Workers in Spain are guaranteed: a maximum working week (traditionally around 40 hours on average, with limits being kept under review); a minimum of 30 calendar days' paid holiday a year (about 22 working days), plus public holidays; typically two extra payments a year (pagas extra) on top of monthly salary; the national minimum wage (SMI) as an absolute floor; controlled, generally voluntary and compensated overtime within annual limits; daily/weekly rest and breaks; and various paid leaves (illness, family events, medical appointments, and birth/care leave). You're also protected from discrimination and harassment. These are minimums set by law and the collective agreement (convenio) — your contract can improve them but not reduce them. Expats have identical rights to Spanish workers. If your employer falls short, you can claim — within time limits. We advise employees in English.
Working Hours
The maximum working time in Spain is set by law and refined by the collective agreement. The long-standing standard is an average maximum of around 40 hours a week calculated on an annual basis, though the maximum working week has been the subject of reform proposals aimed at reducing it, so the precise statutory cap should be confirmed for the current year. Your convenio frequently sets a lower figure (and the annual hours) for your sector, which prevails if more favourable.
Several protections sit around hours. There are limits on the daily working time and required rest periods between shifts and within the working day (a break where the day exceeds a certain length). Employers are also required to keep a daily record of working time (registro de jornada) — a legal obligation introduced to make hours transparent and to control unpaid overtime, which is useful evidence if there's a dispute about the hours you actually worked. For expats, the practical points are to know the maximum that applies to your role (law and convenio), to check your contracted hours against it, and to be aware that systematic unrecorded extra hours are a breach the time-record rules are specifically designed to catch.
Holidays & Public Holidays
Spain is generous on paid holiday. The statutory minimum is 30 calendar days' paid annual leave — which works out at roughly 22 working days — and the convenio may grant more. Key features of the holiday right:
- It can't be replaced by money while you're employed — holiday is meant to be taken, not bought out (the exception being accrued untaken holiday paid in your finiquito when you leave).
- Timing is agreed between you and the employer, within the rules — you can't simply be denied it or have it dictated unreasonably.
- It's protected if you fall ill — if you're sick during booked holiday, you can generally reclaim those days.
On top of annual leave, Spain has a notably high number of public holidays — a combination of national, regional and local fiestas, typically around fourteen a year depending on your region and municipality. These are paid days off (or compensated if worked). For expats, the combination of 30 days' holiday plus a generous calendar of fiestas is one of the genuine quality-of-life advantages of working in Spain — but it's also worth knowing the rules, because disputes do arise over holiday being refused, carried over, or wrongly treated, all of which are governed by the entitlement above.
Minimum Wage & Extra Payments
Two pay rights underpin everything. First, the national minimum wage (Salario Mínimo Interprofesional, SMI) sets an absolute floor below which no full-time worker can lawfully be paid; it's reviewed and updated periodically, and your convenio's pay scales typically sit above it for your category. Second — and a feature that surprises newcomers — Spanish workers are generally entitled to extra payments (pagas extraordinarias), traditionally two per year (summer and Christmas), on top of the twelve monthly salaries, making 14 payments in total. (Some contracts/convenios "prorate" these across the twelve months instead, so the same annual total is spread evenly.)
The practical implications: your annual salary is what matters, and you should understand how it's split (12 or 14 payments) so the monthly figure and the extra payments are clear. The pagas extra also feed into other calculations — notably the daily-salary figure used for severance — so they're not a bonus the employer can simply withhold; they're part of your pay. If your category's convenio sets a higher minimum than you're receiving, the convenio prevails. Pay-related shortfalls (below the SMI or the convenio rate, or withheld pagas extra) are a common and very claimable breach, which our disputes guide addresses.
Overtime & Rest
Work beyond your normal hours is overtime (horas extraordinarias), and it's regulated rather than open-ended. The main protections:
- Overtime is generally voluntary unless agreed in the contract or convenio, or required in limited situations (such as preventing or repairing urgent damage).
- It's subject to an annual limit on the number of overtime hours, and must be compensated — either paid (at a rate not below the ordinary hour, often enhanced by the convenio) or given as equivalent time off.
- It must be recorded — the daily time-record obligation specifically aims to make overtime visible and prevent unpaid extra hours.
Alongside overtime, you have rights to rest: a minimum daily rest between working days, a rest break within a sufficiently long working day, and a weekly rest period (commonly a day and a half). These exist to protect health and prevent excessive hours. A recurring issue for expat employees is unpaid or unrecorded overtime — being expected to work well beyond contracted hours without compensation or record. The time-record rules and overtime limits are precisely the protections that make such practices challengeable, and the registro de jornada provides the evidence. If you're routinely working unpaid extra hours, that's a breach worth raising.
Unpaid overtime is challengeable
Overtime in Spain is generally voluntary, capped annually, and must be compensated in pay or time off — and employers must keep a daily record of working time. Systematic unrecorded, unpaid extra hours breach these rules, and the time-record obligation is designed to give you the evidence to challenge it.
Paid & Unpaid Leave
Spanish law provides a range of leave (permisos) beyond annual holiday, much of it paid. These include short paid leaves for specific events and circumstances, such as:
| Leave | For |
|---|---|
| Sick leave (baja por enfermedad) | Illness or injury, with benefit support through social security and protections on your job. |
| Family-event leave | Short paid leave for events like the serious illness/hospitalisation or death of close family, marriage, and moving home. |
| Medical & official appointments | Time off for medical appointments and unavoidable public/official duties. |
| Birth & care leave | Maternity/paternity-equivalent leave — see our dedicated guide. |
| Carer / family leave | Including newer rights to leave for urgent family/caring reasons. |
There are also longer arrangements such as unpaid leave of absence (excedencia) — including for childcare or family care, with rights to return — and the right in certain circumstances to reduce your working hours for caring responsibilities, with corresponding pay adjustment but job protection. The exact entitlements (which events, how many days, paid or unpaid) are set by the Workers' Statute and improved by many convenios, and have been expanded by recent reforms strengthening work-life balance and carers' rights. For expats, the takeaway is that Spain offers more, and more protected, leave than many home systems — so if you face a family event, illness or caring need, it's worth checking the specific leave you're entitled to rather than assuming you must use holiday or take it unpaid.
Discrimination & Harassment
Workers in Spain are protected against discrimination — in hiring, pay, conditions, promotion and dismissal — on grounds including sex, race or ethnicity, age, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation and gender identity, and others. Equal pay for equal work and measures to promote workplace equality are reinforced by specific equality legislation, and larger employers have obligations around equality plans and pay transparency. Employees also have protection from harassment, including sexual harassment and workplace bullying (acoso laboral / mobbing), and from retaliation for asserting their rights.
These protections carry real teeth. A dismissal that is discriminatory or in retaliation for exercising a right is not merely unfair but null (nulo) — meaning reinstatement with back pay (see our unfair dismissal guide) — and discrimination or harassment can also found a claim for compensation, including for the harm to fundamental rights. For expats, who might worry that their nationality or language puts them at a disadvantage, it's worth knowing that the anti-discrimination framework applies to you fully, and that being treated worse on a protected ground, harassed, or punished for raising a complaint is a serious, actionable breach — not something to simply tolerate.
If Your Rights Are Breached
Where an employer falls short — underpaying you, denying holiday, not paying overtime, withholding pagas extra, breaching leave rights, or discriminating — you have routes to put it right:
Raise it internally
Often the first step is a clear, documented request to the employer (and, where there is one, the works council/union) to correct the breach.
Labour Inspectorate
Some breaches (unrecorded hours, unpaid overtime, safety, discrimination) can be reported to the Inspección de Trabajo, which can investigate and sanction.
Conciliation (SMAC)
For claims (e.g. unpaid amounts), the compulsory conciliation step often resolves matters before court.
Labour court
If unresolved, claim through the juzgado de lo social for what you're owed or for the breach to be remedied.
Two practical points. First, time limits apply — claims for unpaid amounts and most rights breaches must be brought within limitation periods (some short), so don't sit on a breach. Second, evidence matters: keep your payslips, contract, the convenio, records of hours, and any communications, as these prove the entitlement and the shortfall. For expats, the language barrier and unfamiliarity with these channels can make enforcing rights feel daunting, which is exactly where bilingual help — quantifying what you're owed and handling the inspectorate, conciliation or court process — turns a known breach into a recovered entitlement.
How We Help
We help expat employees understand and enforce their rights at work in Spain. We identify the convenio that governs your job and confirm what you're entitled to on hours, holidays, pay, extra payments, overtime and leave; assess whether your employer is meeting those minimums; and, where they're not, quantify the shortfall and pursue it — through the employer, the Labour Inspectorate, conciliation or the labour court. We also act on discrimination, harassment and retaliation, where the remedies (including null dismissal and compensation) are strong. It connects with our contracts and dismissal guidance, and it's all in plain English on a clear quote. Book a consultation if your rights aren't being respected.
Related Guides
Workplace Disputes & Claims
Enforcing your rights through conciliation and court.
Workplace disputes →Frequently Asked Questions
The statutory minimum is 30 calendar days' paid annual leave — roughly 22 working days — and your collective agreement may grant more. Holiday can't be replaced by money while you're employed (it's meant to be taken), the timing is agreed within the rules, and if you fall ill during booked holiday you can generally reclaim those days. On top of annual leave, Spain has a generous number of public holidays (typically around fourteen, varying by region and town).
The long-standing standard is an average maximum of around 40 hours a week on an annual basis, though the maximum working week has been subject to reform proposals to reduce it, so confirm the current statutory cap. Your convenio often sets a lower figure for your sector, which prevails if more favourable. There are also limits on daily working time, required rest periods, and a legal obligation on employers to keep a daily record of hours worked.
Spanish workers are generally entitled to extra payments (pagas extraordinarias), traditionally two per year — summer and Christmas — on top of the twelve monthly salaries, making 14 payments in total. Some contracts or convenios prorate these across the twelve months instead, so the same annual total is spread evenly. They're part of your pay, not a discretionary bonus, and feed into other calculations such as the daily salary used for severance.
Overtime is generally voluntary unless agreed in your contract or convenio, or required in limited situations such as urgent damage. It's subject to an annual limit and must be compensated — either paid (at a rate not below the ordinary hour, often enhanced by the convenio) or given as equivalent time off — and it must be recorded. Systematic unrecorded, unpaid overtime breaches these rules, and the daily time-record obligation is designed to provide the evidence to challenge it.
A range of leave (permisos), much of it paid — sick leave with benefit support, short paid leave for family events (serious illness or death of close family, marriage, moving home), time off for medical and official appointments, birth and care leave, and carers' leave for urgent family reasons. There's also unpaid leave of absence (excedencia) with rights to return, and the right in some cases to reduce hours for caring responsibilities. Recent reforms have expanded these, so check your specific entitlement rather than using holiday.
Yes, fully. The anti-discrimination framework protects workers regardless of nationality, covering grounds such as sex, race/ethnicity, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity, in hiring, pay, conditions, promotion and dismissal, with equal-pay protections. You're also protected from harassment and retaliation. A discriminatory or retaliatory dismissal is null (reinstatement with back pay), and discrimination or harassment can found a compensation claim — these protections have real teeth.
You have routes to put it right: raise it internally (documented), report certain breaches (unrecorded hours, unpaid overtime, discrimination) to the Labour Inspectorate, and bring a claim — starting with compulsory conciliation (SMAC) and, if needed, the labour court — to recover what you're owed. Keep your payslips, contract, the convenio and records of hours as evidence. Time limits apply, some short, so don't sit on a pay breach.
No. The rights in the Workers' Statute and your collective agreement are minimums — your contract can improve on them but cannot reduce them. A contract term that purports to give you less than the legal or convenio floor (lower pay than the SMI or convenio scale, less holiday, no pagas extra where due) is generally unenforceable to that extent, and the legal minimum applies in your favour. That's why checking your terms against the convenio matters.