Choosing the right type of contract is no minor formality: it determines the employee’s stability, the company’s obligations and, where it comes to it, the compensation due at the end of the relationship. And since the 2022 labour reform, the map of contracts in Spain changed profoundly, with the declared aim of reducing temporary work and making the permanent contract the reference form.
At BBM Abogados, a Santander firm with experience in employment law since 1990, we have prepared this guide, updated for 2026, so that you know all the types of contract in force, when each one applies, their duration and their consequences. Whether you are an employee or a company, it pays to be clear about it.
The starting point: the presumption of a permanent contract
Before going through each form, it helps to understand the logic the reform introduced. Today, the law presumes that all hiring is permanent. Temporary work has ceased to be a free choice and has become an exception that is only available when a specific ground provided by the rules applies.
What does this mean in practice? That if a company signs a temporary contract without properly justifying the ground, or uses a form that does not match the reality of the post, that contract is treated as permanent. The burden of justifying temporary work falls on the company, and the penalties for non-compliance were significantly toughened.
The permanent contract
This is the ordinary form and the most protective for the employee. It has no agreed end date: the relationship continues until a legal ground for termination arises (dismissal, resignation, retirement).
Within the permanent contract, two main variants must be distinguished:
Ordinary permanent contract
This is the classic stable contract, full-time or part-time, to cover the company’s permanent needs. The employee is part of the workforce on a continuous basis. Termination by the company requires a ground (disciplinary, objective or collective) and, when the dismissal is unfair, gives rise to the corresponding compensation.
Permanent seasonal contract
This is a permanent contract, although it is often confused with a temporary one. It is used for work of a seasonal nature or linked to seasonal activities, and also for work that, without being seasonal, involves intermittent performance with certain or uncertain periods of activity.
The permanent seasonal employee is a permanent member of staff: they are called in at the start of each campaign or period of activity and, between those periods, the relationship is suspended but not terminated. They keep their length of service and have priority in call-ins. After the reform, this form absorbed a large part of the temporary hiring that used to be done abusively.
The temporary contract
After the reform, only two grounds allow a temporary contract to be signed. Any other attempt at temporary work is a breach of the law.
For production-related circumstances
It covers two situations:
- The occasional and unforeseeable increase in activity and the fluctuations that create a temporary mismatch between the stable employment available and that needed, including those arising from holidays. Its maximum duration is limited (as a general rule, up to six months, extendable by collective agreement up to a year).
- Occasional, foreseeable situations of reduced and defined duration, which the company can only use for a set number of days per year.
On ending, this contract gives rise to compensation in favour of the employee. It is the form that replaced the old casual (eventual) contract.
For substitution
It replaces the old temporary cover (interinidad) contract and can be used in three situations:
- To replace an employee with a right to keep their post (sick leave, parental leave, a leave of absence). The contract lasts as long as that right is maintained.
- To complete the reduced working hours of another employee who has cut them for a legally protected reason.
- To temporarily cover a post during a selection or promotion process, with a short maximum duration.
In these contracts the person being replaced and the reason for the substitution must be identified precisely. An error in that identification can turn the contract into a permanent one.
“At BBM Abogados we defend the interests of individuals and businesses in Santander and Cantabria with a close, rigorous and fully transparent approach. If you have doubts about your case, we help you see it clearly.”
Training contracts
The reform completely reorganised the old work-experience and training contracts, which are now grouped under the name of training contracts, with two clearly distinct forms.
Dual training contract
It combines paid work with training at a centre. It is aimed at people who combine employment and learning (usually young people, although in vocational or university training there is no age limit in some cases). The effective working time is limited, because part of the working day is devoted to training, and the pay is proportional to that time, without being able to fall below a guaranteed minimum. Its duration falls between minimum and maximum limits set by law.
Contract for gaining professional experience
It replaces the old work-experience contract. It is aimed at those who already hold a qualification (university, vocational or equivalent) and want to gain experience in line with those studies. It must be entered into within a set period from obtaining the qualification and has a limited maximum duration. The pay cannot be lower than that of the relevant professional group under the collective agreement.
The part-time contract
This is not an independent form, but a way of organising working hours that can be applied to almost any type of contract (permanent or temporary). It is characterised by providing services for a number of hours below the working day of a comparable full-time employee.
Its most important features are:
- The number of hours and their distribution must be set out in writing.
- Additional hours (complementary hours over and above those agreed) can only be worked if they have been expressly agreed and within the legal limits.
- The part-time employee has the same rights as the full-time employee, on a proportional basis.
It is a flexible form, but also a source of disputes when the company demands more hours than agreed without respecting the rules on additional hours.
The relief contract and the partial retirement contract
The relief contract is a special arrangement linked to partial retirement. When an employee close to retirement age reduces their working hours and takes partial retirement, the company hires another employee (the relief worker) to cover, wholly or partly, the hours the first one stops working.
It is a mechanism designed to encourage generational renewal: it allows the older person to retire gradually while a new employee joins the workforce. The relief worker’s contract can be permanent or temporary and their working hours are related to the reduction of the partially retired employee.
Other arrangements and special relationships
Alongside the forms above there coexist employment relationships of a special nature with their own regulation: senior management staff, domestic service, professional sportspeople, artists, sales representatives or lawyers providing services in firms, among others. Each one has particular features regarding working hours, termination and compensation that it is worth knowing before signing.
Why choosing the right contract matters so much
The type of contract is not an administrative label: it shapes rights and money. It determines the employee’s stability, the grounds on which the relationship can be terminated and the compensation due in each case.
For the employee, a wrongly classified contract can conceal a situation of legal breach that, if correctly claimed, translates into recognition of permanent status. For the company, using the wrong form exposes it to penalties from the Labour Inspectorate and to the contract becoming permanent, with the financial consequences that entails.
And when the moment of termination comes, the form matters. If you are notified that your employment relationship is ending, it is essential to review the terms of the notice: we explain what it must contain and how to interpret it on our page about the dismissal letter.
How we help you at BBM Abogados
Whether you are an employee or a company, choosing and managing the type of contract correctly is key to avoiding future problems. A well-thought-out contract saves disputes; a poorly classified one guarantees them.
At BBM Abogados, a leading firm in Santander since 1990, we review contracts, advise on the form best suited to each situation, detect possible breaches of the law and defend your interests both in negotiation and before the courts. If you have doubts about your contract or that of your company, call us on 942 36 10 48 or write to us through our contact page. We will study your case and tell you, clearly, where you stand and what options you have.