Spain

Impact date: 3 April 2025 New criteria have been established for the termination of the contract due to non-payment or delays in the payment of salary. As of 3 April 2025, it will be considered a delay if the salary is not paid on the set date, exceeding fifteen days in arrears.

Impact date: 1 May 2025 A new law has come into force which amends existing legislation relating to the termination of the employment contract due to permanent disability. This new law eliminates the possibility of total or absolute permanent disability or severe disability of employees being an automatic cause for termination of the contract and seeks to align Spanish legislation with the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (Case C-631/22), which ruled that the automatic termination of the contract following the declaration of permanent incapacity is incompatible with EU law without first attempting reasonable adjustments.

Impact date: Awaited, expected during 2025 The Law on Occupational Risk Prevention is expected to be reformed to reflect the new working environment and to improve the implementation of preventative occupational risk measures, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises. The reform could include an emphasis on specific measures to prevent risks related to the use of new technologies, exposure to chemical substances, arising from high temperatures and other climatic hazards, and psychosocial risks in working environments.

Impact date: Awaited The Law on the Statute for Non-work Internship Trainees in Companies (Trainee Statute) is expected to be approved. On 11 December 2024, the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy submitted for public hearing the preliminary draft Trainee Statute. This draft seeks to regulate key aspects of non-labour internships, such as the maximum number of internships per company, the limits on the duration of internships, access to appropriate resources and support, and the reimbursement of expenses.

Impact date: Awaited The transposition of the Work-Life Balance Directive (EU) 2019/1158) regarding the remuneration of parental leave, regulated in Article 48a of the Workers’ Statute, is expected during 2025.

Meanwhile, several Tribunals have recently recognized the right of an employee to receive compensation for the days of parental leave taken, on the basis that the Work-Life Balance Directive establishes that this leave must be paid, despite the Directive not yet having been transposed.

Impact date: Awaited A new Sustainable Mobility Law is anticipated. The Law aims to encourage the use of environmentally friendly transport and reduce carbon emissions. In the workplace, the law will require companies, together with workers’ representatives, to develop and implement sustainable mobility plans for their staff, providing more sustainable transport alternatives.

Impact date: Awaited (the Council of Ministers approved the preliminary draft of the law on 6 February 2025, but it is still pending parliamentary approval) At the end of 2024, the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy and the trade unions agreed to reduce the maximum working time to an average of 37.5 hours per week in 2025 (the maximum is currently 40 hours per week) and associated provisions.

On 6 May 2025 the Council of Ministers approved a draft Bill regulating the reduction of the maximum working time. The Bill must next be approved by Parliament. The Bill has not yet been published, but based on the information currently available, it is understood to include:

• Reduction in the maximum working time to 37.5 hours per week, without any salary reduction
• Working time registry: a reinforced obligation for the actual working hours of employees to be recorded through a digital timekeeping system and to provide greater transparency
• Right to disconnect: an unwaivable right for employees to disconnect from work-related communications (emails, calls, messages) outside of their designated working hours. Employers are required to implement clear internal policies and procedures to support this right in conjunction with employee representatives
• Enforcement: specific penalties for non-compliance with the new working time regulations under the Law on Infractions and Penalties in the Social Order (LISOS)
• Transitional provisions: Companies must implement a digital working time registry, adapt their working hours and establish internal policies for the right to disconnect by 31 December 2025. All collective agreements and employment contracts must reflect the new maximum. For part-time contracts where the average working time over the reference period is equal to or exceeds the maximum weekly working time, such contracts will automatically be converted into full-time employment contracts upon the implementation of the new legal working hours