Employee rights in Spain

Overview

Spanish labour law (the Estatuto de los Trabajadores) sets out a baseline of rights that apply to every employee, regardless of nationality, contract type or sector. Knowing these helps you recognise when something at work isn't right.

Requirements

• Applies to all employees working under a Spanish employment contract
• Some specific rights and minimums may be improved by your sector's convenio colectivo

Step-by-step process

• Know your right to a written contract, a payslip every pay period, and registered working hours
• Know your right to the applicable minimum wage or convenio-set salary, whichever is higher
• Know your right to paid holiday, rest periods, and protection from dismissal without proper cause and process
• Know your right to join a union and to workplace representation, without retaliation from your employer

Required documents

• Your employment contract and payslips, as your primary evidence of your terms

Common mistakes

• Not knowing which convenio colectivo applies to your role — it often improves on the general legal minimums
• Assuming foreign nationality affects your labour rights — in employment law, the same protections generally apply to all employees working in Spain

Practical tips

• Trade unions (sindicatos) offer free initial guidance to members and, in many cases, non-members, on workplace rights questions
• If in doubt about a specific right, your works council (comité de empresa) or union delegate, where one exists at your workplace, is often the fastest first point of contact

How Tuchati can help

If something at work feels off and you're not sure whether it's actually against the rules, Tuchati can help you understand your baseline rights before deciding what to do next.