How much severance (indemnización) you are owed

Terms used

• Indemnización — The indemnización is the severance compensation an employer must pay when your job ends in certain ways.
• Despido improcedente — A despido improcedente is a dismissal a court rules unfair, which entitles you to compensation or readmission.
• Salarios de tramitación — The salarios de tramitación are back pay for the time between your dismissal and the court judgment.
• Convenio colectivo — The convenio colectivo is the collective agreement for your sector or company, setting pay and conditions that can beat the legal minimum.

Key rules

• Unfair dismissal: You get 33 days of salary per year of service, capped at 24 monthly payments.
• Service before 12 February 2012: Older service is paid at 45 days per year.
• Redundancy: The legal minimum is 20 days of salary per year of service, capped at 12 monthly payments.
• Fixed-term expiry: You are owed 12 days of salary per year of service when the contract expires.
• Better terms: Your collective agreement or contract can raise these figures but never lower them.

The short answer

Your severance (indemnización) depends on how your job ended, what kind of contract you had and when you started. The amounts below are legal minimums. The calculator below turns them into a figure for your case.

Unfair dismissal

If a court rules your dismissal unfair (despido improcedente), the standard is 33 days of salary per year of service, capped at 24 monthly payments. Service before 12 February 2012 is paid at 45 days per year.

If you started before that date, the two periods are added together:

• Service up to 11 February 2012 counts at 45 days per year.
• Service from 12 February 2012 counts at 33 days per year.
• If the old period alone comes to more than 720 days (24 months), that is your figure, capped at 42 months (1,260 days). No newer service is added.
• If the old period is under 720 days, the newer service is added on top, up to a total of 720 days.

If you started after 12 February 2012, only the 33-day rate applies.

Part years

Service shorter than a year is prorated by months. Any fraction of a month counts as a full month. This applies to unfair dismissal and redundancy.

What your employer can choose

After an unfair dismissal ruling, your employer has five days from notice of the judgment to choose: pay compensation, or readmit you with back pay (salarios de tramitación). Back pay covers the time from dismissal to the judgment, and it is owed only if the employer readmits you. The exception is a staff representative who chooses readmission. If your employer makes no choice, readmission is presumed.

Your employer can also deposit the compensation at the court within 48 hours of the dismissal and admit it was unfair. Back pay then stops running from the deposit. The decision and timeline below set out the options.

Redundancy

For objective or collective dismissal, the legal minimum is 20 days of salary per year of service, capped at 12 monthly payments. In collective dismissals, deals reached during the consultation period often improve on this.

Fixed-term contracts

When a fixed-term contract expires, you are owed 12 days of salary per year of service, prorated for partial periods. Interim-replacement contracts (interinidad), training contracts and some special contracts carry no expiry compensation.

If you leave because of your employer's breach

If you ask a court to end your contract over a serious breach by your employer and win, you get the same compensation as for unfair dismissal. The same 33-day and 45-day rules and caps apply. The contract ends from the judgment, and you can then claim unemployment benefit.

Your collective agreement may pay more

The legal figures are floors. Your collective agreement (convenio colectivo) or your own contract can give you more, never less. Read the convenio for your sector or company and your contract before you accept any figure.

Choosing between options

What does your employer do after an unfair dismissal ruling?

• Pay compensation: The employer chooses to pay 33 days of salary per year of service, capped at 24 monthly payments, with service before 12 February 2012 at 45 days per year. No back pay is due unless you are a staff representative.

• Readmit you with back pay: The employer takes you back and pays the wages from the dismissal to the judgment notice (salarios de tramitación).

• Makes no choice: If the employer does not choose within five days, readmission is presumed.

The employer has five days from notice of the judgment to choose. A staff representative can choose readmission instead.

Timeline and deadlines

• Employer chooses between readmitting you with back pay or paying compensation after an unfair dismissal ruling: within five days of notice of the judgment

• Fixed-term contract compensation of 12 days per year is owed: when the contract expires

• Compensation after a successful claim to end your contract takes effect and you can claim unemployment benefit: once the judgment is delivered

Severance and final settlement calculator

Work it out

What you enter

• Your total regular pay for a year, before tax, in euros (EUR): Your payslips and contract: add base pay, regular bonuses, commissions and prorated extra payments.
• Months you worked for this employer up to 11 February 2012 (count part months as full months) (months): Your contract start date and your work-life report (vida laboral). Enter 0 if you started later.
• Months you worked for this employer from 12 February 2012 until the dismissal (count part months as full months) (months): Your contract start date and the dismissal letter date.

Figures used

• Days of pay per year for redundancy (objective or collective dismissal): 20 days
• Cap on unfair dismissal pay: 24 monthly payments: 720 days
• Cap when the pre-2012 part alone passes 720 days: 42 monthly payments: 1,260 days
• Cap on redundancy pay: 12 monthly payments: 360 days
• Days in a year used for daily salary: 365 days
• Months in a year: 12 months

Worked example (with Your total regular pay for a year, before tax, in euros 30,000 EUR, Months you worked for this employer up to 11 February 2012 (count part months as full months) 24 months, Months you worked for this employer from 12 February 2012 until the dismissal (count part months as full months) 120 months)

When the sum misleads

• If you started after 11 February 2012, enter 0 for the months before 2012; only 33 days per year apply.
• If your service before 12 February 2012 alone comes to more than 720 days, the result is that amount, up to 1,260 days, and the later service adds nothing.
• Fixed-term contracts that simply expire follow a different rate of 12 days per year, so this calculator does not fit them.
• Your contract or collective agreement may promise more than the legal figure; use the higher amount if so.

Frequently asked questions

Can my collective agreement give me more severance than the legal minimum?

Yes, your collective agreement (convenio colectivo) or your individual contract can give you more severance or longer notice than the legal minimum, but never less. Read the convenio for your sector or company, which is published in the official gazette, and then your contract.

How is a part of a year counted in my severance?

Periods shorter than a year are prorated by months, and any fraction of a month counts as a full month. This applies to unfair dismissal and to objective dismissal.

How is severance worked out if I started before 12 February 2012?

Your service up to 11 February 2012 is paid at 45 days per year, and service from 12 February 2012 at 33 days per year. If the older part alone passes 720 days, you get that figure, capped at 42 months (1,260 days), with no later service added. If it is below 720 days, the later part is added up to a total of 720 days.

Do I get severance if I win a claim to end my contract over my employer's breach?

Yes, if the court upholds your claim you receive the same compensation as for unfair dismissal. The termination takes effect from the judgment, and you may then claim unemployment benefit.