You have been offered a contrato de interinidad (interim contract), or you have one, and you want to know three things: whether it is a truly temporary contract, when it ends and what you take with you when it does. The answer has a novelty that confuses many people: the official name is no longer interinidad, even though everyone still says it.
What the interim contract is today
Since Royal Decree-law 32/2021, the labour reform, in the private sector the contract is called a fixed-term contract by replacement of a worker (contrato de duración determinada por sustitución). Article 15.3 of the Workers’ Statute regulates it and requires the contract to state the name of the replaced person and the reason for the replacement. That is what makes it valid: without it, the contract is presumed permanent.
It covers three situations:
- Replacing a person who has the right to keep their post. Sick leave, birth leave, a leave of absence, a suspension for any cause.
- Completing the reduced hours of another worker, when someone cuts their hours and the company hires someone to cover the rest.
- Temporarily covering a post while its holder is selected, with a limit of three months or the shorter one set by the collective agreement.
How long it lasts
There is no fixed term in the first two cases: it lasts as long as the absence of the replaced person. If Marta is on birth leave for 19 weeks, the replacement’s contract lasts those 19 weeks, to which the handover overlap can be added.
One particularity: the contract can start up to 15 days before the replaced person is absent. It serves for handing over the post. Those 15 days are a legal overlap, not a trial period or a favour.
In the third case, covering a vacancy, the maximum is three months, or what your collective agreement says if shorter. After that, or if the post remains, it is not valid as temporary.
When it ends
The contract ends for one of these causes, and it is worth knowing which:
| Cause | Does the contract end? |
|---|---|
| The replaced person returns to their post | Yes |
| The legal period of reserved post ends without them returning | Yes |
| The vacancy is permanently filled (in the selection case) | Yes |
| The employer keeps you after the cause has gone | You become permanent in practice if the end is not formalised |
| The contract does not state the replaced person or the reason | It is presumed permanent |
The law only requires notice for temporary contracts longer than a year, though your collective agreement may set one earlier. The employer must report the end and hand you the finiquito. For what it includes, see how to calculate your finiquito.
What you receive at the end
- Finiquito. Always: the days worked in the last month, the holiday you have not taken and the share of extra pay if it was not prorated.
- End-of-contract severance. In temporary contracts for production circumstances or relief there is a 12-days-per-year severance. Replacement contracts are excluded from it. I develop it in severance at the end of a temporary contract.
- Paro. The end of a temporary contract is a legal situation of unemployment. If you have the 360 contribution days, you are entitled. See the requirements.
A complete example
Sara is hired on Monday 1 June 2026 to cover Marta, who is on birth leave. The contract says, with a name, “replacement of Marta López, with right to reserve of post, due to suspension for birth”.
- Marta takes her leave from 15 June. Sara’s contract starts on 1 June, within the 15-day overlap.
- Marta has 19 weeks of leave. She returns on 26 October.
- Sara’s contract ends on Sunday 25 October, the last day of Marta’s leave.
- Sara receives the finiquito with the October days and her unused holiday. She has no end-of-contract severance because it is a replacement contract.
- With her contribution days from the last six years, she checks whether she has paro, and applies within the 15 working days.
When it can become permanent
- If the contract does not meet the formal requirements. Without the replaced person’s name or a clear reason, the contract is presumed permanent.
- If article 15 is breached. Article 15.4 of the Statute says people hired in breach of it become permanent employees, as do temporary workers not registered with Social Security once a period equal to the possible trial period has passed.
- If the contract covers a post during a selection process. It cannot last more than three months (or the shorter period in the collective agreement) and no new contract with the same purpose can be made once that maximum is exceeded (art. 15.3).
- A practical detail: article 15.3 allows the replacement to start before the absence begins, for at most fifteen days, to ensure the handover of the post.
- If the cause disappears and you keep working. If the replaced person returns and the employer keeps you without formalising the end, the relationship becomes permanent.
- If you chain temporary contracts beyond the legal limits. It is developed in from temporary to permanent contract.
And in the public administration
In the public administration there is the figure of the funcionario interino and the interim contract staff, which has its own regime and is not the same as the private-sector replacement contract. If that is your case, the applicable framework is that of public employment, and the rules on duration and termination are different.
Doubts that come up in practice
Can they dismiss me before the replaced person returns? Yes, but as with any other contract: with a cause and with the severance that applies. A replacement contract is not dismissal-proof. If the employer fires you early without cause, it can be an unfair dismissal, with the 33-days-per-year severance.
Can I replace several people? Only if the contract says so. Each replacement must be described with its name and reason. A generic contract, such as “various replacements”, does not meet what the Statute requires.
What about holiday? It accrues as in any contract: 2.5 calendar days per month. If you have not taken it when the contract ends, it is paid in the finiquito. It is worked out in unused holiday pay in your final settlement.
Is my seniority recognised if I later become permanent? Seniority counts from the start of the employment relationship with that company, including the replacement contract period, except for interruptions that break the chain.
Can one replacement follow another? It can, if each responds to a real absence. What is not accepted is using replacements as a pretext to keep a person permanently in a post that exists. If you suspect it, keep the contracts and dates, because they are your evidence.
Also check whether a probation period was agreed and its maximum duration in Spain; the employer cannot simply assume one applies.
What to do today
- Read your contract: does it state the replaced person’s name and the reason?
- Note the date on which the replaced person will return, if you know it.
- Ask the employer in writing for the expected end.
- If you are kept on after the return, keep your payslips: they can be evidence of permanence.
This page is informational and does not replace professional advice. If your case is public employment, check the regime with your administration.