Employment contract under Spanish law (contrato laboral)

curl -X POST https://dealroom.todo.law/api/v1/agent/contracts \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer drk_YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \
  -d '{
    "contractType": "CONTRATO_LABORAL",
    "language": "en",
    "party": {
      "legalName": "Your company"
    },
    "counterparty": {
      "legalName": "The other company"
    },
    "terms": {
      "convenio-colectivo": "<convenio-colectivo>",
      "salario-bruto-anual": "10000",
      "puesto-grupo-profesional": "<puesto-grupo-profesional>",
      "centro-trabajo": "<centro-trabajo>"
    },
    "inline": "md"
  }'

What it is and when it is used

A Spanish employment contract (contrato laboral or contrato de trabajo) records the hiring of an employee who works for the company's account and under its direction and organisation. It is governed by the Workers' Statute (Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015), by the collective agreement that applies to the company or its sector, and by Spanish labour and social security law.

It is used for any hire in Spain: an ordinary open-ended post, a seasonal role, a training contract or a senior position with an enhanced exit package. Spanish labour law sets minimum rights that a contract may improve but not reduce. For that reason the first fact the parties must identify, before choosing any clause, is the applicable collective agreement: its pay tables, working time, probation and notice rules prevail over any lower figure in the contract.

For employees hired under California or English law, see the employment agreement. For a self-employed professional, see the Spanish services agreement.

Who signs it and in which role

Two parties sign:

• The Company (Empresa), identified by its tax number (CIF).
• The Employee (Trabajador/a), identified by DNI or NIE.

The parties fill in the facts of the hire: the applicable collective agreement (mandatory), the gross annual salary, the position and professional group under that agreement, and the workplace. Where the chosen options need them, they also give the variable pay percentage, the weekly hours of a part-time contract, the amount of an executive severance package, and the compensation and territory of a non-compete. The professional group decides pay minimums and whether the longer probation period for qualified technical staff applies.

Key clauses

Contract type

An indefinite contract is the ordinary form of hiring since the 2021 labour reform. A fixed-term contract covers an occasional and unforeseeable increase in work, for up to six months (twelve if the collective agreement allows it), with 12 days' salary per year on expiry. A training contract in alternation combines paid work with training towards a qualification, with working time capped at 65% of the maximum in the first year and 85% in the second. A permanent seasonal contract (fijo-discontinuo) covers seasonal or intermittent work: it is indefinite, the employee is called back in writing for each period of activity under objective criteria, and seniority counts over the whole relationship.

Compensation structure

Fourteen payments (twelve monthly payments plus extra payments in June and December), twelve equal payments with the extra payments prorated where the collective agreement allows it, or a fixed salary plus a variable component tied to objectives communicated in writing at the start of each period. The variable component counts as salary for all legal purposes, including severance.

Probation period

The legal maximum, a reduced period of one month, or none. The skill flags a conflict: in a fixed-term contract of six months or less, probation may not exceed one month unless the collective agreement says otherwise, so the maximum option should not be combined with a short fixed term.

Working hours

Full-time (40 hours a week in annual average, or the shorter working time of the collective agreement, which prevails), part-time with the weekly hours stated in writing (otherwise the contract is presumed full-time), or flexible hours with remote work under Law 10/2021, which requires a separate written remote work agreement.

Working time registry

The company must keep a daily record of each employee's start and end times. The options are an objective digital system or a system designed by the company. The skill notes that a regulation requiring a digital record had not been approved as of July 2026 and could make purely manual systems insufficient.

Termination and severance

The statutory minimum; enhanced severance of 33 days per year for any involuntary termination, with average variable pay included in the salary base; or an executive package (blindaje): a lump sum on top of statutory severance plus 12 months of private health insurance and outplacement. The skill warns that the package presumes an ordinary employment relationship, because senior executives and board members follow different regimes.

Notice period

This clause governs only the employee's resignation: 15 days, one month or three months. A Spanish employer cannot end the contract simply by giving notice; it needs one of the statutory grounds for dismissal.

Non-compete (optional)

The legal maximum with compensation, a one-year covenant with proportional compensation, or no restriction.

IP assignment

A broad assignment of all IP created in the course of employment, an assignment limited to works and inventions directly related to the job, or a non-exclusive licence to the company while the employee keeps ownership.

Confidentiality

A broad obligation with no time limit after employment, a standard obligation during employment plus two years, or protection limited to trade secrets as defined in Law 1/2019.

Dispute resolution

The labour courts after the mandatory conciliation before the SMAC, or mediation first with the labour courts as the fallback. The skill also lists arbitration but blocks it for Spain, because individual employment disputes cannot be sent to private binding arbitration.

The standard terms cover position and duties, registration with Social Security, workplace and geographic mobility, health and safety, return of company material, data protection and written amendments.

What the two sides usually negotiate

The company tends to prefer a fixed-term contract, variable pay, the maximum probation, the statutory minimum severance, a longer resignation notice, a non-compete, and broad IP and confidentiality terms. The employee tends to prefer an indefinite contract, fourteen payments, no probation, flexible hours with remote work, enhanced or executive severance, a short notice period, no non-compete and a licence model for IP.

When the two sides disagree, Dealroom proposes the balanced positions in the skill:

• Pay: twelve payments with the extra payments prorated.
• Probation: one month.
• Working hours: full-time.
• Registry: a digital system.
• Severance: enhanced, 33 days per year for any involuntary termination.
• IP: assignment limited to the job.
• Confidentiality: during employment plus two years.

On contract type, the training contract is the only option with no lean, but it fits only where the employee is training for a qualification; among the others, the permanent seasonal contract sits closest to the middle. On notice, the non-compete and disputes no option is neutral: 15 days and one month lean only slightly in opposite directions, the one-year non-compete is the closest to the middle, and mediation followed by the courts is the closest available option for disputes.

Jurisdictions and languages Dealroom supports for it

Spanish law only (Spain). The contract can be drafted in Spanish or English. Every clause is specific to Spanish law and is not offered for California or England and Wales.

Common mistakes

• Skipping the collective agreement. Its pay tables, working time and notice rules prevail over lower figures in the contract.
• Misusing temporary contracts. They need a real legal cause; exceeding the maximum duration makes the employee indefinite.
• Maximum probation in a short fixed-term contract, or probation for someone who already did the same job in the company.
• A non-compete without adequate compensation or a genuine business interest: it is void.
• A notice clause that lets the company terminate at will. Dismissal needs a statutory ground.
• Arbitration for individual disputes. It cannot displace the labour courts.
• Using the executive package for a senior executive or director without checking which regime applies.
• Relying on figures that may change. The skill flags for the supervising lawyer the statutory working week, the pending digital registry rules and the debate on dismissal compensation.