Paid Leave in Spain: Wedding, Moving House and Emergencies

You get married, you move house, your grandmother dies on the other side of the ocean, a rain alert cuts off the roads or the school calls because your son has hurt himself. These things are part of life, but they are not “personal matters” you have to pay for with your vacation. The Workers’ Statute (Estatuto de los Trabajadores) recognizes paid leave in Spain for all of these situations: days when you can be absent from work and still get paid. In this guide we explain how many days you are entitled to in each case, how to request them and what proof to provide, using the example of Héctor, who in a single year has needed almost all of them.

If your company refuses you a leave or deducts it from your vacation, you can write to Fernanda Vargas, employment lawyer in Madrid, on WhatsApp or book an appointment on Calendly to review your case.

“Those are personal matters”: Héctor’s year

Héctor is 34, Mexican, and holds a residence and work authorization. He is a maintenance technician at an air conditioning company in Valencia. This year, everything has happened to him:

• March: he marries his partner.
• May: he moves to a bigger apartment.
• July: his grandmother dies in Guadalajara (Mexico) and he wants to travel to the funeral.
• October: a red alert for torrential rain cuts off the roads and for two days he cannot get to work.
• November: the school calls because his son has fallen and broken an arm, and he has to rush to the emergency room.

Every time he mentions it, his supervisor gives him the same answer: “Those are personal matters. Take it out of your vacation.” Héctor does not know whether he has to accept this. The short answer is no: each of these situations has its own paid leave. Let’s go through them one by one. Héctor’s dates and details are an example to explain the rules, but some of them will surely sound familiar.

What paid leave is and how to request it

A paid leave (permiso retribuido) is an absence from work that the law grants you for a specific reason, during which you keep getting paid as if you had worked. It is not vacation or personal days: it is not deducted from anything and the company is not doing you a “favor”. It is a right. These leaves are set out in article 37.3 of the Workers’ Statute, which begins like this:

“The worker, with prior notice and justification, may be absent from work, with the right to pay, for any of the following reasons and for the following time:”

That sentence contains the two conditions you have to meet:

• Prior notice: you have to inform the company before you are absent, unless that is impossible (for example, in an emergency). The safest way is to do it in writing, by email or message, stating which leave you are requesting and on which dates.
• Justification: you have to prove the reason with a document: a marriage certificate, a certificate of municipal registration at your address, a death certificate, a medical report… Further down you will find a table with the proof for each leave.

And one important point before we continue: what the Statute says is the minimum. Your collective agreement (convenio colectivo, the agreement between companies and unions that governs your sector) can improve these leaves, with more days or more situations covered. If your collective agreement gives you more, your collective agreement applies. It is worth finding it and reading the section on leave.

You get married or register as a civil partnership: 15 calendar days

In March, Héctor gets married. His supervisor tells him that if he wants to go on a honeymoon, he should use his vacation. There is no need: the wedding has its own leave.

“Fifteen calendar days in the event of marriage or registration as a civil partnership.”

Note two details:

• Calendar days (días naturales) means consecutive days on the calendar, including Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. They are not fifteen working days, but fifteen calendar days.
• The leave is the same whether you get married or register as a civil partnership (pareja de hecho). If, instead of marrying, Héctor and his partner had registered as a civil partnership, they would have the same fifteen days.

Héctor must inform his company of the dates in good time and then provide the marriage certificate or the civil partnership registration certificate. His vacation stays intact: this leave has nothing to do with it.

You move house: one day

In May, Héctor and his partner move to a bigger apartment. Carrying boxes, waiting for the electrician, picking up keys… There is leave for that too:

“One day for moving the habitual residence.”

Your habitual residence is the home where you normally live, not a second home. If you move house, you get one day of paid leave. The usual proof is the certificate of municipal registration (certificado de empadronamiento) at the new address, which shows that you have moved. Some collective agreements give more than one day, so check yours.

A relative dies, even in another country: 2 days plus 2 for travel

In July the worst news arrives: Héctor’s grandmother has died in Guadalajara, Mexico. He wants to travel to the funeral and be with his family. His supervisor says it is “very far” and that he should take vacation. But the law has a leave for this:

“Two days for the death of the spouse, civil partner or relatives up to the second degree of consanguinity or affinity. When, for that reason, the worker needs to travel, the period will be extended by two days.”

Put simply: you get 2 days of leave, and if you have to travel because of that death, they are extended by 2 more days, up to a total of 4. The law does not distinguish whether the relative dies in Spain or in another country.

Who are relatives up to the second degree?

The law refers to kinship by consanguinity (blood relatives) and by affinity (your spouse’s family). Up to the second degree, this includes:

• By blood: parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren and siblings.
• By affinity: parents-in-law, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law and brothers- and sisters-in-law.

The leave also covers the death of the spouse or civil partner. However, the death of an uncle, aunt or cousin is not included in the legal minimum, although your collective agreement may include it.

Héctor’s grandmother is a second-degree blood relative, so he is entitled to 2 days, extendable by another 2 because he needs to travel: 4 days in total. Many collective agreements specify from what distance it counts as travel or extend the number of days, which is especially useful when your family lives on another continent. As proof, Héctor should keep the death certificate and his travel tickets.

A disaster prevents you from getting to work: up to 4 days

In October, the authorities declare a red alert for torrential rain in Valencia. The roads are cut off and Héctor cannot get to work for two days. His supervisor wants to take those days out of his vacation. For a short while now, the Statute has had a leave designed exactly for this:

“Up to four days due to the impossibility of accessing the workplace or traveling along the roads needed to get there, as a consequence of the recommendations, limitations or prohibitions on travel established by the competent authorities, as well as when there is a situation of serious and imminent risk, including those arising from a disaster or adverse weather event.”

This leave applies when you cannot get to work because:

• the authorities recommend not traveling, restrict travel or prohibit it, or
• there is a serious and imminent risk, for example due to a disaster or an adverse weather event such as a DANA (a cut-off low storm), heavy snowfall or torrential rain.

It lasts up to 4 days, and if the situation continues after those four days, the leave is extended until the circumstances that justified it disappear. There is one nuance: if your job can be done remotely and the communication networks allow it, the company may set up remote work, providing you with the appropriate means. In Héctor’s case, he repairs air conditioning equipment and his work cannot be done from home, so his two days fall squarely within this leave. The proof is the official notice from the authorities (the alert, the road closure or the recommendation not to travel).

A family emergency: leave for force majeure

In November the phone rings in the middle of the working day: it is the school. Héctor’s son has fallen and broken his arm. Héctor rushes to the emergency room. The next day, the supervisor tells him he is going to deduct those hours. But this situation has its own rule in article 37.9 of the Statute:

“The worker shall have the right to be absent from work due to force majeure when necessary for urgent family reasons relating to relatives or cohabitants, in the event of illness or accident that makes their immediate presence essential.”

This is known as family force majeure leave (permiso por fuerza mayor familiar). “Force majeure” here means something unforeseen that you cannot avoid: an accident or a sudden illness of a relative or of someone who lives with you, which requires you to be there immediately. In these cases you cannot give notice days in advance, and the law takes that into account: you have the right to be absent.

And is it paid? The same article says that the hours of absence for these reasons are paid up to the equivalent of four days a year. In other words, the law guarantees payment of those hours up to the equivalent of four days in the year, on the terms set by the collective agreement or, if it does not regulate this, by an agreement between the company and the workers’ legal representatives. That is why this leave is counted in hours: if Héctor is absent for three hours to go to the emergency room, he uses three hours of that allowance, not a whole day. As proof, he should keep the emergency room report.

If a relative’s accident or illness is serious or ends in hospitalization or in surgery that requires rest at home, a different leave of five days may apply. We explain it in detail in our article on leave for a relative’s hospitalization or serious illness.

Other leave: public duties, childbirth preparation and organ donation

Héctor has not needed them this year, but article 37.3 includes other paid leaves that are worth knowing.

Public duties: the time strictly necessary

The law grants leave “for the time strictly necessary” to fulfill an unavoidable public and personal duty. This is a public obligation that you must fulfill personally and cannot refuse: for example, going to vote or appearing in court as a witness. The leave lasts as long as you actually need to fulfill that duty, no more and no less. And if a legal provision or the collective agreement sets a specific period, whatever that provision says about duration and pay applies. If you want to know how it works during elections, we cover it in our article on leave to vote and to serve at a polling station.

Prenatal exams and childbirth preparation

You also have leave for the time strictly necessary to attend prenatal exams and childbirth preparation classes. In cases of adoption, guardianship for adoption or foster care, the leave covers the mandatory information and preparation sessions and the psychological and social reports required before the declaration of suitability. In all cases, provided they have to take place during your working hours. Be careful: this should not be confused with birth leave, which is something different.

Organ donation

Finally, you have leave for the time strictly necessary for the preparatory steps for donating organs or tissue (tests, appointments…), provided they have to take place during working hours.

In these three cases the proof is the document showing the appointment: the summons, the certificate that you voted or attended court, or the proof issued by the health center.

What if the company refuses the leave or deducts it?

Let’s go back to Héctor’s supervisor. If the company deducts these days from his vacation or his salary, Héctor can do the following:

1. Complain in writing to the company, stating which leave he is entitled to, on which dates, and attaching the proof.
2. Keep a copy of everything: the notices he sent, the proof and the payslips or vacation schedule showing the deduction.
3. If the company does not correct it, file a claim in court.

Before taking that step, it is worth reviewing the collective agreement and the documents calmly. Fernanda Vargas can help you prepare the claim and defend your rights: see her services in employment law and claims against your employer.

Summary: table of leave, days and proof

This is the table of the paid leaves we have covered, with what the Statute sets as the minimum. Remember that your collective agreement can improve them.

Leave	Minimum legal duration	Usual proof
Marriage or registration as a civil partnership	15 calendar days	Marriage certificate or civil partnership registration certificate
Death of the spouse, civil partner or relative up to the second degree	2 days, extendable by 2 if travel is needed	Death certificate and, if you travel, tickets
Moving the habitual residence	1 day	Certificate of municipal registration (empadronamiento)
Unavoidable public and personal duty (voting, witness in court)	The time strictly necessary	Summons or certificate of attendance
Unable to get to work due to a disaster, weather event or decision of the authorities	Up to 4 days, extendable while the situation lasts	Official notice from the authorities
Prenatal exams and childbirth preparation	The time strictly necessary, if during working hours	Proof from the health center
Preparatory steps for organ or tissue donation	The time strictly necessary, if during working hours	Proof from the health center
Force majeure for a family emergency	Absence when essential; hours paid up to the equivalent of 4 days a year	Medical or emergency room report

How Héctor’s year is resolved

None of these absences has to come out of Héctor’s vacation. For his wedding he has 15 calendar days of paid leave. For the move, 1 day. For the death of his grandmother, a second-degree relative, 2 days, extendable by another 2 because he needs to travel. For the torrential rain that prevented him from getting to work, a paid leave of up to 4 days, extendable while the situation lasts. And his son’s emergency falls under family force majeure leave: he can be absent for the time needed, with up to four days a year paid in hours according to his collective agreement.

In every case, Héctor must inform the company and provide the proof: marriage certificate, certificate of municipal registration, death certificate and tickets, official notice and emergency room report. And if his collective agreement improves these leaves, the collective agreement applies. What his supervisor called “personal matters” are, in fact, rights.

Frequently Asked Questions

If your company does not recognize a leave or has deducted it, write to Fernanda Vargas, employment lawyer in Madrid, on WhatsApp or book an appointment on Calendly to review your case.