in companies with more than 299 employees).
In Spain, the annual paid holiday period, which may not be replaced by economic compensation, is no less than 30 calendar days (22 working days). Some collective agreements establish higher minimums for annual leave.
Below is the statutory minimum set by the labor code for sick leave. However, WorkMotion is bound by a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)—you may find more information on this CBA under the Collective Bargaining Agreements section—and thus, the provisions in the CBA must be followed in lieu of the statutory minimum set by the labor code. The CBA provisions for sick leave may be found at the end of the Sick Leave section.
Statutory Minimum for Sick Leave
This protects workers who are temporarily unable to work and need medical assistance due to illness or accident. Statutory sick leave can last up to 18 months, after which time the situation is reviewed.
In Spain, employees are entitled to sick pay if they contributed to the social security system for at least 180 days in the five years prior to the illness.
The coverage of sick pay is based on the so-called calculation basis, with results from the employee’s monthly salary before getting sick (based on factor 30, if the employee receives a monthly salary) and is issued as follows:
Duration of sick leave | Benefit | Paid by |
|---|---|---|
First 3 days of sickness | No pay | Not applicable |
Day 4-15 | 60% of the calculation basis | Employer |
Day 16-20 | 60% of the calculation basis | The social security system (“Sistema Nacional de la Seguridad Social”) |
From day 21 onwards | 75% of the calculation basis | The social security system |
After the duration of one year, the worker will have to face the medical tribunal of the National Social Security Institute (INSS), which will evaluate whether or not an extension of 180 additional days (six months) should be granted on sick leave or permanent disability. After these 545 days (one and a half years) of sick leave are over, the INSS must decide whether the worker can return to work normally or proceed on permanent disability. In the latter case, it is no longer possible to extend the sick leave.
The employer (upon receipt of the employee’s medical certificate within three days) is responsible for applying for the employee’s sick leave. In order to receive support, the employee needs a medical examination and a doctor from the Servicio Público de Salud (State Health Services) to certify their illness.
Rules on the Management and Control of Temporary Incapacity
Royal Decree 1060/2022 regulates certain aspects of the management and control of processes for temporary disability in the first 365 days of their duration.
As of April 1, 2023, the employee’s obligation to submit sick leave and/or medical discharge certificates to the company no longer applies;
Communication relating to medical certificates will be carried out between the administration and the company.
In temporary incapacity cases, the doctor may schedule a medical check sooner than initially indicated.
CBA Provision for Sickness and Accident Benefits
Apart from the provisions of the Social Security Law on benefits, the most beneficial conditions that, by virtue of customs or spontaneous concession of companies, are established should be respected.
The companies affected by this Agreement, from the fifth day of the corresponding leave, including in illness of more than 30 days, complement the benefits for temporary disability, up to 100% of the salary for a maximum period of 12 months, from the leave.
The staff is obliged, unless manifestly and justifiably impossible, to take the social security leave within forty-eight hours. They must also be recognized by the doctor designated by the company, in order to report on the impossibility of providing service. The resistance of the worker to be recognized establishes the presumption that the disease is simulated. In case of a discrepancy between the doctor of the company and the worker, the matter is submitted to the Medical Inspection of Social Security, whose opinion is decisive (CBA, Article 26)
NOTE: The provisions in the CBA must be followed in lieu of the statutory minimum set by the labor code.
WorkMotion’s Provision for Sick Leave
When an employee is hired by WorkMotion in Spain, the first three days of sick leave are paid by the client at 100% of the employee’s salary. Furthermore, the client complements the benefits for temporary disability, up to 100% of the salary for a maximum period of 12 months.
Workers are entitled to a period of leave of not more than three years to care for each child, whether by conceived or adopted, or in cases of custody for the purpose of adoption or permanent fostering, from the date of birth or, where appropriate, of the judicial or administrative decision (Workers Statute Act, Article 43.3).
The period in which the worker remains on leave is computable for the purposes of seniority and the worker has the right to attend vocational training courses, whose participation must be summoned by the employer, especially on the occasion of their reinstatement. During the first year of parental leave, a worker is entitled to job protection. After this period, the reservation of the job is transferred to a job of the same professional group or equivalent category.
Parental Leave of a Child or Minor fostered for a Period of More than One Year
Parental leave for the care of a child or minor fostered for a period of more than one year can be enjoyed until the minor turns eight years old. This leave, for a duration of no more than eight weeks, continuous or discontinuous, is non-transferable and can be used flexibly.
Maternity Leave
In Spain, maternity leave is up to 16 weeks (Workers’ Statute Act, Article 48.4).
Of these 16 weeks:
Six weeks are mandatory and must be taken after the baby’s birth.
10 weeks can be taken in full or half days:
Continuing on from the mandatory period;
Interrupted, in which case it must be in weekly periods (cumulative or independent) from the end of the mandatory six weeks until the child reaches 12 months of age;
The enjoyment of each weekly period or accumulation of periods must be communicated by the interested party to the company at least 15 days in advance;
The full-time or part-time enjoyment of this period requires an agreement between the company and the worker.
The biological mother can bring the start of the benefit forward by up to four weeks before the due date.
In the event of the death of the child, the period of leave is not reduced, unless she returns to work after the mandatory six weeks of leave.
During maternity leave, workers receive a maternity benefit administered by Social Security. The maternity benefit is an economic public welfare benefit of a fixed duration, compensating the income that the employee loses when her activity ceases due to the birth of a child, adoption, guardianship, or foster care.
To be entitled to maternity leave, the employee needs to be in a contributory situation or equivalent situation, and should have been working the following time on the day of birth:
Age of the Beneficiary | Minimum Period of Contribution |
Under 21 years old | None |
Between 21 and 26 years old | 90 days of contribution during the prior seven years, or 180 days in total. |
Over 26 years old | 180 days of contribution during the prior seven years, or 360 days in total.
|
After coming back from maternity leave, employers cannot alter an employee’s full-time work schedule to part-time employment without the employee’s consent.
For more information on maternity leave, visit the Government of Spain website.
Breastfeeding Leave
Per the Workers’ Statute Act, Article 37.4, after the end of maternity leave, the worker is entitled to one hour of breastfeeding leave each day until the child turns nine months. This hour can be divided into two half hours to be taken at the beginning and the end of the day. The third option would be to accumulate the hours to enjoy complete days.
It can be requested by the mother or father, or both at the same time. There is no loss of pay, so this hour is paid by the company. It can only affect proportionally the bonus based on individual productivity or attendance.
CBA Provision for Breastfeeding Leave
Workers who are nursing a child under nine months of age are entitled to one hour of absence from work at a time to be chosen by them which may be divided into two fractions, one at the beginning and one at the end of the day. This leave may be enjoyed indistinctly by the mother or by the father in the event that both work and must be communicated to the company in writing.
Workers by their will may replace this right by a reduction of their working day by half an hour for the same purpose, or, alternatively, be replaced, at the will of the worker, by a paid leave of 15 calendar days after maternity leave, giving notice with at least 15 calendar days (CBA, Article 40).
Paternity Leave
The other parent (other than the biological mother) is entitled to up to 16 weeks of leave. Paternity leave is financed by the social security system.
The following distribution must be followed:
Six weeks, mandatory, uninterrupted, and full days, taking effect immediately after the birth.
10 voluntary weeks, full or half days:
Continuing on from the mandatory period;
Interrupted, in weekly periods (cumulative or independent) from the end of the mandatory 6 weeks until the child reaches 12 months of age;
The enjoyment of each weekly period or accumulation of periods must be communicated by the interested party to the company at least 15 days in advance;
The full-time or part-time enjoyment of this period requires an agreement between the company and the worker.
In the event of the death of the biological mother, regardless of whether she worked or not, the other parent is entitled to the 16 weeks of maternity leave of the biological mother.
Adoption Leave
In the case of adoption, guardianship for adoption, or foster care, employees enjoy a total leave period of 16 weeks, with the following distribution:
Six weeks, mandatory, uninterrupted, and full days, taking effect immediately after the birth.
10 voluntary weeks, full or half days:
Continuing on from the mandatory period;
Interrupted, in weekly periods (cumulative or independent) from the end of the mandatory six weeks until the child reaches 12 months of age;
The enjoyment of each weekly period or accumulation of periods must be communicated by the interested party to the company at least 15 days in advance;
The full-time or part-time enjoyment of this period requires an agreement between the company and the worker.
In cases of international adoption, when the parents are required to travel to the country of the adopted child, the suspension period can begin up to four weeks before the decision formalizes the adoption.
Adoption/foster care leave benefits are paid by the Social Security system.
Workers’ Statute Act, Article 37.3 provides employees in Spain with paid leave, absence from work subject to prior notice and justification, for particular reasons:
15 calendar days in case of marriage and domestic partnerships;
Two days for the death (bereavement);
Two working days for the death, serious accident or illness, hospitalization or surgery without hospitalization requiring home rest, of relatives up to the second degree of consanguinity or affinity. When the worker needs to travel for this purpose, the period is four days. In the case of hospitalization, the full days of leave may be taken discontinuously and for as long as the cause that generates them exists.
One day per transfer of the habitual domicile;
For the time necessary for the fulfillment of an inexcusable duty of a public and personal nature, including the exercise of active suffrage. When a specific period is stated in a legal or conventional norm, it is to what it provides in terms of the duration of the absence and its economic compensation;
Performing trade union duties, in legal and conventional terms;
Prenatal check-ups and preparation for childbirth and preparing for adoption – for the time necessary.
Carers’ Leave
Employees are entitled to five days of absence for serious accidents or illnesses, hospitalization, or surgery without hospitalization that require home rest. People who live with the worker who requires care at the same address, domestic partners within the scope of the permit, and blood relatives of the domestic partner may benefit from this permit.
Leave due to Force Majeure
Employees are entitled to four paid days of absence from work due to force majeure when necessary for urgent and unforeseeable family reasons, in case of illness or accident that make their immediate presence essential. In the case of leave due to the death of the spouse (two days), common-law couples are taken into account.
Menstrual Leave
The law gives the right to a three-day “menstrual” leave of absence – with the possibility of extending it to five days – for those with disabling periods, which can cause severe cramps, nausea, dizziness, and even vomiting.
The leave requires a doctor’s note and is paid for by the social security system from the first day.
Handicapped Family Member Leave
The Workers’ Statute Act also guarantees employees unpaid leave of up to two years to take care of a close family member (parent, child, sibling, grandparent or grandchild, aunt or uncle, first cousin or niece or nephew) for reasons of age, accident, illness or disability and who for reasons of age, accident, illness or disability cannot fend for themselves and do not carry out any paid activity (Workers’ Statute, Article 46.3).
Voluntary Leave
A worker with at least one year’s seniority in the undertaking has the right to be granted the possibility of being placed on voluntary leave for a period of not less than four months and not more than five years. This right may only be exercised again by the same worker if four years have elapsed since the end of the previous voluntary leave. Time taken for unpaid voluntary leave is not considered in the calculation of seniority (Workers’ Statute, Article 46.2).
CBA Provision for Permits Without Pay
Workers who have a minimum seniority of one year in the company have the right to enjoy leave without pay for a maximum of one month and only once every year. However, alternatively, said permit may be divided into two maximum periods of 15 calendar days. Companies may deny the granting of these permits when, on the same dates, the following number of working people are enjoying them:
Companies with one to 20 workers: One person;
Companies with 21 to 50 workers: Two people;
Companies with 51 to 100 workers: Three people;
Companies with more than 100 workers: More than 3 per 100 of the staff.
In these cases, the number of workers indicated may not belong to the same department of the company (CBA, Article 23).
Under the general regime, social security contributions are paid on salaries and wages. Benefits include the:
In Spain, people insured under the Sistema Nacional de la Seguridad Social (National Social Security System) and their beneficiaries are entitled to healthcare. Foreigners not registered or authorized as residents in Spain have the right to health protection and to healthcare under the same conditions as people with Spanish nationality. The state healthcare coverage contains:
People who have suffered injuries or damage from an accident at work or occupational disease, can apply for benefits. In the event of an accident at work, the amount of the daily allowance is calculated at 75% of the daily calculation basis from the day after the accident. This allowance is paid by Mutua [mutual insurance company] or the Instituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social (INSS).
The employer pays a variable rate for occupational risk insurance. The rate ranges from 1.5% for office work, for example, to 8.5% for mining work or 7.6% for the construction sector.
The wage guarantee fund is an autonomous entity that acts in case of insolvency of the employer, paying outstanding wages to the workers.
This tax has the objective of distributing the cost of pensions among different generations of workers . In this way, the Government intends to fatten the pension piggy bank and ensure the collection of baby boom pensions. Employers contribute 0.7% whilst employees contribute 0.12%.
A contributory benefit, commonly known as “el paro”, is awarded to people who are unemployed but committed to working and who have contributed for a minimum of 360 days during the six years before becoming unemployed.
The vocational training system for employees aims at improving workers’ skills and company productivity as well as helping to meet labor market needs.
In Spain, the retirement pension depends on the age of the beneficiary and the contributions accumulated throughout their working life. Workers covered by the social security system will, upon reaching the pensionable age, be entitled to receive the corresponding retirement pension as long as they meet the requirements established in each case.
The minimum age for the retirement pension is currently:
All employees hired by WorkMotion’s Spanish partners are automatically insured via the Spanish Social Security system (“Sistema Nacional de la Seguridad Social”).
