Understanding Salary, Working Hours, and Employee Rights in Spain
Salary and Working Hours
Previous Issues
In this work unit, we will examine the concepts that make up salary, the guarantees that accompany it, ways of determining work time, working time limits and extensions to overtime, non-recoverable holidays, holidays, and leave.
Can a worker charge any amount of money in wages? Is there a minimum or maximum? Are working hours limited? Can a worker work 90 hours a week? Does labor law guarantee the right to rest for workers?
With regard to the issues raised, you should know:
The Constitution provides:
- All Spanish citizens are entitled to an income sufficient to meet their needs and those of their families. (Art. 35.1)
- The public authorities shall guarantee the necessary rest through the limitation of working hours and periodic paid holidays. (Art. 40.2)
Wage
Salary is considered “the total economic benefit received by workers, in cash or in kind, for the professional provision of labor services for others, and allowance for the actual work or rest periods as work.”
Wages in kind consist of property other than money (accommodation, food, etc.) and may not exceed 30% of the total salary.
In addition, several quantities cannot be considered wages since they are intended to offset expenses or job requirements. However, they must be reflected in the pay slip or payroll. These are:
Supplements or allowances for expenses incurred by employees as a result of their work:
- Amounts to buy work clothes
- Diets
- Travel
- Etc.
Compensation for transfer, suspension, or dismissal.
Benefits and compensation from Social Security:
- Temporary Disability Benefits
- Benefits for partial unemployment
- Etc.
Wage Structure
The wage structure is determined by a collective agreement or, failing that, in the individual employment contract. It shall include:
- Base salary
- Salary supplements
Both concepts are listed in Social Security and income tax.
Base Salary
This is the part of the wages paid to workers because of work, regardless of other circumstances. It is fixed in the collective agreement or, failing that, in the employment contract, and is different for each professional category.
Remuneration
These are those amounts, if any, that should be added to the base salary depending on various circumstances. They are laid down in the relevant collective agreement or, failing that, in the contract.
Those circumstances depend on:
- The worker’s personal circumstances
- The work
- The status and firm performance
There are a variety of salary supplements, the most common can include:
- Seniority add-on
- Supplement for night work
- Shift add-on
- Productivity add-on
- Overtime
- Bonuses
- Share of profit
- Residence in the Canary Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla (in the case of mainland companies)
Among wage supplements are bonuses. All employees have an annual entitlement to at least two extra payments.
- The amount of pay will be fixed in the collective agreement and paid, one at Christmas and the other on the date fixed by collective agreement or by agreement between the employer and employee representatives. The amount may also be apportioned monthly.
What does it mean to apportion the amount monthly? Instead of charging the full pay in the corresponding month, the amount is distributed among all months of the year, so every month, a portion of the pay is collected.
Minimum Wage
The minimum wage (SMI) is, as its name suggests, the minimum payment a worker may charge in any sector.
This SMI is set annually by the Government after consultation with the most representative trade unions and business associations, taking into account the Consumer Price Index (CPI), average national productivity, increasing labor’s share in national income, and general economic conditions.
For 2010, the minimum wage for any activity is set at the following amounts:
- 633.33 euros/month
- 21.11 euros/day
This salary was understood to refer to the legal working hours in each activity, not including, in the case of daily wages, the share of Sundays and holidays. If less time is worked, it shall be charged pro rata.
The amounts indicated above will be increased with corresponding wage supplements.
The amount of the SMI is not subject to seizure, which means that, faced with debts incurred by any employee, creditors may seize only the amounts received in excess of the amount of the SMI, but not entirely, but at a rate that varies depending on the employee’s salary.
However, the SMI is arrestable in cases of “debt-for-food,” which is the amount to be paid to the spouse and/or children for their livelihood and education as established by a decree of separation, divorce, or marriage annulment or a statement about food.
The Pay Slip
The employer is obliged to provide the worker, along with their wages, a “receipt of wages or salary,” which shall follow the model established by the Ministry of Labour and Immigration, or which is set to replace it in the collective agreement or agreement between the employer and employee representatives, provided that the model contains, with sufficient clarity and separation, the different perceptions of the employee and the deductions that are legally due.
Working Time
Among the rights that workers have conquered since the time of the Industrial Revolution, those relating to working time are outstanding.
As we saw, at that time, working hours had an inhumane duration, there were no paid holidays, etc. The action of the labor movement required States to intervene and begin to issue a series of rules aimed at protecting workers against corporate abuse. Little by little, they are getting several improvements in working conditions in general and in relation to working time, including up to the current situation.
In this section, we develop the following points:
- Working day
- Breaks
- Permits
- Public holidays
The Working Day
It can be defined as the time, daily or weekly, that a worker has to devote to developing their work.
Is the length of the working day the same for all workers?
No, the Workers’ Statute provides: “the length of the working day will be agreed in collective agreements or employment contracts.”
“The duration of the normal working day is 40 hours per week of actual work annualized.”
“The number of ordinary hours of actual work shall not exceed nine a day, unless a collective agreement or agreement between the company and representatives of the workers provides for a different distribution of daily work, always respecting the break between days. If the worker is under 18 years of age, they may not work more than eight hours of actual work.”
What is meant by actual work? It is the period between the time of arrival and the abandonment of the job (not the company, office, etc.) by the worker.
Night Work
- It is considered night work when performed between ten o’clock in the evening and six o’clock in the morning.
- If you work more than 3 hours on the night shift, it is considered night work.
Night work hours have a specific fee (plus for night) to be fixed in the collective agreement. This specific fee shall not apply when the salary has been agreed upon taking into account the nocturnal nature of the work (bakers, night watchmen, etc.)
Work Shifts
The Workers’ Statute provides for shift work in companies with continuous processes twenty-four hours a day (e.g., hospitals) or when the organization and pace of work require it.
The company shall, in the organization of work shifts, ensure the rotation of the same and that no worker is on the night shift for more than two consecutive weeks, except for voluntary membership.
In companies where there is a shift regime, the worker who is pursuing regular studies to obtain an academic or professional qualification will be able to choose their preferred shift.
Overtime
Sometimes, workers have to work longer hours than those fixed by the collective agreement or employment contract. These extra hours are overtime.
Do I have to work overtime? No, in principle, it is voluntary, but if it is agreed in the collective agreement or employment contract to work overtime, it has to be done.
It may happen that, on occasion, workers have to work additional hours to prevent or repair damage claims or other extraordinary and urgent situations. These times are not considered extraordinary even if paid as such, and their implementation is mandatory for workers.
How many extra hours can be done? A maximum of 80 per year, provided that this computation includes those hours that will be compensated by rest. However, the Collective Agreement of Service Centres and Early Childhood Education limits overtime to 54 per year.
At what price is it paid? At the rate determined by the collective agreement or employment contract, without, in any case, its value being less than an hour of regular pay. You can also substitute the remuneration paid for compensatory rest.
Overtime is prohibited during the night, except in exceptional cases. It is also prohibited for people under eighteen.
Breaks
So far, we have been discussing working hours, regular and special, but workers also have the right to enjoy rest periods. What are these periods of rest? The following:
Daily rest periods
- Twelve hours, at least, between the end of one day and the beginning of the next. If you finish your workday at eight p.m., you cannot start work before eight o’clock the next day.
- Fifteen minutes minimum when the length of the working day exceeds six hours continuously. If the employee is under eighteen years of age, they must have a rest of at least thirty minutes if their day is more than four hours. This break is known as a “sandwich break.”
Weekly
- The weekly rest period must be at least half of uninterrupted days and can be accumulated for periods of up to fourteen days, that is, that instead of resting a day and a half each week, you could rest for three days at least every fourteen days.
- As a general rule, this break includes Saturday afternoon or Monday morning and the whole of Sunday.
- If the employee is under eighteen years of age, they will have at least two days of uninterrupted rest.
What if you have to work these days? Then they have to compensate you with alternative systems. Thus, the collective bargaining agreement for Child Care and Education Centers states: “When the job needs or characteristics of the Center do not allow you to enjoy the weekly rest day and continuous half-day on a Saturday or Sunday, it will be enjoyed on other days of the week.”
Annual leave
- All workers are entitled to enjoy an annual paid vacation period whose duration is fixed in the collective agreement or employment contract and shall not be less than thirty calendar days.
What are calendar days? Every day of the year, including Sundays and holidays. Unlike working days, which are those excluding Sundays and holidays.
During the holiday period, you cannot work, even if you are compensated financially. It is an inalienable right of the worker, and you cannot be deprived of it. You may only be paid and not enjoy the holiday in the event of termination of employment without having taken the appropriate holiday.
Paid leave
Workers are entitled to a series of paid leaves. The Workers’ Charter outlines the following:
- Fifteen calendar days in the case of marriage
- Two days in cases of the birth of a child or serious illness or death of relatives to the second degree of consanguinity (parents, children, siblings, etc.) or affinity (in-laws, sons-in-law, etc.). When this occasion requires the worker to move, the period shall be four days.
- One day for a change of usual residence.
- For the time required to comply with unavoidable public and personal duties (e.g., subpoena). If, in the line of duty, the employee receives any compensation, it will be reduced by the amount of the salary they were entitled to at the company.
- To perform trade union or staff representative functions.
- For the time required to perform prenatal testing and birth preparation techniques to be carried out within the workday.
- The time required to attend examinations for obtaining a degree or professional qualification
- For the breastfeeding of a child under nine months, the mother is entitled to one hour off work, which can be divided into two parts and replaced, at the discretion of the mother, by reducing the working day by half an hour. This permit may be enjoyed either by the mother or the father if they both work.
Collective agreements may include others and even extend the length of some of those already mentioned.
To enjoy any of the permits you are entitled to, you must notify the company in advance and justify it later.
Public Holidays
In addition to the compulsory weekly rest, there are public holidays, distributed throughout the year, reflecting additional days of paid leave. These holidays can be raised to a maximum of fourteen, two of which are local in nature (e.g., Tuesday Carnival and May 3 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife).
The Autonomous Communities, within the limits of the fourteen, may identify those holidays that are their own tradition (May 30, Day of the Canary Islands; March 1, Day of Andalusia, etc.), replacing some of those determined at the national level.
- The following four will always be respected as national holidays: December 25 (Christmas), January 1 (New Year), May 1 (Labour Day), and October 12 (National Holiday of Spain).
- To avoid the practice known as “bridges,” which is detrimental to the productivity of companies, the Government will move to Mondays national holidays that occur during the week and, in any case, holidays that coincide with Sunday, with the exception of the four nationally identified: December 25, January 1, May 1, and October 12.
- If you have to work on a holiday, they will have to compensate you with breaks in the manner set forth in the relevant collective agreement.