Spain
Regulations for Working in Spain
Overview
Anyone sending employees to work in Spain must comply with important legal requirements. This includes registration with the Spanish authorities, compliance with tax and social security regulations and the provision of relevant documents. Here is a comprehensive overview of the posting process, reporting requirements and employment law requirements in Spain. With premote, you can process your reports quickly, digitally and in compliance with the law!
EU Posted Workers Directive
What are the requirements?
Foreign employers must register the posting to the Spanish employment authorities before it starts and regardless of its duration.
The notification must be made electronically and should include the following information:
- the foreign employer,
- Personal and professional details of posted workers
- Information about the institution that receives posted workers and services
- duration of posting, information about the services to be provided by posted workers in Spain,
- Identification and contact details of foreign employer representatives in Spain
Documents required
Foreign employers must provide the following documents to the Spanish authorities upon their request:
- The posted worker's employment contract or an equivalent document confirming the terms of employment
- Working time, including the start and end of work and the number of hours worked daily
- Remuneration (payslips)
- secondment document (letter of secondment or similar)
- A1 Social Security Certificate
Legal representatives in Spain
Foreign employers must provide information about their legal representative in Spain, who is Consultation procedures and negotiations, which concern posted workers, can act on behalf of the foreign employer. Foreign employer representatives can work with a notarized power of attorney act.
The penalties for infringements can be categorized as follows:
- Serious infringement (fines between 751 EUR and 7.500 EUR)
- Submission of the posting notice after the deadline or without the appointment of the responsible representatives in Spain
- Failure to provide documents relevant to secondment
- Failure to properly inform authorities of major accidents
- Failure to provide (translated) documents required by the authorities
- Very serious infringement (fines between 7,501 EUR and 225.018 EUR)
- failure to report the posting or falsifiy/conceal information about the posting,
- Fake posting - posting by a foreign employer who does not carry out significant activities in the home country
- Fake posting - posted worker does not normally carry out work activities in the home country
Labor Law
Minimum wage
Since 2025, the minimum wage in Spain has been 1,184 EUR per month for 14 payments (equivalent to 39.47 EUR per day).
- applies to all employees and is not dependent on the occupation, age or sector of the employee
- Workers must be granted uninterrupted rest of at least 1.5 days per week and rest of at least 12 hours between shifts
Working Time
The maximum working time is set at 9 hours per day/ 40 hours per week.
- If the daily working time is more than 6 hours, the employee must be allowed a rest period of at least 15 minutes
- Deviations from these provisions are possible in collective agreements
Failure to comply with the employment laws applicable in the country may also result in financial obligations, fines or demands under local termination and working time laws.
Social Security
When a worker is posted to Austria from an EU country, EU Regulation 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems applies:
- A1 certificate available: employee continues to be insured by the home country
- without A1 certificate: The Austrian social security regulations, and the foreign employer must behave like an Austrian employer
The consequences of a violation may include extensive administrative obligations, back contributions (interest), increased audit costs and severe sanctions. In addition, significant reputation damage can occur in this context.
Income Tax
- Foreign workers who become residents of Spain for tax purposes are subject to Spanish income tax on their worldwide income
- Foreign workers who are not residents of Spain for tax purposes are subject to income tax for non-residents on income and investment gains from Spanish sources
From January 2023, foreign workers can apply for a special tax regime for people living abroad. In order to determine whether the special tax regime can be applied, an assessment of the conditions for working in Spain must be carried out.
If foreign workers are subject to income tax in Spain, the foreign employer must register for the purpose of Spanish tax deduction if the foreign employer works in Spain (the foreign employer does not have to have a permanent establishment in Spain).
The consequences of a lapse may vary depending on the situation, but there is often an immediate obligation to file a tax return in the destination country, which can have further, extensive consequences for employees and the company.
Immigration & Visas
International activities require exact compliance with international visa and entry requirements. The traveller, the type of activity, the purpose of stay and the duration are decisive for this, whether a business visa, a work visa or other special permits are required.
The consequences of a violation may include entry bans and associated loss of revenue, sanctions, fines and reputation damage.
Permanent Establishment
Employees working abroad can establish a permanent establishment through their activities in the target country and thus trigger a chain of financial and administrative consequences for companies.
The consequences of a violation may vary depending on the situation, but each establishment entails a significant administrative burden. In addition to registration, profit allocation and filing of the corporate income tax return, there are usually also income tax obligations.
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