Work contracts in Spain: types, clauses and conditions / Gtres
Work contracts in Spain: types, clauses and conditions / Gtres

Moving to Spain, getting an apartment, finding a job… it can all be very exhausting. When you finally get a job, you’d like to just sign the work contract without giving it a second thought. However, it’s very important to understand the basics of Spanish employment contracts before signing one. So, read on and get to know what exactly you’re signing.

Permanent contracts

Indefinite contracts, or contrato indefinido in Spanish, aim to start a working relationship without establishing a time limit. The main characteristics of normal permanent contracts in Spain are:

  • The contract of employment has no end-by date.
  • The reimbursement pay for improper dismissal is a maximum of 45 days’ salary for each year worked, for a maximum of 43 months’ equivalent salary.
  • No Social Security subsidies or other financial inducement.
  • If there isn’t any other formalised contract type, it’s presumed to be a normal indefinite one.

Temporary contracts

Temporary contracts are normally used in the following situations:

  • A specific task or service: These contracts are for carrying out jobs that have an uncertain duration. If it exceeds one year, it is necessary to give 15 days of notice before the end of the work.
  • Contract for production contingencies: The purpose of this contract is to meet circumstantial requirements that are associated with the short-term employment market and seasonal work.
  • Temporary replacement: This type of contract needs to specify the worker you are replacing and the reason for substitution.
  • Temporary contracts cannot run for longer than 6 months in a 12-month period.

Although these two are the most common contracts, there also exist work experience contracts, that can be arranged for university or junior college graduates from 6 months to 2 years; and trainee or apprenticeship contracts that are for workers in between the ages of 16 and 21, which last from 6 months to 2 years, although they can be extended to 3 years.

What should a contract entail?

Spanish contracts should contain the following:

  • Identity of both parties, address of the company and the place where the worker is supposed to work;
  • Starting date of employment, category or professional group of the job, and the number of workdays;
  • Initial basic salary, when and how the payment is made (monthly, weekly, etc.);
  • Holidays and how they are determined;
  • Period of notice that both parties must give to terminate the contract;
  • The collective agreement applicable to the employment relationship, stating the specific features that make it possible to be identified.

If you are in agreement with all the clauses and conditions of the contract of employment that your Spanish employer gives you for your job in Spain, go ahead and sign on the dotted line (and put your initials on every page, too).