Country file

What it costs an employer to hire in Spain

An employer in Spain pays €88,390 on a gross salary of €60,000. That is 47.3% more than the salary.

At €120,000 the employer adds 32.3%, because the contribution ceilings start to bite.

Every rate below comes from a statutory source with the date it was read. The figures are for 2026.

A mid salary of €60,000

Employer-side statutory contributions on a gross salary of €60,000 a year. Each line is capped at the range shown, so the amount is the rate applied to the part of the salary that falls inside that range.
Contribution	Rate	Annual base charged	Amount	Source
Common contingencies	23.60%	€61,214	€14,160	source checked 2026-08-21
Unemployment, indefinite contract	5.50%	€61,214	€3,300	source checked 2026-08-21
Intergenerational equity mechanism (MEI), employer share	0.75%	€61,214	€450	source checked 2026-08-21
Vocational training	0.60%	€61,214	€360	source checked 2026-08-21
Wage guarantee fund (FOGASA)	0.20%	€61,214	€120	source checked 2026-08-21
Statutory employer contributions			€18,390

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Everything the law obliges the employer to pay. It excludes anything discretionary, anything an EOR charges, and any insurance premium that is set per employer rather than by statute.
Gross salary	€60,000
Statutory employer contributions	€18,390
Mandatory extra pay (2 months)	€10,000
Total employer cost	€88,390
Added on top of the salary	47.3%

A senior salary of €120,000

Employer-side statutory contributions on a gross salary of €120,000 a year. Each line is capped at the range shown, so the amount is the rate applied to the part of the salary that falls inside that range.
Contribution	Rate	Annual base charged	Amount	Source
Common contingencies	23.60%	€61,214	€14,447	source checked 2026-08-21
Unemployment, indefinite contract	5.50%	€61,214	€3,367	source checked 2026-08-21
Intergenerational equity mechanism (MEI), employer share	0.75%	€61,214	€459	source checked 2026-08-21
Vocational training	0.60%	€61,214	€367	source checked 2026-08-21
Wage guarantee fund (FOGASA)	0.20%	€61,214	€122	source checked 2026-08-21
Statutory employer contributions			€18,762

Scroll sideways on a phone.

Everything the law obliges the employer to pay. It excludes anything discretionary, anything an EOR charges, and any insurance premium that is set per employer rather than by statute.
Gross salary	€120,000
Statutory employer contributions	€18,762
Mandatory extra pay (2 months)	€20,000
Total employer cost	€158,762
Added on top of the salary	32.3%

The formula

total employer cost = gross salary + sum over each statutory contribution of rate x max(0, min(salary, ceiling) - band floor) (zero if the contribution applies only below a wage the salary exceeds) + gross salary x (mandatory extra months / 12) + gross salary x mandatory severance accrual rate

Each ceiling above applies only to its own line, which is why the employer percentage for Spain is not the same at both salaries. Employer contribution ceilings, country by country lists where every ceiling on this site sits.

Time off, extra pay and leaving

Statutory paid leave	30 days
Public holidays	14
Mandatory extra pay	2 months
Minimum employer notice	2.14 weeks

30 calendar days minimum under Article 38 of the Workers' Statute, and 14 paid public holidays, of which at most 9 are national and the rest regional or local.

Two statutory extra payments a year, one at Christmas and one on a date set by the collective agreement, unless the agreement prorates them across the twelve months (Article 31, Workers' Statute).

Unfair dismissal is 33 days' salary per year of service, capped at 24 months' pay for service after February 2012. Fair or objective dismissal is 20 days per year, capped at 12 months.

What the percentage hides

All general-scheme employer contributions share one monthly ceiling of 5,101.20 euro, shown here annualised, so employer cost above that level is zero.

Work accident and occupational illness contributions are also employer-paid but are set per activity risk tariff, roughly 0.90% to 7.15%, so they are excluded from the totals.

The 15-day notice requirement applies to objective dismissal, not to disciplinary dismissal.

Not confirmed on a statutory source, and therefore not in any figure above: the work-accident contribution rate, which depends on the activity risk tariff.

Using an employer of record in Spain

Everything above is what the state takes. An employer of record adds its own fee on top, and that fee is a flat monthly amount rather than a percentage, so it weighs far more on a junior salary than a senior one. The published prices are here, and the calculator will add one to the figures on this page.

Compare with another country

Written by Kaz, independent publisher. No commercial relationship with the providers named unless it is listed on the disclosure page.

Page last updated 2026-08-30. Sources: statutory bodies only, listed per figure. Rates last verified 2026-08-21. This is not legal, tax or payroll advice and we do not file anyone's payroll.

Every formula on this site is written out in full on Method. Ordering is by computed cost, never by what a provider pays us.

Corrections: contact form.