Being on sick leave does not stop your employer from handing you a dismissal letter, but it does stop them from dismissing you because you are ill. Spain’s Law 15/2022 on equal treatment lists illness and health condition among the prohibited grounds of discrimination, and a discriminatory dismissal is void, which means reinstatement and payment of all the wages you lost in the meantime. If there are signs that the sick leave was the real reason, such as a vague letter arriving a few days after your first sick note, it is for the employer to prove that the dismissal had another cause and that the cause was genuine. If the judge finds no discrimination but the employer cannot prove what it wrote in the letter either, the dismissal is unfair, and the employer chooses between taking you back and paying thirty-three days’ salary per year of service.
At Perseus & RC Abogados employment cases are handled by Ana María Reza Cortiñas, member no. 6064 of the A Coruña Bar Association and managing partner of the firm’s civil practice, and Luis Jurado Cano, member no. 6317. We act for employees in A Coruña and across Galicia, including workers from abroad who prefer to deal with their case in English. Cases in the city are heard by the A Coruña social courts, which since the reform brought in by Organic Law 1/2025 operate as the social sections of the Court of First Instance (Tribunal de Instancia).
What we handle
Dismissals
A dismissal must be challenged within twenty working days, counted from the day after the effective date in the letter, and what you receive depends on whether the judge rules it fair, unfair or void. The dismissals page explains how those days are counted and when a dismissal is void, and there is a calculator for a first estimate of your severance and the deadline for the conciliation request.
High salaries change the figures. If your contract is a senior management one, if you have a bonus, shares or a non-compete clause, or if the company offers an agreed exit, see executive dismissal.
Unpaid wages, final settlement and FOGASA
Amounts owed to you expire one year after each could be claimed, and they carry late-payment interest of ten per cent. Since April 2025 the law also spells out when non-payment allows you to ask the judge to end the contract with unfair-dismissal severance, namely when three full months’ pay are owed within a year, even if not consecutive, or when pay arrives more than fifteen days late for six months. If the employer closes down or has no assets, the Wage Guarantee Fund pays within its limits. See unpaid wages.
Permanent incapacity
If the Social Security (INSS) refuses permanent incapacity or grants a lower degree than you need, you have thirty days from notification to file the prior administrative claim, and thirty more to go to court once it is answered or after forty-five days without an answer. See permanent incapacity.
Workplace harassment
Harassment allows you to ask the judge to end the contract with unfair-dismissal severance and, through the procedure that protects fundamental rights, to claim compensation for the moral damage and losses suffered. The hard part is proof, covered in workplace harassment.
Phones, cameras and computer monitoring
Your employer may supervise your work, but access to company computers and phones, cameras and GPS tracking are subject to data protection rules, and evidence obtained by breaching fundamental rights is not admitted at trial. Luis Jurado explains where the line lies, and what happens with a dismissal sent by WhatsApp, in employment and technology.
Penalties and changes to your conditions
A disciplinary penalty is challenged within the same twenty working days as a dismissal, and the employer must prove the facts. A change to your hours, shifts or pay imposed by the employer can be challenged within twenty working days of notification, and if it harms you, you may leave with twenty days’ salary per year of service, up to nine months’ pay.
If you are a foreign worker in Galicia
If a company brought you to A Coruña or Arteixo and has now dismissed you, what happens to your EU Blue Card or residence permit, how severance is taxed under the Beckham regime and whether you must repay relocation benefits is covered on the foreign employees page.
Spanish immigration law states that working without a residence and work authorisation does not invalidate the contract as regards your rights as a worker, so wages, severance and the other employment rights can be claimed even if your permit has expired. What you cannot receive without authorisation is unemployment benefit. If your employer let you go because your permit ran out, read losing your work permit before you sign anything.
Proceedings are in Spanish, and your claim will identify you by your NIE or passport number. At hearings the judge can appoint an interpreter, and we go through every letter, settlement offer and court document with you in English, so you know exactly what you are signing.
Before court, the conciliation claim
Almost every claim against a private employer starts with a conciliation claim (papeleta de conciliación) before the Xunta de Galicia’s Mediation, Arbitration and Conciliation Section, known as the SMAC. Filing it stops the dismissal deadline, and facts left out of it cannot be added later in the court claim unless they are new. Social security benefits, holidays and fundamental-rights cases do not go through the SMAC, and a public-sector employer follows a different route. See the conciliation claim.
Deadlines at a glance
| What you want to claim | Deadline | Counted from |
|---|---|---|
| Dismissal or end of a temporary contract | 20 working days | Day after the effective date |
| Disciplinary penalty | 20 working days | Day after notification |
| Change of hours, shifts or pay | 20 working days | Day after notification |
| Wages, bonuses, overtime or final settlement | 1 year | Day each amount could be claimed |
| Permanent incapacity refused | 30 days for the prior claim | Notification of the INSS decision |
| Claim to the Wage Guarantee Fund | 1 year | Date of the settlement record, judgment or decision |
Working days exclude Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, but in dismissal cases August counts.
Who handles your case
Employment cases are handled jointly by Ana María Reza Cortiñas, member no. 6064 of the A Coruña Bar and managing partner of the firm’s civil practice, and Luis Jurado Cano, member no. 6317 and a law graduate of the University of Seville. When a dismissal or harassment case turns on messages, emails, recordings or monitoring logs, Luis analyses that evidence, drawing on his work as a speaker on digital investigation at INCIBE’s CyberCamp 2015 and at SECAdmin. Since 2015 the firm has opened more than 5,000 cases. Meet us on our team page.
Where we are
Rúa Torreiro 13, 3.º C, 15001 A Coruña, Spain. Phone +34 677 841 007. We work with employees across Galicia by phone and video call, in English. If you received a letter this week, say so when you call, because the first thing we need is the date.
Related reading
- Dismissed in Spain, what you can claim and the 20-day deadline you can’t miss
- Unfair, null or fair dismissal in Spain, what each means and what you can claim
- Unpaid wages or final settlement in Spain, how to claim what your employer owes you
- Losing your Spanish work permit, the employer cannot dismiss you without compensation
- Rejected by an algorithm in a Spanish recruitment process
Frequently asked questions
Can I be dismissed while I am on sick leave in Spain?
Your employer can hand you the letter, but it cannot dismiss you because you are ill. Spanish law treats illness as a ground of discrimination, and a dismissal for that reason is void, with reinstatement and back pay for the whole period. If there are signs that the sick leave was the real reason, the employer has to prove another, genuine cause. The deadline to challenge it is the usual one, twenty working days.
My work permit expired and my employer let me go. Can I still claim?
Yes. Spanish immigration law states that the lack of a residence and work authorisation does not invalidate the employment contract as regards the worker's rights. The Supreme Court has already ruled on how an employer may end the contract in that situation, and the dismissal is challenged within the same twenty working days. Without a valid authorisation, however, you cannot receive unemployment benefit.
My Spanish is not good enough for a court hearing. What happens?
Court proceedings are conducted in Spanish, and some documents may come in Galician, which is also official here. At oral hearings the judge can appoint an interpreter for anyone who does not speak the language being used. We explain every document and every step to you in English before you sign anything or say anything in court.
Do I need a lawyer at the social court?
Not at the first hearing, but if you want one you must say so in your claim, and if the employer announces it will bring a lawyer, you can appoint one at that point or ask for a legal aid lawyer. As a worker, the law gives you the right to free legal aid in the social courts. An appeal to the High Court of Justice of Galicia requires a lawyer or a registered labour adviser.
If I lose, will I have to pay my employer's legal costs?
Not at the first hearing. The judge can only fine you if you litigate in bad faith or recklessly, or if you failed to attend conciliation without good reason, and the order to pay the other side's lawyer, up to 600 euros, is provided for the employer. If the case goes to appeal and you lose, you still do not pay costs, because as a worker you are entitled to free legal aid.
My employer wants me to sign a voluntary resignation or a mutual termination. What do I lose?
A voluntary resignation or a mutual termination normally leaves you with no severance and no unemployment benefit, because the benefit is for people who lose their job without choosing to. A dismissal, by contrast, puts you in the legal situation of unemployment from day one. Show us the document before you sign it.
I work without a written contract or without social security registration. Can I claim?
Yes. The law presumes an employment contract whenever someone works within another's organisation and under their direction in exchange for pay, and a contract that should have been in writing and was not is presumed to be permanent and full-time unless the employer proves otherwise. Keep the messages with whoever gave you instructions, records of the payments you received and the names of colleagues who could testify.