Employer of Record in Spain
We help you remain competitive for top talent and grow your global team quickly – no entity required.
Why hire in Spain through an EOR
Incorporating an SL in Spain is the easy part. The weight is in what follows: Social Security registrations, convenio classification, 14-payment payroll, time-recording obligations and a dismissal system with fixed price tags. Through an EOR, all of it is already running.
Hire in Spain without setting up an entity
Spain rewards employers who arrive prepared and punishes the ones who don’t. Salaries are customarily paid in fourteen instalments, not twelve. Employer social security runs to roughly 30% of salary up to a monthly ceiling, with new charges layering on almost every year. Dismissal is neither quick nor cheap — severance is a statutory formula, not a negotiation — and nearly every role sits under a sector collective agreement (convenio colectivo) that quietly overrides whatever your offer letter says about hours, pay floors or bonuses.
An Employer of Record clears all of it from your path: TopSource employs your Spanish hires through our established local structure, with compliant contracts, payroll built for the pagas extras, and full visibility of costs before you commit.
Calculate Your Employee Costs in Spain
Enter a gross salary to see the full monthly cost of a hire in Spain employer social security on the capped base, the 14-payment structure, and your total spend per employee.
Employment Cost Calculator
*Indicative figures only and not definitive legal advice. Local regulations change frequently. Consult an expertSpain
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How EOR in Spain works: the process through TopSource
Employer Costs in Spain at a Glance
Employer Costs in Spain Explained
Spanish employees are typically paid in 14 instalments twelve monthly salaries plus two extra payments in July and December. Employers contribute roughly 30% of salary to social security on a base capped at €5,101.20 per month in 2026, while employees contribute around 6.5%. Statutory vacation is 30 calendar days, and dismissal costs follow fixed formulas of 20 or 33 days’ salary per year of service. Here’s the breakdown by employee type.
EOR or entity setup: which one fits your Spain plan?
Forming an SL in Spain is not the hard part registration through the CIRCE system can be quick. What follows is the real commitment: Social Security employer registration, a convenio to classify against, 14-payment payroll administration, mandatory time recording, and a dismissal framework where the exit cost of every hire is written into law from day one. An EOR makes sense while you’re testing the market or hiring a first small team; your own entity usually wins once Spanish headcount and permanence justify the overhead.
Consider an EOR if you’re:
- Hiring your first one to five people in Spain
- Sponsoring a non-EU specialist without an established Spanish employer record
- Still validating the market before committing capital to an entity
- Working to a hiring deadline measured in weeks, not months
Why TopSource for Employing in Spain
TopSource for Employer of Record, global payroll or any other of our services represent a simpler, more reliable and transparent option.
We don’t hide fees or sneak price increases. We don’t lock you in for employees you don’t use. But we do give you a dedicated point of contact, available on the phone so you get answers fast including on the questions Spain raises constantly, from convenio classification to what an exit will actually cost. We blend HR advisory with in-market expertise, and we stay flexible around the needs of your business.
“Their expertise and understanding of the unique hiring, payment, and human resource practices in each country has been nothing short of outstanding. Our Client Success Manager, has done just that … ensured our success. Her availability and willingness to engage on a personal level has made all the difference.”
“Excellent service, especially from our account manager who has gone above and beyond to help us use the platform effectively. Our manager, significantly simplifies my workload. It is like having your own TopSource HR representative on your team.”
“TopSource has been our go-to resource for international hiring. They are responsive, thorough, respectful and knowledgeable. The Client Success team has provided us with the utmost customer service, and the more we use TopSource, the more, it gives us access to more resources and knowledge.”
More than an Employer of Record.
Employer of Record services are only one way that we help you accelerate your global growth goals. From talent advisory to entity management, we give you the tools you need to research, enter and expand into your key markets.
Market Selection Advisory
Compare available talent, compensation, additional costs and regulations across different countries
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Salary Benchmarking
Identify and prioritize markets for growth based on talent, cost & regulations
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Global Skills Analysis
Map skill availability by region to align talent strategies with business goals..
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Talent Acquisition
Find, hire & onboard the highly skilled team members you need in each locality.
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Talent Strategy Optimization
Optimize your talent strategy to enable your organization to achieve it’s global ambitions.
Read more
Frequently asked questions
Yes. We manage Social Security (Seguridad Social) contributions, which run at roughly 30% of gross salary for the employer, along with IRPF income tax withholding. Many Spanish employment contracts also include 14 payments a year rather than 12, with two extra payments (pagas extraordinarias) in summer and at Christmas, either paid separately or prorated monthly, and we apply the correct sector-level convenio colectivo (collective bargaining agreement), which often sets minimum pay and conditions.
Private health insurance is the most commonly cited differentiator in Spain, since it substantially shortens specialist wait times compared with the public system, alongside meal vouchers (often via a ‘tarjeta restaurante’), and life or accident insurance. The applicable convenio colectivo may also mandate specific benefits, so checking the sector agreement is a necessary step before finalizing an offer.
Notice periods vary by contract type and the applicable convenio colectivo, but 15 days is common for objective dismissals. Unfair dismissal severance is calculated at roughly 33 days’ salary per year of service, capped at 24 months’ pay, while fair objective dismissal is compensated at around 20 days per year, capped at 12 months. Spain’s dismissal rules are detailed enough that getting the classification of the dismissal right at the outset materially affects cost and risk.
An EOR can typically onboard within one to two weeks for Social Security registration and contract issuance, compared with the several weeks to a couple of months needed to incorporate a Spanish entity (such as an SL) and register with the tax authority and Social Security as an employer. For a first Spanish hire, this is usually the more efficient route.
Spain’s employment framework combines high social contribution costs with sector-specific collective bargaining agreements and a detailed dismissal cost structure, all of which require local expertise to get right. An EOR takes on that compliance burden and liability, letting you hire in Spain quickly without incorporation costs or an in-country payroll and legal function.
Hire Anywhere with Our EOR Services
We help you legally employ and pay talent across 180+ countries—so you can scale faster.
