Fixed-Term Employment Contract Spain (Contrato de Trabajo Temporal)

A Fixed-Term Employment Contract Spain (Contrato de Trabajo Temporal) is an employment agreement governed by Article 15 of the Estatuto de los Trabajadores (Real Decreto Legislativo 2/2015 — ET), as fundamentally reformed by Real Decreto-Ley 32/2021, de 28 de diciembre, de medidas urgentes para la reforma laboral, la garantía de la estabilidad en el empleo y la transformación del mercado de trabajo (the 2021 Labour Reform), under which an employer engages a worker for a fixed period defined by a specific legally justified cause. The 2021 Labour Reform constituted the most significant restructuring of Spain's temporary contract regime in a generation — it dramatically narrowed the permissible causes for temporary employment, reduced the permitted duration of temporary contracts, and reinforced the legal presumption that employment is indefinite under Article 15.1 ET.

Prior to the 2021 Labour Reform, Spanish law recognised several modalities of temporary contract — the contrato de obra o servicio determinado (for defined projects), the contrato eventual por circunstancias de la producción (for unexpected production peaks), and the contrato de interinidad (for absent worker substitution). The reform abolished the contrato de obra o servicio determinado entirely as of 30 March 2022 and restructured the remaining two modalities. Employers who had relied on project-based temporary contracts for long-duration specialist projects faced immediate compliance obligations and were required to convert existing obra contracts to indefinite or other contract types.

Post-reform, Article 15.1 ET recognises only two lawful grounds for fixed-term employment in Spain. The first is the contrato por circunstancias de la producción — a contract for production circumstances — which covers two sub-cases: (i) occasional, unpredictable, and short-term increases in production that cannot be addressed through permanent staff, with a maximum duration of 6 months extendable to 12 months by sector convenio colectivo; and (ii) predictable but short-term and limited production needs, for which employers may use fixed-term contracts for a maximum of 90 days per year, not consecutively. The second permissible ground is the contrato de sustitución — a substitution contract — replacing an absent employee (by illness, maternity leave, paternity leave, reduced hours, or other leave) or covering the vacancy period during a recruitment process for the same or different position, for a maximum of 3 months in the recruitment vacancy case.

The conversion from temporary to indefinite status (conversión a indefinido) is the cornerstone of the 2021 Labour Reform's enforcement mechanism. Article 15.2 ET provides that workers employed on successive temporary contracts for 18 months within any 24-month period — covering the same or different positions — automatically acquire indefinite status. Article 15.5 ET further establishes that any temporary contract concluded without a valid legal cause is deemed indefinite by operation of law — the employer bears the burden of proving the existence of the justified temporary cause in any dispute.

The mandatory written form and cause specification requirements under Article 15.1 ET are strictly enforced. Every temporary contract must state in writing the specific cause justifying the fixed term, the concrete circumstances supporting that cause, and the agreed duration or objective event marking the end of the contract. Vague or formulaic cause statements — such as 'due to increased production demands' without concrete factual specification — do not satisfy the Article 15.1 ET requirements and expose the employer to indefinite status conversion claims before the Juzgados de lo Social.

Upon termination of a fixed-term contract by expiry of its term, the worker is entitled to a compensation (indemnización) of 12 days' salary per year of service under Article 49.1(c) ET — a provision maintained after the 2021 Labour Reform as a deterrent against chronic temporary employment.

A Fixed-Term Employment Contract Spain is only legally available in the strictly limited circumstances defined by Article 15.1 ET post-2021 Labour Reform — employers must verify that a genuine temporary cause exists before using this contract modality.

A contrato por circunstancias de la producción (short-duration sub-type) is required when a business faces a genuine and verifiable short-term increase in production demand that its permanent workforce cannot absorb — for example, a retail business requiring extra staff during the Christmas trading period, a food producer facing a seasonal harvest surge, or an events company requiring temporary workers for a specific event. The cause must be specific, documented, and genuinely unpredictable or occasional — not a recurring annual pattern that could justify hiring permanent workers.

A contrato por circunstancias de la producción (90-day predictable sub-type) is needed when an employer has identifiable and predictable but limited and short-term production peaks — e.g., annual report preparation for an accounting firm, summer tourism season for a coastal hospitality business. These contracts cannot exceed 90 days per year in aggregate and cannot be used consecutively.

A contrato de sustitución is required when an employee is absent on statutory leave — maternity leave (permiso de maternidad), paternity leave (permiso de paternidad), reduced hours for childcare (reducción de jornada por guarda legal), medical leave (incapacidad temporal), or trade union leave — and the employer needs a replacement worker. The substitution contract must identify the absent worker being replaced and may run for the duration of the leave period.

A contrato de sustitución is also available for a maximum of 3 months when a position becomes vacant due to an employee's permanent departure and the employer is conducting a recruitment process to fill the position permanently — enabling continuity of operations during the selection process.

Fixed-term contracts are also required in specific regulated contexts: contracts for training and apprenticeship (contratos de formación en alternancia) under Article 11 ET, which have specific duration and age requirements; and contracts for work experience (contratos para la obtención de práctica profesional) under Article 11.3 ET, available to recent graduates within three years (five years for workers with disabilities) of completing their degree.

A fixed-term contract is needed when a company participates in a publicly funded project with a defined end date — research projects under Ley 14/2011 de la Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (LCTI) have specific temporary contract modalities for researchers that follow different rules from the general ET framework.

Bajo el Estatuto de los Trabajadores (ET RDL 2/2015) y el Real Decreto-Ley 32/2021, el empleo temporal en España está estrictamente limitado a dos causas justificadas. El SEPE gestiona el registro de contratos. La ITSS supervisa el cumplimiento de las restricciones de la Reforma Laboral de 2021. Los Juzgados de lo Social conocen de las reclamaciones de conversión en indefinido conforme a la Ley Reguladora de la Jurisdicción Social (Ley 36/2011). El Tribunal Supremo ha fijado la jurisprudencia sobre los requisitos causales.

A valid Fixed-Term Employment Contract Spain under Estatuto de los Trabajadores Article 15.1 post-2021 Labour Reform must contain the following essential elements — several of which are mandatory under pain of automatic conversion to indefinite status.

Identification of Parties: Full legal name, DNI/NIE/NIF, and address of the employer (empresario) and the employee (trabajador), the employer's TGSS Código de Cuenta de Cotización (CCC), and the worker's Social Security Number (NSS). Where the employer is a legal entity, the company's NIF, Registro Mercantil details, and name of the legal representative signing the contract are required.

Specific Cause and Circumstances (MANDATORY): The specific legal cause under Article 15.1 ET justifying the fixed term — either 'circunstancias de la producción' or 'sustitución' — with a detailed, concrete description of the actual circumstances supporting the cause. For production circumstance contracts: a factual description of the specific unpredictable production increase (e.g., 'extraordinary demand for Christmas product packaging services from [date] to [date] due to verified order volume of X units') or the specific predictable but limited need and its justification. For substitution contracts: the name of the absent worker being replaced, the cause of absence (illness, maternity leave, etc.), and the expected duration. Vague or formulaic cause statements are insufficient under Article 15.1 ET and render the contract indefinite by operation of law.

Duration and End Date: The fixed term — expressed as either a calendar end date or an objective event marking the end of the contract (e.g., the return of the substitute worker). For contrato por circunstancias de la producción (unpredictable sub-type), the maximum duration is 6 months or up to 12 months if the applicable convenio colectivo authorises the extension. For contrato por circunstancias de la producción (90-day predictable sub-type), the contract must identify the specific days to be worked up to the 90-day annual maximum. For contrato de sustitución, duration is limited to the absence period or 3 months for recruitment coverage.

Job Position and Professional Category: The specific job title (puesto de trabajo) and professional group (grupo profesional) under Article 22 ET and the applicable convenio colectivo. For substitution contracts, the job position need not be identical to the absent worker's position — Article 15.1(b) ET permits substituting a different position if the absent worker's position is covered by internal mobility.

Salary and Working Hours: The gross salary compliant with the applicable convenio colectivo minimum and the SMI, and the weekly working hours (up to 40 under Article 34 ET). For part-time temporary contracts, Article 12 ET requirements regarding precise hour specification apply concurrently.

Termination Compensation: Confirmation that the worker will receive 12 days' salary per year of service upon termination by expiry of the contract term under Article 49.1(c) ET. This compensation obligation applies to all fixed-term contracts under Article 15.1 ET — it is non-waivable and must be paid at the end of the contract regardless of whether the employer intended the contract to be genuinely temporary.

Forms-legal.com provides this Fixed-Term Employment Contract Spain template as a practical reference. Since the 2021 Labour Reform, temporary contracts without a genuine, documented, and legally recognised cause are automatically treated as indefinite under Article 15.5 ET. Employers should seek advice from an abogado laboralista or gestor laboral before concluding fixed-term contracts to verify cause compliance and avoid indefinite status conversion claims before the Juzgados de lo Social.

Under the Estatuto de los Trabajadores (RDL 2/2015) Article 15 and Real Decreto-Ley 32/2021, temporary employment in Spain is strictly limited to two justified causes. The SEPE manages contract registration. The ITSS enforces compliance with the 2021 Labour Reform's temporary contract restrictions. The Juzgados de lo Social hear indefinite status conversion claims. The Tribunal Supremo has established the jurisprudence on cause requirements.