The presumption of permanence and the end of project and service contracts
A contract is presumed to be permanent and full-time: anyone wanting temporary or part-time work must prove it. The 2022 reform abolished the contract for a specific project or service and requires the cause justifying each temporary contract, the specific circumstances motivating it and its relation to the expected duration to be set out in writing.
If this is not complied with, the contract becomes permanent: this happens in cases of fraud, when registration with Social Security is missing after the probation period, or due to abusive chaining of temporary contracts. The company must notify the worker in writing within ten days and inform the legal representation.
The permanent contract and the permanent seasonal contract
The ordinary permanent contract is the rule: full-time or part-time, with no time limit. The maximum probation period is 6 months for qualified technicians and 2 months for the rest, and during that time either party may withdraw without compensation.
The permanent seasonal contract is permanent but covers intermittent activities: seasons, campaigns or foreseeable peaks. The worker has the right to be called in order of the collective agreement or seniority, and the call must be made in writing. Since the reform, dismissals are compensated in the same way as ordinary permanent contracts, at 33 days per year, and the company also pays contributions for these workers when they are not providing services.
Temporary contracts: production circumstances and replacement
The cause must be real and stated in the contract: the Labour Inspectorate and the courts examine whether the increase was foreseeable or the fluctuation responds to the company's normal activity. A temporary contract without justified cause is fraud and becomes permanent.
There is also a variant of hiring for production circumstances for occasional, foreseeable and short-term situations: the company may only use it for 90 calendar days per year, never continuously and with the worker identified in the contract.
Key points
- For production circumstances: occasional and unforeseeable increase in activity. Maximum 6 months, extendable to 12 by sectoral collective agreement, with a single extension. Compensation at the end: 12 days' salary per year
- For replacement: to cover a person with a reserved position, to complete another's reduced working hours or to fill a position during a selection process (maximum 3 months in the latter case). No compensation at the end
- Chaining: two or more contracts for production circumstances totalling more than 18 months in 24 make the worker permanent
Training contracts: dual and internship
The dual training contract combines paid work with training (university, vocational training or professional certificate). It no longer requires being unemployed, lasts between 3 months and 2 years, and pay is set by collective agreement, proportional to actual working time.
The internship contract is for those with a qualification (vocational training, degree, master's or professional certificate) and must be signed within 3 years of qualifying, 5 in the case of disability. It lasts between 6 months and 2 years, and the salary is the one set by the collective agreement for the role, without the percentages above the minimum that existed before the reform.
What to watch when hiring in Spain
Hiring in Spain is not complicated, but it is not unrestricted either: temporary employment must be justified and the presumption always favours the worker. Budget your headcount assuming the standard contract is permanent and treat temporary as the exception that must be proven.
Key points
- Registration with Social Security before the start of the employment, with the contract notified on time
- Additional contribution payable by the company for temporary contracts of less than 30 days
- Written and genuine temporary cause: without it, the contract is permanent
- Inform the legal representation of the workers about temporary hiring
- Temporary workers have the same rights as permanent ones, proportional to time worked
