The certificado de empresa (company certificate) is the paper mentioned most often when applying for paro (unemployment benefit) and understood least. It is not your finiquito (final settlement) or your dismissal letter: it is the document the employer has to provide so the SEPE (Servicio Público de Empleo Estatal, Spain’s public employment service) knows why you are losing your job, from when and what you have contributed. If it is missing or wrong, you are the one who notices, because payment is late or the figure is off.
What it is for: cause, date and data to calculate your base
Under article 267.3 of the Ley General de la Seguridad Social (General Social Security Act, LGSS), the cause and the effective date of the legal situation of unemployment must appear in the company certificate. In collective dismissals and ERTE (temporary furlough schemes) the certificate comes with the employer’s notice and the labour authority’s notice to the SEPE.
The certificate also provides the contribution data the SEPE uses to calculate your base reguladora (benefit base), which is the average of your contribution bases over the last 180 days (art. 270.1). And if you have unused holiday that is paid in the finiquito, that period must also appear in the certificate (art. 268.3), because it delays the start of the right.
| What it records | What the SEPE uses it for |
|---|---|
| Cause of the end of the employment | Checking it is a legal situation of unemployment (art. 267) |
| Effective date | Setting the day the right starts |
| Contribution bases for the last 180 days | Calculating your benefit base |
| Unused holiday | Knowing whether paro starts later (art. 268.3) |
The employer is obliged to provide it
Article 298.d imposes on employers the obligation to give the worker the company certificate “in the time and form set by regulation”. And article 22.6 of the Law on Social Order Infringements and Penalties (LISOS) treats as a serious infringement failing to give the worker, in time and form, the documents needed to claim benefits, including the company certificate, or failing to transmit it when the employer is bound to use electronic means.
What I cannot give you is a number of days. The deadline and format are set by a regulation that is not among the texts we could consult, so I will not give you a figure I cannot stand behind. Ask the SEPE what deadline applies and note your last working day: it helps you demand it.
Do not wait for the paper before applying for paro
The 15-working-day deadline to apply for the benefit runs from the legal situation of unemployment (art. 268.1), not from when the certificate reaches you. It is explained in the deadline to apply for paro. If you are late, you lose as many days of benefit as lie between the day the right began and the day you apply (art. 268.2).
So the practical order is: request an appointment or file the application on time, even without the certificate, and chase the certificate at the same time. How to apply for unemployment step by step covers the rest of the process.
An example with a contribution base
Lucas has worked six months with these monthly contribution bases: four months at €1,300 and two at €1,400. Overtime counts in none of them.
To plan your income, also check how long unemployment benefit lasts in Spain against your recognised contributions.
- Benefit base: (4 × 1,300 + 2 × 1,400) / 6 = 8,000 / 6 = €1,333.33.
- First band: 70 % of 1,333.33 = €933.33 a month, above the €560 minimum and below the €1,225 maximum with no children.
- Second band: 60 % = €800 a month.
If the certificate were wrong and showed €1,300 for all six months, the base would be €1,300 and the first band €910 a month: €23.33 less each month. It looks small, but it adds up over the whole benefit. Always compare the certificate’s bases with your payslips. For how much you receive at your salary, see the table of amounts.
What to check in the certificate
- That the cause of the termination is right. Dismissal, end of contract, resignation: whether there is a legal situation of unemployment depends on it. See am I entitled to unemployment benefit.
- That the effective date matches your last day, or the end of the holiday period if you had holiday pending.
- That the bases for the last months match your payslips. Watch for months with reduced hours or salary changes.
- That it does not include overtime in the base. The law excludes it (art. 270.1).
- That the personal details are yours: name, DNI or NIE, Social Security number.
What to do if the employer does not send it
- Ask for it in writing by a means that leaves proof: an email with read receipt or a burofax (registered letter). State the date your employment ended.
- Do not pause the paro application. File on time and explain the situation to the SEPE.
- Keep proof of your requests and of the date you stopped working.
- If the employer still does not send it, a union or employment lawyer can tell you how to report the infringement to the Inspección de Trabajo (Labour Inspectorate) and how to stop it harming you.
Why your case may be different
- You may never receive a paper. The law expects employers bound to use electronic means to transmit it that way (art. 22.6 of the LISOS); ask the SEPE whether yours is already on file before chasing the employer.
- Part-time contracts, several contracts or changes of hours affect the calculation, under regulation rules not covered here.
- Collective dismissals and ERTEs require the labour authority’s notice as well as the certificate (art. 267.3).
- If you have had several recent jobs, ask the SEPE which employers it needs data from to calculate your base.
This page is general information and does not cover the regulation that sets the deadline. If deadlines or money are at stake, speak to an employment lawyer (abogado laboralista) or a union.