The employment contract in Spain

The permanent contract (indefinido) has no end date, and is the norm, and includes the fijo discontinuo contract for repeated seasonal work such as tourism and agriculture, where you are called in specific seasons and keep your rights.

• The temporary contract (temporal) is now restricted to two cases: production circumstances (sudden demand or an emergency situation) or replacing a worker.
• There is the training and learning contract (formación) for young people and dual education.
• And the contract is full time or part time.
• Check the type of contract and that it is written, and that you are actually registered with social security via your vida laboral, that is your labour record.
• And work without a contract or with a temporary contract in breach of the law may be converted to permanent by a decision of the inspectorate or court.

The contract includes the names of the parties, the workplace, the job title, the occupational category, the start date, the pay and its payment dates, the weekly working hours, leave, the notice period and the applicable collective agreement.

• The probation period (periodo de prueba) is optional and set by the collective agreement, and often does not exceed six months for qualified technicians and two months for others in large companies, and one month in small companies for unqualified workers.
• During it either party may end the contract without reason or compensation.
• It must be written in the contract.
• Ask for a signed copy, and make sure you understand all the clauses in your language.
• And if a clause is contrary to the law it is not valid.

The collective agreement sets the minimum pay for each category, and the government sets annually the minimum wage (SMI) as a monthly and annual amount on 14 payments, and you may not receive less than it, and check the current figure on the Ministry of Labour site.

• Salary is paid monthly with a payslip (nómina) showing the gross and deductions: your social security contribution (about 6.5 per cent) and withheld income tax (IRPF) according to your income and family situation, and the net that reaches your account.
• Two extra payments are usually paid in June and December or spread over the months.
• Read your payslip every month and check the numbers and report any error to payroll.
• And keep all your payslips since they are proof of income.

The maximum ordinary working time is 40 hours a week on an annual average, and many collective agreements are less, with weekly rest of a day and a half and twelve hours between two working days.

• Working hours are recorded daily under the compulsory recording law.
• The worker has the right to 30 calendar days of annual leave (about 22 working days), plus public holidays (about 14 days a year).
• Leave includes maternity and paternity leave (16 weeks for each parent), marriage leave (15 days), leave for a relative's death, and care leave.
• Overtime hours are paid or compensated with rest.
• And ask for your hours and leave to be recorded and keep evidence of any overtime.

You may not be dismissed without a justified reason.

• Disciplinary dismissal (despido disciplinario) for serious misconduct requires a written letter with reasons, dismissal for objective reasons (despido objetivo) for economic, technical or organisational causes gives compensation of 20 days per year, and unjustified dismissal (improcedente) gives 33 days per year up to a maximum.
• You can challenge the dismissal before the labour court within twenty working days, which may be preceded by a conciliation procedure (SMAC).
• On ending you receive a finiquito, that is settlement of wages and unused leave, and do not sign it if incomplete without advice.
• And you are entitled to paro, that is unemployment benefit, if you contributed enough.
• The self-employed (autónomo) works for themselves without an employee's protection, so beware of false self-employment, that is working as an employee under a freelance status.

Which contract became the norm after the 2021 reform?