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Spanish severance pay on dismissal or end of contract — 12, 20 or 33 days per year

Days of pay per year of service, prorated by month: 12 when a fixed-term contract ends, 20 for objective dismissal (capped at 12 months' pay) and 33 for unfair dismissal (capped at 24 months' pay). In an unfair dismissal under a contract signed before 12 February 2012, service before that date counts at 45 days per year.

2026 rules — verified on October 3, 2026Free, no account

This content is part of the path: Paying an employee or a freelancer in Spain· Step 4 of 6· Next step: Spanish income tax withholding on freelance invoices — 15 % or 7 %

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Sources and assumptions

  • BOE — tax year 2026, verified on October 3, 2026
    Excerpt from the source : « la persona trabajadora tendrá derecho a recibir una indemnización de cuantía equivalente a la parte proporcional de la cantidad que resultaría de abonar doce días de salario por cada año de servicio »
  • BOE — tax year 2026, verified on October 3, 2026
    Excerpt from the source : « la indemnización de veinte días por año de servicio, prorrateándose por meses los periodos de tiempo inferiores a un año y con un máximo de doce mensualidades. »
  • BOE — tax year 2026, verified on October 3, 2026
    Excerpt from the source : « con un máximo de doce mensualidades. »
  • BOE — tax year 2026, verified on October 3, 2026
    Excerpt from the source : « el abono de una indemnización equivalente a treinta y tres días de salario por año de servicio, prorrateándose por meses los periodos de tiempo inferiores a un año, hasta un máximo de veinticuatro mensualidades. »
  • BOE — tax year 2026, verified on October 3, 2026
    Excerpt from the source : « hasta un máximo de veinticuatro mensualidades. »
  • BOE — tax year 2026, verified on October 3, 2026
    Excerpt from the source : « se calculará a razón de cuarenta y cinco días de salario por año de servicio por el tiempo de prestación de servicios anterior a dicha fecha, prorrateándose por meses los periodos de tiempo inferiores a un año, y a razón de treinta y tres días de salario por año de servicio por el tiempo de prestación de servicios posterior »
  • BOE — tax year 2026, verified on October 3, 2026
    Excerpt from the source : « El importe indemnizatorio resultante no podrá ser superior a setecientos veinte días de salario, salvo que del cálculo de la indemnización por el periodo anterior al 12 de febrero de 2012 resultase un número de días superior, en cuyo caso se aplicará este como importe indemnizatorio máximo »
  • BOE — tax year 2026, verified on October 3, 2026
    Excerpt from the source : « sin que dicho importe pueda ser superior a cuarenta y dos mensualidades, en ningún caso. »
  • BOE — tax year 2026, verified on October 3, 2026
    Excerpt from the source : « hasta un máximo de veinticuatro mensualidades. […] El importe indemnizatorio resultante no podrá ser superior a setecientos veinte días de salario »

Calculation assumptions

  • The Statute does not say how the daily reference salary is calculated; it only takes, under reduced hours (article 37.4, last paragraph, 37.5, 37.6 and 37.8), the salary due without the reduction (nineteenth additional provision). Enter the gross daily salary shown on your final settlement or given by your adviser; this tool does not derive it from the payslip.
  • Periods of less than a year are prorated by month, as articles 53.1.b and 56.1 state; article 49.1.c speaks of a 'proportional part' and the same proration is applied here. Enter completed months: the Statute does not say how a started month is counted.
  • The caps of 12, 24 and 42 months' pay are converted at 30 days of pay per month, an equivalence not written in the Statute but deduced from two unfair-dismissal caps: 24 months' pay (article 56.1) and 720 days of pay (eleventh transitional provision), 720 / 24 = 30.
  • Not covered: the 20-day payments for relocation or substantial change of working conditions (articles 40 and 41), the month's pay on the employer's death, retirement or incapacity (article 49.1.g), the wage guarantee fund limits (article 33), back pay pending judgment (article 56.2), any higher payment agreed or set by collective agreement, and the taxation of the payment.
  • Also not calculated: training and substitution contracts, which carry no payment at the end (article 49.1.c); the transitional scale for fixed-term contracts signed before 2015 and those signed before 4 March 2001, which carry none (eighth transitional provision); and pre-2012 'fomento' contracts in objective dismissal (eleventh transitional provision).
  • When a fixed-term contract ends, article 49.1.c preserves the payment 'established, where applicable, in the specific rules that apply'. This tool always applies the ordinary 12-day rule and does not look up those rules, such as those governing a special employment relationship listed in article 2.1 (senior management, domestic service, professional athletes and others).
  • The amount is rounded to the nearest cent after the daily salary is multiplied by the days of pay, and the cap likewise; the days of pay themselves are not rounded. The Statute sets no rounding rule: this is a convention of the tool, and the difference never exceeds half a cent.
  • Termination at the employee's request for the employer's breach (article 50) is compensated as unfair dismissal: choose that reason.

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This result is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute personalised tax advice. Check your situation with the tax authorities or a professional.