How severance pay is calculated in Spain
Three inputs and nothing else: how many days of salary per year the law recognises for that kind of dismissal, how long you were at the company and your daily reference salary. Multiply the three, then check the result against the cap for that case.
Step by step:
- Identify the kind of termination. Unfair dismissal, objective dismissal, collective redundancy, the end of a fixed-term contract and failing probation each have their own days per year and their own cap.
- Count the length of service, from the start date to the date the dismissal takes effect. Periods under a year are prorated by month.
- Work out the daily reference salary: annual gross pay — base salary, prorated extra payments, variable pay and benefits in kind — divided by 365.
- Multiply the days per year by the years of service. The result is days of salary.
- Apply the cap. 24 monthly salaries for an unfair dismissal, 12 for an objective one or a collective redundancy. One "mensualidad" is 30 days of salary, so 24 of them are 720 days.
- Multiply the final days by the daily salary. That is the gross severance.
Days of salary per year and caps, by kind of termination
| Kind of termination | Days per year of service | Cap | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unfair dismissal (contract signed after 12/02/2012) | 33 days | 24 monthly salaries (720 days) | Art. 56.1 ET |
| Unfair dismissal, service before 12/02/2012 | 45 days | 42 monthly salaries as an absolute ceiling | DT 11ª ET |
| Objective dismissal | 20 days | 12 monthly salaries (360 days) | Art. 53.1.b ET |
| Collective redundancy (ERE) | 20 days | 12 monthly salaries (360 days) | Art. 51.4 ET |
| End of a fixed-term contract | 12 days | No cap | Art. 49.1.c ET |
| Fair disciplinary dismissal | No severance | — | Arts. 54 and 55 ET |
| Failing the probation period | No severance | — | Art. 14 ET |
| Domestic work, grounds of art. 11.2 | 12 days | 6 monthly salaries | Art. 11.2 RD 1620/2011 |
| Domestic work, unfair dismissal | 33 days | 24 monthly salaries | Art. 11.3 RD 1620/2011, referring to the ET |
The salario regulador
This is the salary each day of severance is paid at, and it is where most arguments start. Not the base salary on the payslip: the real gross pay at the moment of dismissal, including the prorated extra payments, consolidated variable pay — bonus, commission, incentives — and benefits in kind such as a company car, health cover or meal vouchers.
The calculator turns it into a daily figure by dividing annual gross pay by 365.
Unfair dismissal (despido improcedente)
A dismissal is unfair when the company cannot prove the grounds it alleged, or when it fails the formal requirements. That is 33 days of salary per year of service, capped at 24 monthly salaries (art. 56.1 of the Estatuto de los Trabajadores).
Once a judge rules a dismissal unfair, the company chooses within five days between paying the severance, which ends the relationship, and reinstating the worker on the same terms plus salarios de tramitación — the pay lost between the dismissal and the notification of the judgment, or until the worker found another job if that came first. The choice belongs to the company, unless the worker is a legal representative of the workforce or a union delegate, in which case it belongs to them.
Objective dismissal (despido objetivo)
An objective dismissal rests on economic, technical, organisational or production grounds, on incapacity that arose after hiring, or on failure to adapt. Severance is 20 days of salary per year of service, capped at 12 monthly salaries (art. 53.1.b ET).
It carries three formal requirements worth checking before accepting the letter: a written communication stating the specific grounds; the severance made available at the same moment the letter is handed over; and 15 days notice, failing which the company owes 15 days of salary on top. The first two decide the outcome: if either fails, or the grounds are not proven, the dismissal becomes unfair and the rate jumps from 20 to 33 days per year. Missing the notice does not — art. 53.4 ET says so expressly.
Contracts signed before 12 February 2012
This is the hard part, and the one most free calculators get wrong or ignore.
The 2012 labour reform cut unfair-dismissal severance from 45 to 33 days per year, but not retroactively. A contract signed before 12 February 2012 is calculated in two tranches (eleventh transitional provision of the ET):
- Service up to 11 February 2012: 45 days of salary per year.
- Service from 12 February 2012: 33 days of salary per year.
And the cap behaves unusually. The two tranches together cannot exceed 720 days of salary, unless the pre-2012 tranche alone already exceeds that, in which case that tranche becomes the cap — and in no case can the amount pass 42 monthly salaries (1,260 days).
Put another way: with long service before 2012, everything worked afterwards can add nothing at all, because the old tranche has already used the cap up. It is counter-intuitive and it is exactly what the rule says.
Which cap applies, by what the pre-2012 tranche produces
| Days produced by the tranche before 12/02/2012 | Cap applied to the total | In monthly salaries |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 720 days | 720 days | 24 |
| Between 720 and 1,260 days | The pre-2012 tranche itself | Between 24 and 42 |
| More than 1,260 days | 1,260 days | 42 |
The calculator above applies this on its own: give it a start date before 2012 and it splits the calculation and shows both tranches.
What the CGPJ calculator is
The Consejo General del Poder Judicial — Spain's General Council of the Judiciary — publishes its own web application for calculating severance on termination of an employment contract. It takes three inputs: start date, end date and gross salary. It covers the grounds for termination set out in the law, and also fijo discontinuo contracts and domestic employment. The CGPJ states that its results are not binding.
This page is not the CGPJ calculator and has no connection with that body. It is a Kulturo tool. The official one is here:
The practical difference is what each one shows you. The CGPJ's gives the figure. This one gives the figure and the breakdown: each tranche on its own, the daily reference salary, the days of salary before and after the cap, and the rule each number comes from.
Other cases: fixed-term, fijo discontinuo, ERE and domestic work
End of a fixed-term contract. 12 days of salary per year of service, with no cap (art. 49.1.c ET). Training and substitution contracts are excluded. Unlike an unfair or objective dismissal, this one is not prorated by month: the article grants "la parte proporcional" of those twelve days, which is a straight calculation over calendar days.
Fijo discontinuo. The same days per year as any permanent contract, but the length of service counts only the time actually worked, not the whole span since the contract started — the consolidated doctrine of the Supreme Court. Tick the fijo discontinuo box in the calculator to switch to it.
Collective redundancy (ERE). The statutory minimum is 20 days per year capped at 12 monthly salaries, the same as an objective dismissal, because art. 51.4 ET refers back to art. 53.1.b. It is a floor, not a ceiling: most EREs settle above it during the consultation period.
Domestic work. The special regime changed with Real Decreto-ley 16/2022, which removed unilateral withdrawal and set out specific grounds. Termination on the grounds of art. 11.2 of RD 1620/2011 gives 12 days of salary per year capped at 6 monthly salaries. If the employer fails the written form or does not make the payment available, art. 11.3 presumes they chose the ET's ordinary dismissal regime — 33 days per year capped at 24 monthly salaries, plus the pre-2012 tranche. The old 20 days capped at 12 was the 2011 wording and RDL 16/2022 deleted it.
When FOGASA steps in
The Fondo de Garantía Salarial pays when the company cannot: declared insolvency or administration. It is not a kind of dismissal — it is who ends up writing the cheque.
It does not cover the whole amount. Two limits always apply: a daily salary capped at twice the SMI including the prorated extra payments — €93.67 a day under the 2026 SMI — and a ceiling of one year's pay. A third, recalculating the severance at 30 days of salary per year, applies only to unfair dismissal: the second paragraph of art. 33.2 ET reserves it to "los casos de despido o extinción de los contratos conforme a los artículos 50 y 56". And the severance has to have been recognised first in a judgment, court order, judicial conciliation agreement or administrative decision — a private settlement with the company does not open that door.
What this calculation does not include
- The finiquito: days worked in the month, the prorated extra payments and untaken holiday. Paid in every dismissal, including a fair disciplinary one.
- Pay in lieu of notice: 15 days of salary in an objective dismissal when the company gave no notice.
- Improvements in the collective agreement, which often set severance above the statutory minimum.
- Salarios de tramitación, where there is reinstatement.
- Unemployment benefit, which is applied for separately.
If you disagree with your dismissal
You have 20 working days from the date it takes effect, and the deadline expires: after that day there is no claim. A conciliation request before the SMAC has to be filed before suing, which suspends the count. Talk to an employment lawyer inside those twenty days.
Sources
- Real Decreto Legislativo 2/2015, Estatuto de los Trabajadores: arts. 14, 33, 49.1.c, 51.4, 53, 54, 55 and 56, and the eleventh transitional provision.
- Real Decreto-ley 3/2012 and Ley 3/2012, on urgent measures to reform the labour market (the change from 45 to 33 days).
- Real Decreto 1620/2011 on domestic employment, as amended by Real Decreto-ley 16/2022.
- Ley 35/2006 on personal income tax, art. 7.e, on the exemption of severance pay.
- Consejo General del Poder Judicial, Cálculo de indemnizaciones por extinción de contrato de trabajo.