How to read your Spanish payslip: earnings, deductions and bases

A payslip is read in three blocks: what you earn (devengos), the figure on which contributions are calculated (the bases) and what is taken off (deductions). Subtract the third from the first and you get what you see in your bank. The Workers Statute (Estatuto de los Trabajadores) requires the payslip to be clear and to separate earnings from deductions; if yours makes it hard to tell one from the other, you are entitled to ask for an explanation.

Your employer must give you an individual, clear receipt

Article 29.1 of the Statute establishes that salary is documented with an individual receipt that proves payment. It must follow the model approved by the ministry, unless the convenio colectivo (collective agreement) or an agreement between the company and the representatives sets another, which must show “with due clarity and separation the different payments to the employee and the deductions that are legally due”.

Three other rules from the same article:

• The period covered by regular, periodic pay cannot exceed one month.
• You are entitled to advances on work already done before pay day.
• If payment is late, default interest is ten per cent of what is owed (art. 29.3).

The LISOS classes as a minor offence not delivering the receipt on time (art. 6.2) and as a serious one not recording the amounts actually paid (art. 7.3).

To compare hours with your payslip, request and keep the working time record in Spain.

Earnings (devengos): everything you earn

This is the first block. Under article 26.3, the salary structure comprises the base salary and, where applicable, salary supplements (for personal circumstances, the work done or the company’s results), set by the collective agreement or, failing that, the contract. Here you usually find:

• Base salary (salario base): pay set per unit of time.
• Collective agreement supplements: seniority, post, shift work, night work and so on.
• Overtime, if any.
• Pro-rated extra pay: article 31 gives two extra payments a year and allows the collective agreement to spread them over the twelve monthly payments.
• Non-salary payments: compensation or reimbursement for work expenses, which under article 26.2 are not salary.

Contribution bases: what contributions are calculated on

The base for common contingencies is made up of total monthly remuneration, “whatever its form or name”, in cash or in kind. Payments due at intervals longer than a month are spread over the twelve months of the year (art. 147.1 of the LGSS). Some items are not counted, such as justified travel allowances, subsistence allowances within the income tax limits or dismissal compensation up to the mandatory amount (art. 147.2). Overtime does not count towards that base either, except for accident at work and occupational illness contributions.

Deductions: contributions and IRPF

Deductions are what is withheld to pay your share of social security and income tax (IRPF). Article 26.4 makes clear that the tax and social security charges payable by the employee are met by the employee, and any agreement to the contrary is void. The company withholds them on the payslip and pays them over.

I do not give contribution percentages here: the contribution rate and its split between employer and employee are set each year in the State Budget Law (art. 145 of the LGSS), and the current figure can be checked on the Social Security website. IRPF depends on your personal and family situation.

A payslip with round numbers that adds up

The amounts in this example are made up and round, to show the mechanism; they are not official percentages. Suppose a contract with extra pay spread across the months.

Checks you can run on any payslip:

1. Sum of earnings: 1,400 + 100 + 250 = €1,750.
2. Pro-rating of extra pay: 2 × 1,500 = 3,000; ÷ 12 = €250.
3. Sum of deductions: 110 + 180 = €290.
4. Net pay: 1,750 − 290 = €1,460. It must match what is paid into your account.

If your agreement pays the extra payments in June and December instead of pro-rating them, the monthly payslip will not carry that line and the extra payments arrive separately. In that month’s payslip the extra payment will appear as an earning.

Five errors worth spotting

• Net pay does not match the deposit. Compare with your bank statement.
• The overtime you worked is missing. Article 35.5 requires working time to be recorded day by day and a copy of the summary to be handed to you with the payslip. See overtime: limit and pay.
• The night work or shift supplement is missing. Check your agreement and night work: limits and compensation.
• Extra payments are pro-rated when your agreement does not pro-rate them (or the other way round).
• Your category or seniority is wrong. Compare them with your contract.

Why your case may be different

• Your collective agreement sets its own model. Article 29.1 allows it, always with clarity and separation.
• You have a part-time or fijo discontinuo contract. Earnings and bases are calculated on your hours.
• You are on sick leave or receive a benefit. The payslip changes: see how much sick leave pays.
• It is your last payslip. It includes the finiquito (final settlement): use the final settlement calculator and the guide to calculating your finiquito.

If you are not paid or the payslip does not add up

1. Ask HR in writing for a clarification, attaching the payslip and your statement.
2. If it is non-payment, see what to do if the company does not pay your wages and FOGASA.
3. Go to a union or an employment lawyer (abogado laboralista) if there are differences in money.

This page is general information based on the consolidated text of the Workers Statute and the LGSS. If deadlines or money are at stake, talk to an employment lawyer or a union.