Colegio membership for employees, freelancers and civil servants

Key rules

• Freelancers: If your profession needs membership under state law, you usually must join the colegio where your main professional address is.
• Employees: Your employer's status does not decide it; the law for your profession and your activity does.
• Civil servants: You are usually exempt if you act only for your administration, but not if you serve citizens directly outside it.
• Health staff: Clinical health workers generally must join, including in private clinics.

The short answer

Freelancers usually have to join. Employees and civil servants are often exempt, but not always. Your profession and the way you work decide it, not your job title alone.

If you are a freelancer

If you offer services to the public in a profession that a state law says needs membership, you must join a colegio. Examples are abogados, procuradores, médicos and arquitectos.

Join the colegio for the area where your main professional address is. After that, you can work across Spain without registering again. You may have to tell the local colegio when you work in its area.

If your profession has no state-law membership requirement, you have no duty to join.

If you are an employee

There is no general rule. In the private sector, you must join only if the law for your profession requires it for the activity you do.

Many professions require membership only when you serve the public directly. Examples are an independent lawyer, a doctor with patients, or an architect who signs a project. If you work solely for your employer, many colegios do not ask you to join.

Some employees must still join, because their work is regulated in itself:

• Health workers practising clinically: médicos, enfermeros, odontólogos, farmacéuticos, fisioterapeutas and psicólogos. This includes staff in private clinics.
• Employed abogados who practise law, including in law firms.
• Procuradores.
• Architects whose work needs sign-off.

Each colegio's statutes and regional laws set the details, so ask your colegio.

If you are a civil servant or public-sector worker

You usually do not need to join if you act solely for your administration. You do need to join if you also serve citizens directly outside the administration.

In practice, public health staff such as doctors and nurses are asked to join in some regions, and some administrations ask for it in a job posting. Read the call for posts (convocatoria) for the job you are applying to. Ask your regional health authority or colegio what applies where you work.

What to do next

Use the decision, checklist and questions below to find your case. If you are unsure, ask the colegio for your profession before you start work.

Choosing between options

Do you have to join a colegio, given how you work?

• Freelancer in a regulated profession: You are self-employed and offer services to the public in a profession a state law requires membership for, such as lawyer, doctor or architect.

• Employee in a profession that requires it anyway: You are employed but practise clinically as a health professional, as an employed lawyer, or as an architect signing projects. You must still join.

• Employee working only for your employer: Your work is solely for your employer. Many colegios do not require membership, but check your colegio's rules.

• Civil servant or public-sector staff: You act solely for your administration, so membership is not required. If you serve citizens directly outside it, or the call for posts asks for it, you must join.

Membership is required only where the law requires it for your profession and for the activity you do. Serving the public directly usually means you must join; working solely for an employer or administration usually does not.

Checklist

• Check whether your profession is one where employees must still join, such as clinical health work, employed lawyers, procuradores or architects whose work needs sign-off.

• Ask your colegio whether its statutes require membership for employees working solely for an employer.

• Check whether you serve the public directly outside your employer, since that usually triggers the duty.

• Read the call for posts (convocatoria) if you are a civil servant, to see whether the administration asks for membership.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to join a colegio if I work for a private clinic?

Yes, health professionals employed by private clinics generally must join their colegio. This covers doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, physiotherapists and psychologists who practise clinically. Ask your colegio to confirm, as details vary by region.

Can a freelancer in an unregulated profession skip the colegio?

Yes, a freelancer whose profession has no state-law membership requirement has no obligation to join. Membership is only compulsory where a state law requires it for that profession, such as lawyers, procuradores, doctors and architects.

Does a civil servant ever have to join a colegio?

Yes, a civil servant must join if they provide services directly to citizens outside their administration. Staff who act solely for their administration are not required to. Read the call for posts (convocatoria), because some administrations ask for membership anyway.