The paid leave you can request as an employee in Spain (and what's coming down the line)

Staff in Spain can request paid time off for their wedding, a close bereavement or illness, among others

Current paid leave entitlements

• Marriage leave: If you get married, whether it's a civil or religious ceremony, you're entitled to 15 calendar days of paid leave. You must notify your employer 15 days in advance. The leave starts from the wedding day, but if the wedding falls on a holiday or a day you're not working, it begins the next working day.
• Leave for serious illness or hospitalisation: You can take up to five days off if your spouse, common-law partner or close relatives (up to the second degree) have a serious accident, illness or need hospitalisation or surgery that requires home rest. This also applies to blood relatives of a common-law partner or anyone else living with you in the same home who needs care.
• Moving house: You're entitled to one day's leave to move house, regardless of whether it's a short or long distance move, or temporary or permanent.
• Public duties: If you're required to fulfil an inexcusable public or personal duty, such as voting, you're entitled to paid leave. The duration and compensation depend on the specific legal or conventional norms.
• Union or staff representation duties: Performing union or staff representation duties as established by law or convention also entitles you to paid leave.
• Prenatal and adoption-related leave: Paid leave is granted for prenatal examinations and childbirth preparation techniques. In cases of adoption, you're entitled to attend required information and preparation sessions and complete necessary psychological and social reports during working hours.
• Inability to access workplace: If you're unable to access your workplace due to travel restrictions, recommendations or prohibitions established by the authorities, you're entitled to paid leave. This includes situations of serious risk due to a catastrophe or adverse weather conditions. The leave can be extended until the circumstances that justified it disappear.
• Organ or tissue donation procedures: You're entitled to paid leave for the time required to perform preparatory procedures for organ or tissue donation, provided they take place during working hours.

Upcoming changes to leave entitlements

• Bereavement leave: The current bereavement leave is two days, or four days if travel is necessary. Ms Díaz has proposed extending this to ten days, recognising that "no one can go to work two days after the death of a parent or a child."
• Palliative care leave: A new paid leave is being introduced for caring for first-degree relatives (parent, child or spouse) receiving palliative care. While details are still being finalised, this leave aims to provide employees with the time needed to care for loved ones during this difficult period.

Also of interest: Spain extends parental leave despite some criticisms