Dismissed from your job in Spain: what to do

If your employer dismisses you in Spain, the immediate priorities are to keep a copy of the decision, establish the effective termination date and protect the time limit for challenging it. You do not need to accept the employer’s explanation or sign a settlement before obtaining advice.

1. Keep the letter and record when you received it

Ask for your own copy of the dismissal letter and any proposed settlement. Check the date of delivery and the date on which the dismissal takes effect; they may be different. If signing only to acknowledge receipt, record the actual delivery date and consider adding “recibido, no conforme” (received, not accepted). Do not acknowledge money as received if it has not actually been paid.

Those words are not a substitute for reviewing the document. A resignation, waiver or settlement agreement may have consequences beyond acknowledging delivery. Keep copies before signing and obtain advice about anything you do not understand.

2. Act even if there is no formal dismissal letter

A verbal dismissal, an unexplained Social Security deregistration or being denied access to work needs prompt assessment. Preserve messages and evidence of what happened and when. Do not wait indefinitely for a written letter or describe the situation as a voluntary resignation if that is not what occurred. The date and existence of a dismissal may themselves be disputed.

3. Identify the employer’s reason

Disciplinary dismissal concerns an alleged serious and culpable breach by the employee. Objective dismissal and redundancy concern statutory grounds such as economic or organisational circumstances, or certain capability issues. A collective dismissal has additional procedural rules and thresholds.

These are the employer’s routes for terminating employment. They are different from the court’s classification of a dismissal as justified (procedente), unfair (improcedente) or void (nulo). An employer calling a dismissal “disciplinary” does not establish that the allegation is true.

4. Protect the deadline and prepare conciliation

A dismissal challenge normally has a strict 20-working-day deadline, counted from the day after the effective termination date, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and applicable public holidays. Do not assume that August stops this deadline. Filing the required conciliation request suspends the countdown: it resumes on the day after conciliation is attempted or after fifteen working days without it taking place, with the time remaining, not a fresh twenty days. Private negotiations, a complaint to HR or an inspection complaint do not by themselves preserve the dismissal deadline.

For an ordinary individual dismissal claim, a pre-court conciliation request (papeleta de conciliación) is generally required. In Madrid, this is normally handled by SMAC. The competent service and any statutory exception must be checked. If no agreement resolves the dispute, the claim goes to the competent employment court within the remaining time. A conciliation appointment scheduled late is not a reason to let that time expire.

5. Assemble the documents

Dismissal letter, delivery evidence and all proposed agreements.
Contract, amendments, employment history and documents showing service with earlier employers where relevant.
Payslips, extra salary payments, bonus and commission arrangements, benefits in kind and payment records.
The applicable collective agreement, work schedules, warnings, performance reviews and relevant communications.
Lawfully obtained evidence and witnesses who can explain the disputed facts.

6. Understand what a challenge can achieve

If a dismissal is justified, its effects depend on the dismissal type. If it is unfair, reinstatement or statutory compensation normally follows, with the choice generally belonging to the employer and special rules for employee representatives. A void dismissal normally requires reinstatement and back pay; discrimination and specified protected situations, including pregnancy, need separate analysis.

Severance and final settlement are different. Even where no dismissal compensation is due, earned pay and other outstanding entitlements may still need to be settled. Unemployment benefit eligibility and applications are also a separate matter: do not wait for the dismissal case to finish before checking them.

Prepare your consultation

Send the dismissal letter and the date it took effect when requesting an appointment. Manrique de Torres Abogados can review the documents, the appropriate claims and the next procedural steps. Read our Spanish guide to dismissal (in Spanish) for further background.

Legal sources

Workers’ Statute, Article 59 (Spanish legislation) and Employment Jurisdiction Act, Articles 63–65 and 103 (Spanish legislation).

Discuss your case with Manrique de Torres Abogados

We can review your documents and explain the available options. Contact us or Book a video consultation. You can also call +34 685 807 112 or email info@manriquedetorres.com.

Madrid office: Santa Engracia 151, 1st floor, doors 2 and 3, 28003 Madrid. Appointments by arrangement. Explore our employment-law services.