Paid leave and authorised absences in Spain
Guidance for employers and HR teams
Not every absence is holiday, and not every protected absence is paid by the employer. Start with the statutory reason, then check the collective agreement, eligibility, notice and evidence needed.
The main family-related paid leave rights
The five-day care entitlement is not the same as bereavement leave. Check the actual relationship, qualifying event and need for care rather than applying one generic allowance to every family absence.
- Marriage or registration of a civil partnership: 15 calendar days.
- Serious accident or illness, hospitalisation or surgery requiring home rest: five days for the spouse, registered partner and qualifying relatives up to the second degree, including specified relatives of a partner, or another cohabitant requiring the employee’s effective care.
- Death of a spouse, registered partner or relative up to the second degree: two days, extended by two more where travel is necessary.
- Urgent family reasons involving illness or accident that make the employee’s immediate presence essential: paid hours equivalent to four days a year, subject to the statutory arrangements.
Other common paid absences
- Moving the habitual home: one day.
- Essential public and personal duties, including voting: the time required, within the applicable legal or collective-agreement conditions.
- Prenatal examinations and birth preparation, and specified adoption or fostering preparation appointments: the necessary time when they must take place during working hours.
- Inability to reach the workplace because of official travel restrictions or a serious and imminent risk, including qualifying severe weather: up to four days under article 37.3(g), with the statutory rules on continuation and compatible remote work.
- Job-related training: employees with at least one year’s service have a statutory right to 20 paid hours a year under the applicable conditions. Mandatory employer-provided training is treated separately.
Infant care is an individual right
For a birth, adoption or qualifying placement, eligible employees have the statutory infant-care entitlement generally until the child reaches nine months. It is not reserved to women.
The law provides daily absence or working-time reduction options and the possibility of accumulating the entitlement into full days. Calculation depends on the working calendar and circumstances. The rules for extension to 12 months and any associated benefit need a separate check.
How to count and document leave
Do not treat every allowance as calendar days or assume weekends always count. Marriage or registered-partnership leave expressly uses calendar days; for other leave, the wording, applicable case law, work schedule and collective agreement matter.
Ask for timely notice where possible and proportionate supporting evidence. Record the dates and payroll treatment consistently, while limiting access to personal and health information. A collective agreement may improve statutory rights.
Keep sickness, holiday and longer leave separate
Temporary incapacity, annual holiday, birth and childcare leave, the separate eight-week parental leave and unpaid extended leave are different regimes. They have different effects on salary, Social Security and job protection.
For overlapping events, hospital discharge, repeated requests or a disputed start date, review the particular circumstances before accepting or refusing the request.
Frequently asked questions
Are all family-related absences five days?
No. Five-day care leave, two-day bereavement leave and urgent family absence are different rights with different conditions. The collective agreement can improve them.
Can an employer ask for medical details?
Only necessary, proportionate evidence should be requested. A justification for leave does not give the employer unrestricted access to diagnoses or clinical records.
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Official sources
The linked official sources are in Spanish.
General guidance for employment in Spain. Check the applicable collective agreement and the circumstances of the individual case.