Leave for a relative's hospitalisation or serious illness in Spain

An emergency admission, an operation that turns out more complicated than expected, or a relative coming home on strict bed rest: these are the moments when you need to be away from work without losing your pay and without using up your holiday. Spain’s Estatuto de los Trabajadores (Workers Statute) gives you a paid leave, a permiso retribuido, for that, and since 2023 it is longer than it used to be.

How many days and who is entitled

Article 37.3.b recognises five days of paid leave for:

• serious accident or illness,
• hospitalisation,
• or surgery without hospitalisation that requires rest at home,

of your spouse, your registered partner (pareja de hecho), relatives up to the second degree by blood (consanguinidad) or by marriage (afinidad), and of another person who lives with you at the same address and needs your effective care. Until the reform of Real Decreto-ley 5/2023 (Royal Decree-Law 5/2023), the leave was two days, or four with travel; since then, it is five.

It is leave with pay: your salary is not docked and it does not come out of your holiday. It requires prior notice and justification.

If the discrepancy leaves wages unpaid, retain your evidence and check what to do when an employer is not paying wages in Spain.

If your situation is a person you are not related to but whom you care for at home, the law covers that too, as long as you live with them and it is your care they need.

What counts as “serious”

This is the biggest source of arguments. The Statute speaks of serious accident or illness, of hospitalisation and of surgery without hospitalisation with rest. It does not define seriousness with a closed list.

In practice, what counts is what the medical report says:

• A hospital admission (emergency admission, ward, ICU) gives the right by itself, without needing to be labelled serious.
• Surgery without admission gives the right only if the doctor prescribes rest at home.
• A serious illness without admission (for example, a complicated cancer treatment) may give the right if the report describes it that way and shows the need for care.

If in doubt, ask the doctor to state in the report the seriousness, the rest and that the patient needs care. It is what most helps a company accept the leave.

How the days are counted

The Statute says “five days” and no more. Two questions come up again and again: working or calendar days? and when do they start?

Working or calendar days. The approach most often applied to the leave in article 37.3 is to count the days you were due to work, so weekends and public holidays do not use up days. Specialist press reports that the Social Chamber of the Supreme Court has applied that approach to the five-day leave, but the exact wording of the ruling is not available in the sources we have consulted. If your agreement says something else, whatever improves your rights prevails.

When they start. A February 2026 ruling of the Social Chamber of the Supreme Court, reported by the business press, has backed the view that the leave does not have to start on the day of the event. The court considers that always tying it to the triggering event prevents care from being organised effectively. In other words: if your father is admitted on a Friday and the operation is on Wednesday, you can ask for the days around the operation, which is when he needs you most.

And if the admission drags on, hospital discharge does not by itself end the leave if the need for care persists.

A worked example

You work Monday to Friday. Your mother is admitted on Saturday with a broken hip and is operated on Tuesday. She is discharged the following Sunday, with rest at home.

• If you count the five working days from Monday, they cover Monday to Friday of that week.
• If your family needs you there on the Tuesday of the operation and the first days at home, you can propose it like this: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday of the week of the operation and Monday and Tuesday of the next.

The prudent thing is to ask the company in writing for the distribution, explaining that the purpose is to accompany and care for her, and to attach the hospital report.

How to ask for it and what to prove

1. Give notice as soon as possible. A message to your manager and to HR with the family relationship and the reason is enough as a first notice.
2. Ask for the certificate at the hospital or health centre. It should state the admission or the surgery, the dates and, if possible, the rest or the need for care.
3. Prove the relationship. Family record book (libro de familia), marriage certificate or registered-partnership certificate; if you live with the person without being a relative, the certificate of registration at the town hall (certificado de empadronamiento).
4. Submit the request with dates. State how many days you want to use and which ones. Keep a copy.
5. If the situation changes, communicate the new date before you are absent and ask for confirmation.

Do not wait until you have everything before giving notice: the notice is the urgent part, and the paperwork is completed in the following days.

When the five days run out

There are things the leave does not cover: a long recovery, prolonged treatment or several admissions. You have several routes:

• Collective agreement. Check whether it extends the days or lets you spread them.
• Leave to care for relatives who are dependent or seriously ill (articles 37.6 and 46.3 of the Statute): reduced working hours or a leave of absence (excedencia) to look after a relative. For caring for children, see reduced working hours for childcare.
• Holiday, with the company’s prior agreement. How many days you have is explained in how many holiday days you are entitled to.

These options do not replace the leave: they complement it when the care is going to last.

When the company refuses

If you meet the requirement and the company says no, do not be absent without an answer. Ask for its refusal in writing, hand over or forward your certificate and consult the workers’ representatives or a union. If you are absent without the leave being accepted, the company could treat it as unjustified absence. And if you have to be absent anyway, do it making clear in writing that you are doing so under article 37.3.b. To claim afterwards, you have the one-year period in article 59 of the Statute.

Common cases

My mother is elderly, lives alone and is admitted. This is the most typical case: hospital admission of a parent. The leave is yours, and if you have brothers or sisters, each of you can take your own for the same triggering event, because it is an individual right. Organise yourselves so that each person’s five days cover the moments that demand the most care.

My partner is having day surgery. If the operation does not require hospitalisation but needs rest at home, you are entitled to the leave. Ask the doctor to state the rest in the discharge report. Without that statement, the company may doubt that the requirements are met.

My child is in A&E for a few hours. A visit to emergency without admission does not always give the right to the leave. It depends on whether there is hospitalisation, serious illness or surgery with rest. Even so, depending on the seriousness, there are other options for being absent, such as reduced working hours to care for minors with cancer or another serious illness, which has its own regime.

My mother-in-law lives with us and needs care. Parents-in-law are relatives of the first degree by marriage, so the leave applies to you all the same. If the person is not your relative but lives with you and needs your effective care, it applies too.

My relative is in another country. The Statute does not limit the leave by the place where the person is admitted. If you travel, attach the tickets and the medical report, translated if necessary. If you need more time, look at the options for a leave of absence to care for relatives.

Model letter to request it

Subject: Request for paid leave for a relative’s hospitalisation (art. 37.3.b ET)

Good morning. I am writing to tell you that my [relationship] has been admitted to [hospital] since [date] because of [reason]. In accordance with article 37.3.b of the Estatuto de los Trabajadores, I request to take the five days of paid leave from [date], [continuously / spread over the days: …]. I attach the medical certificate and, as soon as I have it, the document proving the relationship. Kind regards.

The more specific it is, the less room there is for argument.

Common mistakes

• Waiting until you have all the paperwork to give notice. Give notice first, document afterwards.
• Spending the five days on the first two days. Consider when you will need more time, such as the operation and the return home.
• Assuming they are calendar days. Ask how your agreement counts the days.
• Not asking for the report that mentions rest or care. It is the most useful proof if the company questions it.
• Confusing it with sick leave. The leave is for caring for another person, not for your own illness.

What I would do

I would ask for the medical report the same day and send it with a short message to the company: who it is, what is wrong, since when and how many days I need. I would first give notice of the days I know I need, and then ask for the rest if the situation drags on. And I would check the agreement before anything else: many give more days or clarify whether they are working days. What I would not do is accept an “it’s only one day for an admission”: the law says five.

Where to go next

Bereavement leave has its own regime, which is explained in bereavement leave for a relative. For a different leave, from another moment in life, there is marriage leave.

If what is happening is a birth rather than an admission, see what the law and your collective agreement say about a grandchild’s birth.