Working hours and paid time off in Spanish jobs - 2025 guide

What are the usual working hours in Spain? Do you get any paid time off – and, if so, how much? It is likely you will be asking yourself these questions if you're moving to Spain and planning to get a job. Or, perhaps, you may be considering starting a business in Spain, and need to ensure you understand your employees' rights.

Spanish employment law sets maximum working hours, minimum paid holiday leave, and how much time off you're allowed for health matters, personal issues and childcare. Here's a guide to what current legislation covers.

What are the legal working hours in Spain?

A full-time job in Spain is considered to be 40 hours a week, although the Spanish government plans to reduce this to 37.5 hours by 2025. If you work more than an annual weekly average of 40 hours, you must be paid overtime. You cannot work more than 80 hours' overtime per year.

Overtime is always optional, and can never be imposed on an employee. Any payment given in overtime hours must be stated separately on the wage slip (nómina). While higher pay per hour is common, companies are only obliged to pay the standard rate or to offer time off in lieu within four months.

The legal framework covering overtime is detailed in Artícle 35 of the Workers' Statute.

According to the European Union (EU) Working Time Directive, you cannot work more than 48 hours per week, with or without overtime.

The typical working day in Spain is eight hours, and you are not permitted to work more than nine hours per day, other than under exceptional circumstances, which your employer must provide legitimate justification for.

A minimum of 12 hours between shifts is compulsory. This means that if, for example, you finish work on one day at 20.00 (8pm), you cannot start work the following day until at least 08.00 (8am).

For every six hours of continuous work, you must take a break of not less than 15 minutes.

Employers are required by law to keep a register of hours worked by each employee. This is to prevent companies from expecting their staff to work unpaid overtime.

Working hours in Spain are covered by Article 34 of the Workers' Statute, although shift work, including night shifts are detailed in Article 36 of the Workers' Statute.

Time off, holiday and sick leave in Spain

Spanish workforce legislation regulates minimum periods of time off work – weekly and annually – for standard rest breaks, which must be paid at the same rate as the equivalent in working days. Labour laws also protect employees who are unable to work due to illness (mental or physical) or injury, and set minimum leave allowances for certain exceptional, non-work-related circumstances.

How many days off are you entitled to in Spain?

All employees are entitled to at least one-and-a-half days off per week or three days per fortnight. They cannot go more than this time without any days off. They are also entitled to national and regional public holidays off work, as well as local public holidays where the total does not exceed 14 per year. Some essential services, such as healthcare, may require employees to work on these days. Where this is the case, they are counted as overtime hours.

Annual leave, or holiday, is a minimum of 22 working days per year, or 30 'calendar days' (where all days are counted, including weekends and public holidays that fall within this period). Unlike in many other countries, companies in Spain normally allow workers to take their entire annual holiday leave in one block if they wish. If workers wish to take more frequent breaks within their holiday allowance, they are obliged to take at least one block of two weeks every year.

Workers in Spain are not permitted to exchange their annual holiday leave for additional pay - nor to 'carry over' leave to add to that of next year, unless voluntarily and agreed as part of company practice. Dates of holiday leave are the employee's choice, subject to approval by the employer, except in certain professions with specific non-working periods, such as school or college teachers.

Paid holiday in Spain is covered by Article 38 of the Workers' Statute.

Certain personal circumstances allow employees additional paid time off. These are:

• Getting married: 15 days.
• Death, accident, serious illness or hospitalisation of any family member up to 'second degree' (which covers aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents and grandchildren, as well as unmarried cohabiting partners): Two days, or four days if this involves travelling.
• Moving house: One day.
• Any strictly necessary time off required by union representatives to carry out their duties within this rôle.
• Any strictly necessary time off required for pre-natal classes and scans, preparing for childbirth, or preparing for adoption.
• Any strictly necessary time off required for fulfilling unavoidable or compulsory public or personal duty. This could involve jury service, election day service, or obtaining or renewing a residence or identification permit, for example.

Stricter laws cover time off for workers under 18. Those aged 16 and 17 are required to seek their parents' or guardians' written permission allowing them to work, and nobody aged 15 or under is allowed to carry out paid work. There are limitations, including a maximum of eight hours of work per day and a ban on night shifts (22.00 to 06.00). Under-18s must have at least two consecutive days off per week, and no more than four-and-a-half hours worked without a minimum break of 30 minutes.

How much sick leave are you entitled to in Spain?

Known as 'temporary incapacity', employees are paid for time off sick after three days of absence, subject to presenting a doctor's note. Sick pay comes from the State Social Security, at 60% of the worker's gross salary for the first 20 days, then 75% for up to a year. If the employee is still unable to work after a year, sick pay can be extended for a further six months. If after this period the employee is unable to work, they may apply to the Social Security for a permanent disability allowance (incapacidad permanente).

Some companies are willing to pay the first three days of sick or top up Social Security payments to 100% of the employee's salary for the full time off – but it is not compulsory for them to do so.

Self-employed workers are also entitled to sick pay. The claimable amount is based on their Social Security contribution (the base reguladora), which tends to be somewhat lower than the worker's actual earnings. For the first 60 days, self-employed people receive 60% of the base reguladora, and their usual monthly Social Security contribution is deducted from this. From day 61, they receive 75%, and do not have to pay their contribution.

Do Spanish companies allow parental leave?

Maternity and paternity leave in Spain is mandatory for birth, adoption, and fostering, lasting 16 weeks at full pay. Paternity and maternity leave are both 16 weeks on full pay. Although, technically, neither starts until the very day the mother gives birth, most women finish working earlier on, being signed off by their doctor on medical grounds. She will then be treated as being on sick leave until the baby is born. This sick leave is independent of maternity leave, though - she will still have 16 weeks of paid time off from the day of the infant's arrival.

Parents are required to take the first six weeks of their leave from the day of the child's birth or arrival. The remaining 10 weeks can either continue after the first six, or can be staggered within the first year. In two-parent families, each party can take their leave at the same time, or separately.

When adopting or fostering more than one child, or in the case of giving birth to more than one baby at a time, parents are given an extra week's leave per child. This is also the case for any child with a disability. Premature births allow an extra week of leave, and each parent is entitled to apply for up to 29 weeks if the baby stays in hospital for more than seven days after being born.

Self-employed parents are entitled to the same leave, although they receive 100% of the base reguladora instead of 100% of their full income. Women who have not paid Social Security, or not paid enough into the system (at least 180 days in the previous seven years, or 360 over their entire working lives) are able to claim a non-contributory maternity allowance, currently set at €530 per month.

You can find more information on sick leave, maternity leave, and other State-funded leave from work can be found in our comprehensive guide to the Spanish Social Security system.