Work-Study Training Contract in Spain: Working Hours and Pay

Aya is 19. She is in the first year of an intermediate vocational training course (ciclo de grado medio) in Cooking and Gastronomy in Murcia, and she has just signed her first contract at a restaurant in the city center. She is happy: she is learning the trade, earning a salary and staying in school. But two months in, her schedule looks nothing like what she was told. Whenever she asks, the answer is always the same: “that’s just how it is in hospitality”.

No, it does not have to be that way. The work-study training contract in Spain (contrato de formación en alternancia) has very specific limits on working hours and pay, set out in article 11.2 of the Workers’ Statute (Estatuto de los Trabajadores), so that work does not swallow up training. In this guide we use Aya’s case to explain how many hours you can work, what you can and cannot be asked to do, the minimum you must be paid and what to do if your contract is not being respected. If you already have doubts about yours, or your son’s or daughter’s, you can message Fernanda Vargas on WhatsApp or book an appointment on Calendly to have it reviewed.

“That’s just how it is in hospitality”: Aya’s schedule

Aya was born in Morocco and lives in Murcia with her family, who hold long-term residence. Her work-study training contract is linked to her cooking course. The collective agreement (convenio colectivo) that applies at the restaurant sets a maximum working week of 40 hours. This is Aya’s reality after two months (all figures in this case are illustrative):

• She works 36 hours a week.
• She does two closing shifts every week, until one in the morning.
• Her shifts change every week: sometimes mornings, sometimes afternoons, sometimes closing.
• When there are banquets, she is asked to stay extra hours.
• She earns 650 euros gross a month.

The collective agreement does not set a specific salary for training contracts, and a kitchen assistant in her same professional group earns 1,400 euros gross a month full time. Her family sees her come home exhausted, with her notes still unopened. They wonder whether this is normal or whether something can be done without Aya losing her contract. Throughout this article we will compare her real schedule with what the law says.

What a work-study training contract is and what it is for

Think of Aya: in the morning she has classes at school and, the rest of the time, she works in a professional kitchen where she puts what she learns into practice. That is work-study training (formación en alternancia): alternating paid work at a company with your studies, so that each reinforces the other.

The law defines it as a contract that allows you to combine paid work with training in vocational training, university studies or the Catalog of Training Specialties (Catálogo de especialidades formativas) of the National Employment System. And it sets a key condition: the tasks you do at the company must be directly related to what you are studying. Aya studies cooking and works in a kitchen: it fits. If she spent all day washing dishes or serving at the bar, the contract would lose its purpose.

It is a real employment contract: there is a payslip, registration with Social Security (Seguridad Social) and labor rights. That is why it should not be confused with non-employment academic internships that are part of a study program, which have their own rules. To see how they differ, read our guide on the Intern Statute and your rights during internships.

One more warning: a work-study training contract cannot be signed if you have already done that same activity or job at the company, under any type of contract, for more than six months.

Two tutors and a training plan: training is part of the contract

Aya is not alone. In this contract, training, both theoretical and practical, is a substantial part of the contract, and the law organizes it around two roles:

• A tutor at the training center (in her case, at school), appointed by the center.
• A tutor at the company, appointed by the restaurant, who supports Aya day to day and follows her learning.

Together they follow the individual training plan (plan formativo individual). This is the document that explains what Aya has to learn at the company: the content, the schedule of activities and the tutoring sessions. Put simply, it is the roadmap of the contract. If what Aya does at the restaurant has nothing to do with that plan, something is wrong.

Both the contract and the individual training plan must be in writing. So the first practical tip is very simple: ask for a copy of both. Without them it is hard to know what has been agreed and what has not.

How many hours you can work: 65% and 85%

This is the part that matters most to Aya, because it is what is eating into her study time. The law does not allow work to take up the whole week. It says:

Effective working time, which must be compatible with the time devoted to training activities at the training center, may not exceed 65 percent during the first year, or 85 percent during the second, of the maximum working hours set in the collective agreement applicable at the company or, failing that, of the maximum legal working hours.

In plain terms: effective working time (the hours you actually work at the company) has a ceiling that depends on the year of the contract:

• First year: at most 65% of the maximum working hours.
• Second year: at most 85% of the maximum working hours.

And what are the maximum working hours under the collective agreement (jornada máxima de convenio)? They are the maximum number of working hours set by the collective agreement that applies at your company, the agreement between employers and unions that regulates working conditions in a sector. If the agreement does not set maximum hours, the legal maximum applies: forty hours a week on average, calculated over the year.

Back to Aya. Her collective agreement sets 40 hours a week and she is in her first year:

• 65% of 40 hours = 26 hours a week at most.
• If she were in her second year, the limit would be 85% of 40 hours: 34 hours.
• Aya works 36 hours: 10 hours over her limit. They would not be legal even in her second year.

Note the first part of the provision too: working time must be compatible with classes. A schedule that keeps the person from going to school, or leaves them no rest to study, clashes with the purpose of the contract.

Nights, shifts and overtime: what you cannot be asked to do

The closing nights, the changing shifts and the extra hours at banquets are exactly what the law generally prohibits under this contract. Under article 11.2.k of the Workers’ Statute, a person on a work-study training contract may not do:

• Overtime (hours beyond your working day) or additional hours (horas complementarias, the extra hours agreed in some part-time contracts). The only exception is the one in article 35.3: hours needed to prevent or repair accidents and other extraordinary and urgent damage. A banquet is not an accident.
• Night work. Night work is work done between ten at night and six in the morning. A closing shift until one in the morning falls squarely within that window.
• Shift work, meaning an organization in which people rotate through different schedules, like the weekly changing shifts on Aya’s schedule.

There is one exception, and it is worth knowing well to avoid surprises. The law allows night or shift work only exceptionally, when the training activities needed to acquire the learning set out in the training plan cannot be carried out at other times, because of the nature of the activity. It is not enough that the business needs it or that “that’s how it is in the sector”: it has to be linked to what Aya must learn under her plan, and only if she cannot learn it at another time.

For Aya, this means she can calmly ask to stop the extra banquet hours and, if the restaurant wants to keep any nights or the shifts, ask it to explain why her training plan requires them and why they cannot be learned any other way.

If the person hired is under 18, the specific limits for minors also apply. We explain them in our guide on working at 16 in Spain: hours, leave and limits.

The minimum you must be paid

Now the salary. Aya earns 650 euros gross a month and nobody has explained where that figure comes from. The law regulates it as follows:

Pay shall be that established for these contracts in the applicable collective agreement. In the absence of provision in the collective agreement, pay may not be less than sixty percent in the first year or seventy-five percent in the second, of that set in the collective agreement for the professional group and pay level corresponding to the duties performed, in proportion to effective working time. In no case may pay be less than the minimum interprofessional wage in proportion to effective working time.

Let’s take it step by step:

1. First, the collective agreement. If your collective agreement sets a salary for work-study training contracts, that is the one you are entitled to. Each agreement can set its own, so do not rely on figures from other sectors.
2. If the agreement says nothing, the minimum is a percentage of the salary the agreement sets for the professional group and level of the duties you perform: at least 60% in the first year and 75% in the second.
3. Always in proportion to effective working time. If you work fewer hours than full time, the percentage applies to the proportional share.
4. And never below the minimum interprofessional wage (salario mínimo interprofesional, SMI) in proportion to your working time. This is a floor you must always check, because the result of the percentage can fall below it.

Let’s do the math with Aya’s illustrative figures. The agreement does not set a salary for these contracts and the kitchen assistant earns 1,400 euros gross a month full time (40 hours):

• 60% of 1,400 euros = 840 euros, full time.
• Aya currently works 36 of 40 hours, that is, 90% of full time: 840 × 0.9 = about 756 euros.
• Aya earns 650 euros: about 106 euros a month less than that minimum, and it must also be compared with the SMI in proportion to her hours.

An important detail: once the schedule is corrected and Aya works no more than 26 hours, the 60% calculation will be based on those hours. But her pay can never fall below the SMI in proportion to her working time. So, in any case, you need to do both calculations (the collective agreement percentage and the proportional SMI for the year) and take the higher figure.

Duration, probationary period and what happens at the end

How long the contract lasts

The duration is the one set in the training plan or program, with a minimum of three months and a maximum of two years. It can be split into several periods that coincide with the school years or semesters of the studies. As a general rule, only one work-study training contract per training course or degree can be signed.

No probationary period

A probationary period is a time at the start of a contract during which either party can end it without giving reasons. This contract does not have one. The law says so in a single sentence: “No probationary period may be established in these contracts.” If Aya’s contract includes a probationary period clause, that clause is not valid.

Social Security, unemployment benefit and the end of the contract

• You have full Social Security protection, including unemployment protection.
• When the contract ends there is no severance pay for the end of the contract: training contracts are excluded from it.
• If you stay at the company afterwards, you cannot be given a new probationary period, and the time on the training contract counts toward your seniority.
• If the contract was made in breach of the law (fraude de ley) or the company fails to meet its training obligations, the law turns it into an ordinary permanent contract.

Aya’s case: what is wrong and how to fix it

With all of the above, we can now answer Aya’s family. Her contract is being applied wrongly in almost every respect:

• Hours: in her first year she cannot exceed 65% of 40 hours, about 26 hours a week. She works 36.
• Nights: closing until one in the morning is night work, which she cannot do except under the exception linked to her training plan.
• Shifts: schedules that change every week are shift work, with the same rule.
• Overtime: staying late at banquets is not allowed.
• Salary: it cannot fall below 60% of her group’s salary in proportion to the time worked (about 756 euros with her current 36 hours) or below the SMI in proportion to that time. She earns 650.

What can Aya do without putting her contract at risk? The goal is not to end it but to have it respected. She can ask the company and her school tutor to adjust the schedule to the training plan, claim the salary differences and, if nothing changes, go to the Labor Inspectorate (Inspección de Trabajo). And if the company fails to meet its training obligations or uses the contract in breach of the law, the contract is considered an ordinary permanent one.

What to do if your contract is not being respected

If you see yourself in Aya, these are the steps, in order:

1. Ask in writing for a copy of your contract and your individual training plan. They are the basis for knowing what has been agreed.
2. Write down your real hours: start and finish times, nights and shift changes. Keep your payslips and the messages in which your schedule is changed or you are asked to stay.
3. Talk first to your tutor at the training center. They coordinate the training plan with the company and can often fix the situation.
4. If nothing changes, make a written claim to the company, get advice or file a complaint with the Labor Inspectorate.
5. Watch the deadline for salary differences: they must be claimed within one year from the date they should have been paid. If you wait too long, you may lose the oldest amounts.

Every case has its nuances: what your collective agreement says, what your training plan includes or whether there is any justification for the shifts. Fernanda Vargas, employment lawyer in Madrid, can review your contract, calculate what you are owed and help you claim it. See our employment law advice services.

Summary: the limits of the contract in a table

Aspect	What the law says	Aya’s case
Hours, first year	Maximum 65% of the maximum hours under the collective agreement (or the legal maximum)	36 hours with a limit of 26
Hours, second year	Maximum 85% of the maximum hours under the collective agreement (or the legal maximum)	With 40 hours, the limit would be 34
Night work (10 p.m. to 6 a.m.)	Not allowed, except for the exception linked to the training plan	Two closing shifts a week until 1 a.m.
Shift work	Not allowed, except for the exception linked to the training plan	Shifts that change every week
Overtime and additional hours	Not allowed, except for accidents and urgent damage (art. 35.3)	Extra hours at banquets
Probationary period	There cannot be one	Check the contract
Minimum pay	The collective agreement rate for these contracts or, if none, 60% in the first year and 75% in the second, in proportion to time worked; never less than the proportional SMI	About 756 euros with 36 hours; she earns 650

Frequently Asked Questions

Does your training contract look nothing like what the law says, or do you want to know how much you are owed? Message Fernanda Vargas on WhatsApp or book an appointment on Calendly and we will review your case.