SPAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: José Antonio Segovia, A&O Shearman
Other Paid Leave In addition to the above, employees are also entitled to the following paid leaves (which may be enhanced as per the applicable CBA). • For the time strictly necessary to undergo prenatal tests and childbirth preparation training and, in the case of adoption, custody for adoption purposes or fostering, for the attendance of information ses - sions and for undertaking the psychological and social profiling necessary for the declaration of suitability for adoption; provided that these have to be done during the working day. • In the case of a birth, adoption, custody for adop - tion purposes or fostering, employees are entitled to one hour (or two half hours) of absence from work per day to breastfeed a child aged less than nine months. Since December 2023, it has been possible to accumulate all the paid hours in assigned to breastfeeding to enjoy them over complete working days. The duration of such leave shall be increased proportionally in cases of multiple childbirth and can be accumulated into full days as long as a collective agreement or the employer allows it. In addition, one of the parents will also be entitled to enjoy this leave as long as the child is aged between nine and 12 months, with a proportional reduction in salary. • In the case of the birth of a premature child who has to remain hospitalised, the mother or the father shall have the right to be absent from work for one hour per day. • Five days’ absence will be provided for in the case of, accident or serious illness, hospitalisation, or a surgical operation without hospitalisation but requiring home rest. • Two days’ absence (or four days if travel is required) will be provided in case of bereavement. • Four days of paid leave will be provided to be absent from work due to force majeure when nec - essary for urgent and unforeseeable family rea - sons, in the event of illness or accident that makes the employee’s immediate presence essential. Should the employee need to travel due to one of the above-mentioned circumstances, the leave shall be extended by two additional days.
towards the maximum yearly limit, but they shall in any event be considered as overtime. Certain categories of employees are not permitted to work overtime: • employees under 18 years of age; • employees rendering services on a part-time basis; • employees who are hired to work during night hours; • employees whose work hours have been reduced due to a decision of the company for economic, technical, organisational or production reasons; and • employees hired on a trainee contract. Under Spanish employment law, companies must register the daily working hours of each employee, setting out the start and end times, including overtime. This obligation does not apply to the working hours of senior executives. 1.4 Compensation A minimum wage is fixed every year by the govern - ment, which must be paid in cash. However, appli - cable CBAs regulate the minimum wage to be paid for each job position in each specific sector, to which increases are applicable each year. As of 2025, the minimum annual wage has been increased 4.4%, being fixed at EUR16,576. Salaries must be paid in 12 monthly instalments, plus two extraordinary pay - ments (in July and December). 1.5 Other Employment Terms Vacation Employees are entitled to a minimum of 30 calen - dar days (22 business days) of vacation per annum. Annual vacations have to be taken within the calendar year and cannot be carried forward unless otherwise agreed with the employer. Vacation cannot be paid in lieu except in the case of termination of employment. The employee’s remuneration during the vacation period must be the same as what they are entitled to receive during ordinary working days. In addition, employees are entitled to 14 bank holidays per year.
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