Spanish Employment Law in 2026: What Is in Force

Employment updates should separate enacted law from announcements. As at 26 August 2026, employers can act on the measures below. Proposals on working time or digital record-keeping should not be described as general statutory duties until the final measure is published and in force.

Measures in force

2026 minimum wage

Royal Decree 126/2026 sets the minimum at €1,221 per month or €17,094 per year for full-time work, effective from 1 January 2026. Collective agreements and contracts may require higher pay. Employers should document any compensation-and-absorption analysis rather than assume every salary component automatically offsets the increase.

2026 Social Security contributions

Order PJC/297/2026 develops the year's bases and rates. It includes a 0.90% intergenerational-equity contribution, split 0.75% employer and 0.15% worker, alongside the other general and occupational contributions. Payroll settings and cost budgets should be checked against the final order.

Nineteen weeks for birth and care

Royal Decree-law 9/2025 extended the suspension for birth and care to 19 weeks for each parent, with a longer period for single-parent families. Six weeks are compulsory immediately after birth; the remaining periods follow the statutory distribution rules. The two flexible weeks up to the child's eighth birthday also apply to certain births, adoptions or placements from 2 August 2024, with requests available from 1 January 2026.

Existing duties that remain important

• Working-time records: article 34.9 of the Workers' Statute already requires a daily record showing each worker's specific start and finish time and retention for four years.
• Pay transparency: Spanish rules already require a pay register and, where applicable, an equality plan and pay audit. The EU Pay Transparency Directive had a transposition deadline of 7 June 2026; employers should verify the Spanish implementing measure actually in force before applying new procedural details.
• Collective agreements: salary tables, working time and allowances may change independently of national headlines.

Do not present proposals as current law

A proposed 37.5-hour general week or a new fully digital time-recording regime is not safely treated as an enacted universal obligation without a published final text and commencement rule. A business may prepare systems voluntarily, but internal plans should label the legal status and the date checked.

Employer action list

1. recalculate minimum and collective-agreement salaries;
2. validate payroll rates and contribution bases;
3. update birth-and-care policies and manager guidance;
4. audit time records for completeness and four-year retention;
5. review the pay register, equality plan and job-valuation documentation;
6. keep a dated legal-change log that distinguishes enacted, pending and rejected measures.

Official sources

• Royal Decree 126/2026: minimum wage.
• Order PJC/297/2026: contributions.
• Royal Decree-law 9/2025: birth and care.
• Workers' Statute.

Legal status checked on 26 August 2026. Recheck the BOE before implementing a measure announced after that date.