If you are experiencing gender-based violence or sexual violence, your job can be both a place where you do not feel safe and the salary that keeps you going. The good news is that you do not have to choose between your safety and your job. The Workers’ Statute (Estatuto de los Trabajadores) gives working women who are victims a set of employment rights designed precisely for this: changing or reducing your working hours, working remotely, moving to another workplace with your position held for you, taking time off, or leaving your job with access to unemployment benefit, plus reinforced protection against dismissal.
In this guide we explain, step by step and with a practical example, what rights you have, how victim status is proven and where to ask for help. If you would like us to review your specific situation in complete confidence, you can write to Fernanda Vargas on WhatsApp or book an appointment on Calendly.
If you are in danger right now, call 112. If you need guidance, 016 offers free and confidential support, and the call leaves no trace on your phone bill.
Keep Working and Stay Safe: Mónica’s Situation
Mónica is 38, Paraguayan, and lives in Granada with a residence and work permit. She works as an assistant in a dental clinic, on the afternoon shift. A few months ago she obtained a protection order against her ex-partner. The problem is that he knows where she works and what time she leaves.
Mónica has several worries at once. She wants to change her hours so she does not leave work alone at night. She would like to spend some time at the other clinic the company has in Málaga, near her sister. Sometimes she thinks about stopping work for a few months to start over, but she cannot be left without income. And, above all, she is afraid to tell anyone at work and that it will cost her the job.
If you recognize yourself in any of this, keep reading. We will go through, one by one, the options the law gives Mónica and any working woman in her situation. Mónica is an illustrative case: her details serve to explain the law and are not a real story.
Who Has These Rights and How It Is Proven
These employment rights are for working women who are victims of gender-based violence or sexual violence. Some of them, such as reorganizing working time and remote work under article 37.8 of the Workers’ Statute, also cover victims of terrorism.
The law does not grant them for any purpose, but for something very specific: to make your protection or your right to comprehensive social assistance effective. In other words, so that you can be safe and receive the help you need (psychological, social, legal) without losing your job.
What “Proving” Victim Status Means
Proving (acreditar) means showing, with an official document, that you are in this situation. You do not have to explain what happened to you or give details: it is enough to present the document that recognizes your status as a victim.
In the case of gender-based violence, the specific regulations allow it to be proven, among other documents, with:
- A criminal conviction.
- A protection order or another court decision ordering precautionary measures in your favor.
- A report from the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Ministerio Fiscal).
- A report from social services or specialized services for victims.
This is important: you do not always need to have gone to trial. A report from specialized services can also work. If you are not sure which document you have or which one you should request, Fernanda Vargas can help you review it.
Do I Have to Tell My Coworkers or My Boss?
No. To exercise these rights you do not need to tell your coworkers or managers what happened. It is enough to prove your victim status to the right person at the company (usually whoever manages staff) and request the measure you need.
In Mónica’s case, her protection order is enough. She does not have to explain anything else.
Changing Your Hours, Reducing Your Working Time or Working Remotely
The first thing Mónica needs is to stop leaving work alone at night. For that, the law allows her to reorganize her working time. This is what article 37.8 of the Workers’ Statute says:
“Workers who are considered victims of gender-based violence, sexual violence or victims of terrorism shall be entitled, in order to make their protection or their right to comprehensive social assistance effective, to a reduction of working hours with a proportional reduction of salary or to the reorganization of working time, through the adaptation of the schedule, the application of flexible hours or other forms of organizing working time used in the company. They shall also be entitled to carry out their work wholly or partly remotely, or to stop doing so if this were the established system, provided in both cases that this way of providing services is compatible with the position and duties performed by the person.”
Article 37.8 of the Workers’ Statute
In plain words, you have several options:
- Reduce your working hours: you work fewer hours and earn less in the same proportion. For example, if you reduce your hours by 20%, your salary also goes down by 20%.
- Adapt your schedule: you keep the same hours but in a different time slot. Mónica, for example, could move to the morning shift.
- Flexible hours or other ways of organizing working time already used in the company.
- Work remotely, wholly or partly, if your position allows it. Or the other way around: stop working remotely if that was your arrangement and you need to return to the workplace.
There is one nuance about remote work: it is only possible if it is compatible with your position and duties. Mónica sees patients in a dental clinic, so remote work hardly fits her case. But she can change her schedule or reduce her hours.
Who Decides How It Is Put into Practice
The specific way of exercising these rights is set by the collective agreement (convenio colectivo), company agreements or the agreement between the company and the worker. If there is none of that, it is up to the worker to decide the details. In other words, you are the one who decides the new schedule or the percentage of the reduction.
If the company disagrees, the dispute is settled in the employment court through a specific procedure. If you are unsure how to make the request, our guide on adapting your working hours and how to request it may also help, as it explains the general right to adapt your schedule.
Justified Absences and Lateness
There is another protection worth knowing. The comprehensive protection legislation considers absences or lateness justified when they are caused by the physical or psychological situation resulting from the violence, when social or health services determine so. If one day you cannot go to work or arrive late for this reason, and social or health services determine it, that absence should not be treated as unjustified.
Moving to Another Workplace with Your Position Held
Mónica would like to spend some time at the Málaga clinic, away from the person who knows where she works and close to her sister. The law provides for this in article 40.4 of the Workers’ Statute.
If you are forced to leave your position in the town where you work in order to make your protection or your right to comprehensive social assistance effective, you have a preferential right to fill another position in the same professional group or equivalent category that the company has vacant in any of its other workplaces. “Preferential right” means you have priority over other people to fill that vacancy. The company must also inform you of existing vacancies or those that will arise.
And most importantly: your previous position is held for you for a period of time. This is what the law establishes:
“The transfer or change of workplace shall have an initial duration of between six and twelve months, during which the company shall be obliged to hold the position previously held by the workers.”
Article 40.4 of the Workers’ Statute
In practice, Mónica could work in Málaga for between six and twelve months knowing that her position in Granada is waiting for her. When that period ends, she can choose between three options:
- Return to her previous position in Granada.
- Stay at the new workplace in Málaga. In that case, her previous position is no longer held.
- Terminate the contract, with severance pay of 20 days’ salary per year worked, up to a maximum of 12 months’ pay.
Taking Time Off: Suspension of the Contract
Sometimes what you need is to stop. Mónica is thinking about stopping work for a few months to start over, but without losing her job. That is what the suspension of the contract with the position held is for.
Suspending the contract means that, for a time, you stop working and the company stops paying your salary, but the contract is not broken. “With the position held” means that, when the suspension ends, you have the right to return to your job.
Article 45.1.n of the Workers’ Statute sets out this ground for suspension:
“Decision of the worker who is forced to leave her job as a result of being a victim of gender-based violence or sexual violence.”
Article 45.1.n of the Workers’ Statute
Note that it is a decision of the worker: you do not need the company’s agreement.
How Long It Can Last
Article 48.8 sets the duration:
- The suspension has an initial duration of up to six months.
- If the court protection proceedings show that your safety requires the suspension to continue, the judge can extend it for periods of three months.
- The overall maximum is eighteen months.
And What Do I Live on in the Meantime?
This is Mónica’s big worry, and it makes sense. Suspension of the contract on these grounds is considered a legal situation of unemployment (situación legal de desempleo). This means the law treats that situation as if you had lost your job for unemployment purposes, so you can access unemployment benefit if you meet the other requirements (for example, having paid contributions for the necessary time). Every case is different, so it is a good idea to review your contribution record before deciding.
If You Decide to Leave Your Job: Termination and Unemployment Benefit
There may come a time when the best thing for you is to leave your job permanently. The law also provides for this. Article 49.1.m of the Workers’ Statute includes the following among the grounds for terminating the contract:
“By decision of the worker who is forced to leave her job permanently as a result of being a victim of gender-based violence or sexual violence.”
Article 49.1.m of the Workers’ Statute
“Termination” is the end of the contract. The difference from an ordinary voluntary resignation is very important: like the suspension, termination of the contract on these grounds is considered a legal situation of unemployment. So if you decide to leave your job for this reason, you can claim unemployment benefit as long as you meet the other requirements of the benefit.
Before taking this step, it is worth considering whether any of the previous options (change of schedule, transfer or suspension) would let you stay safe without losing your job. Fernanda Vargas, employment lawyer in Madrid, can help you compare the options for your case.
Your Job Is Protected: Dismissal for Exercising These Rights Is Null and Void
Mónica’s fear that asking for help will cost her the job is very common. That is why the law is clear: the dismissal is null and void when working women who are victims of gender-based violence or sexual violence are dismissed for exercising their right to effective judicial protection or these employment rights (articles 53.4.b and 55.5 of the Workers’ Statute).
What does “null and void” mean? That the law does not recognize it as valid: it is the strongest protection there is against a dismissal. “Effective judicial protection” is your right to go to court to defend yourself, for example to request a protection order or to report.
There is only one exception: that the dismissal is declared fair for reasons that have nothing to do with these rights or with your situation. In other words, the company cannot dismiss you for asking for a change of schedule, a transfer or a suspension, or for going to court.
If you feel you are being treated worse at your company because of your situation, you may also be interested in our guide on how to report discrimination at work. And if you are dismissed, do not wait: the deadlines to challenge a dismissal are very short. Consult Fernanda Vargas as soon as possible, who will help you with any employment law problem.
Where to Ask for Help (Also If You Are a Foreign National)
Employment rights are one part of the protection. But nobody should go through this alone. These are the resources available to you:
- 016: free and confidential support. The call leaves no trace on your phone bill.
- 112: in an emergency.
- Specialized victim support services in your autonomous community, which can also issue the report that proves your victim status.
If You Are a Foreign National
Mónica has a residence and work permit, so her employment rights are exactly the same as those of any Spanish worker. But many foreign women are afraid to ask for help because of their immigration status. There are two things you should know:
- The Immigration Law (Ley de Extranjería) provides for a residence and work permit on exceptional grounds specifically for foreign women who are victims of gender-based violence.
- The law also protects foreign women against the opening of sanctioning proceedings for irregular stay when they report.
The requirements and procedure for this permit depend on each case. If you are in this situation, Fernanda Vargas, immigration lawyer, can study your case in complete confidence.
How Mónica’s Case Is Resolved
Mónica presents her protection order to the company, without giving details to her coworkers. With it she proves her victim status and can combine several options:
- She asks to move to the morning shift or flexible hours. If she prefers, she can reduce her working hours with a proportional reduction of salary. If there is no agreement with the company, it is up to her to decide the details.
- She asks for a preferential transfer to a vacancy in her group at the Málaga clinic, for 6 to 12 months, with her position in Granada held. At the end, she can return, stay or terminate the contract with 20 days per year.
- If she needs to stop, she can suspend the contract with her position held for up to 6 months, extendable by the judge up to 18, with access to unemployment benefit if she meets the requirements.
- If she decides to leave her job permanently, she can also claim unemployment benefit if she meets the requirements.
Dismissing her for exercising any of these rights would be null and void. And, at any time, she can call 016 for free and confidential guidance.
Summary: Your Employment Rights in a Table
| Right | What it involves | How to request it |
|---|---|---|
| Reorganize your working time (art. 37.8) | Adapt your schedule, flexible hours or other ways of organizing time | Ask the company, proving your victim status; without an agreement, you decide the details |
| Reduce your working hours (art. 37.8) | Fewer hours with a proportional reduction of salary | Same as above; disagreements are settled in court |
| Remote work (art. 37.8) | Work wholly or partly remotely, or stop doing so, if compatible with the position | Request to the company with proof of status |
| Change of workplace (art. 40.4) | Preferential right to a vacancy in the same group at another workplace, with your position held for 6 to 12 months | Request to the company; afterwards you choose to return, stay or terminate with 20 days per year |
| Suspension of the contract (arts. 45.1.n and 48.8) | Stop working with your position held for up to 6 months, extendable by the judge up to 18 | Decision of the worker communicated to the company; gives access to unemployment benefit if you meet the requirements |
| Termination of the contract (art. 49.1.m) | Leave your job permanently | Decision of the worker; gives access to unemployment benefit if you meet the requirements |
| Protection against dismissal (art. 53.4.b) | Dismissal for exercising these rights or the right to judicial protection is null and void | Challenge the dismissal within the deadline |
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I Have to Tell My Company What Is Happening to Me?
You do not have to explain what happened or give details to your boss or coworkers. What you do need to exercise these rights is to prove your victim status to the right person at the company, usually with a document such as the protection order or a report from specialized services.
How Do I Prove to My Company That I Am a Victim of Gender-Based Violence?
With an official document. For gender-based violence, accepted documents include, among others, a criminal conviction, a protection order or another court decision ordering precautionary measures, a report from the Public Prosecutor’s Office or a report from social or specialized services. It is not always necessary to have gone to trial.
Can I Change My Schedule or My Workplace?
Yes. You can adapt your schedule, ask for flexible hours, reduce your working hours (with a proportional reduction of salary) or work remotely if your position allows it. If there is no agreement, you decide the details. To change workplace, you have a preferential right to a vacancy in your same professional group or equivalent category at another of the company’s workplaces, provided that vacancy exists, with your position held for an initial period of between 6 and 12 months.
Can I Stop Working for a While Without Losing My Job?
Yes, through suspension of the contract with your position held. It is your decision, it initially lasts up to 6 months and the judge can extend it for periods of 3 months up to a maximum of 18 months if your protection requires it. During the suspension you do not receive a salary, but you can access unemployment benefit if you meet the requirements.
Do I Get Unemployment Benefit If I Leave My Job Because of This Situation?
Yes, if you meet the other requirements of the benefit. Termination of the contract by decision of a worker who is a victim of gender-based or sexual violence is considered a legal situation of unemployment, unlike an ordinary voluntary resignation. To know whether you meet the contribution requirements, it is a good idea to review your case before making the decision.
If you are going through this and want to know which option protects you best, write to Fernanda Vargas on WhatsApp or book an appointment on Calendly. Your consultation will be confidential. And remember: 016 is there for you, and in an emergency, 112.