Marriage leave in Spain: 15 days, how to claim and postpone it

Getting married involves more paperwork than it seems, and the most common work question is the simplest one: how many days do I get and from when? Marriage leave is one of the oldest in Spain’s Estatuto de los Trabajadores (Workers Statute) and, although it looks simple, it has three nuances that cause arguments with the company: when it starts, whether it can be left for later and what happens if it overlaps with other absences.

How many days and for whom

Article 37.3.a of the Workers Statute grants fifteen calendar days of paid leave (permiso retribuido) for marriage. Since Royal Decree-Law 5/2023 it is also granted for registration as a registered partner (pareja de hecho) in an official register.

Two important points in that sentence:

• Calendar days means every day on the calendar counts, including Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. It is not 15 working days.
• Paid means you receive your full salary and it is not deducted from your holiday.

Your convenio colectivo (collective agreement) may improve on it, for example with 16 or 20 days, or by adding leave for the wedding of a child or a brother or sister. What the agreement says, if it improves on the law, is what applies.

1. Marriage15 calendar days
2. Registered civil partnership15 calendar days

When it starts counting

This is where most doubts are concentrated. According to the approach applied by the Supreme Court, the leave starts:

• On the day of the wedding itself if that day is a working day for you.
• On the next working day if the wedding falls on a day you do not work, such as a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday.

Once it starts, the 15 days run continuously: they are not interrupted because a weekend falls in between.

Let’s look at it with numbers. You work Monday to Friday and marry on Saturday 12 September.

Fifteen calendar days from Monday 14 end on Monday 28. If the company counts them from the Saturday, it makes you return a day earlier than you are entitled to: it is a counting error that deserves a complaint, however small it seems.

What counts as marriage or a registered partnership

The leave covers civil or religious marriage and registration as a registered partner. The sex of the couple does not matter. What counts is the act that you prove with the certificate: the record or certificate from the Registro Civil (Civil Registry), or the certificate of registration in the relevant registered-partners register.

Two special situations:

• If you marry the person you had already registered with as a registered partner, the usual approach is that there is one leave per couple, so you do not add 15 days for each act. Some collective agreements say otherwise.
• If you marry for a second time to a different person, you are entitled to a new leave.

Can I postpone it or split it?

The general rule is that the leave is taken immediately after the event that causes it, because its purpose is to deal with the circumstances of the wedding. Postponing or splitting it requires:

• an agreement with the company, in writing, or
• a provision in the collective agreement or in a company agreement that allows it.

This matters a great deal if you want to combine the leave with a honeymoon of several weeks at another time of year. In that case the sensible thing is to propose it to the company in good time, making clear which dates and how many days, and to insist on a written reply before you buy tickets.

What happens if it overlaps with holiday or sick leave

• With holiday already set: if the wedding falls within your holiday, you are not entitled to take the leave afterwards, unless you agree it with the company or the collective agreement regulates it. If the holiday is not yet set, you can ask your manager to move it so that the leave applies to the wedding.
• With sick leave (baja médica): the leave is not preserved for after your discharge. Unlike holiday, the Statute does not provide specific protection in that case, so it is best to talk to the company beforehand.
• With a temporary contract that ends during the leave: the contract is not extended because of the leave. The leave is a right within the contract, not a reason for extension.

Notice and documents

The Statute requires notice and justification, without setting a deadline. Out of contractual good faith, give enough warning: two weeks before is a prudent minimum, and a month is better, unless your collective agreement sets something else.

Usual documents:

1. The marriage certificate or the certificate of registration as a registered partner, once you have it.
2. Before the wedding, the expected date: a copy of the application or the family record book (libro de familia) in process is usually enough as provisional proof.
3. A written request with the dates of the leave, dated and with a copy.

If the wedding is in another country and the documents are not in Spanish, ask HR whether they need a translation.

A full example

María works Monday to Friday and marries on Saturday 3 October. She wants to combine the leave with a few days of holiday.

• Leave: from Monday 5 to Monday 19 October (15 calendar days).
• She returns on Tuesday 20.
• If she wants to extend it with holiday, she can ask separately from Tuesday 20 onwards, subject to the company’s approval.

What she cannot do is assume she will be able to split the 15 days: if she wants to use one week of leave in October and another on a spring honeymoon, she must agree it in writing.

Common cases

I marry in church and in a civil ceremony on different dates. The leave is for the marriage, not for each ceremony. If the ceremony with civil effects is a single one, the leave is one. If there is a religious ceremony without civil effects and a later civil one, normally the one with legal effects counts. Check your collective agreement.

I marry someone from another country. The leave is granted all the same. Prove the marriage with the corresponding certificate, legalised or translated if needed. If the ceremony is outside Spain, ask HR which documents they accept.

I am self-employed or work part-time. The self-employed do not have this leave, because there is no employer to grant it. If you work part-time as an employee, you get the full 15 calendar days, not a proportional part.

My contract ends before the leave is over. The leave does not extend the contract. If your temporary contract expires during the 15 days, it ends on its date. That is why it is worth checking the end date before setting the wedding.

I am on sick leave when I marry. If the wedding coincides with sick leave, the leave is not stored up for later. Even so, check your collective agreement and ask the company whether another solution can be agreed.

I want to combine the leave with my holiday. This is very common. If you take the leave first and then continue with holiday, request the holiday in advance and in writing. If the holiday is before the wedding, the leave starts on the day of the wedding or the first working day afterwards.

Model letter to request it

Subject: Request for paid marriage leave (art. 37.3.a ET)

Good morning. I am writing to inform you that I will marry on [date]. In accordance with article 37.3.a of the Workers Statute, I request to take the paid leave of 15 calendar days from [first working day], returning to work on [date]. I will provide the marriage certificate as soon as I receive it. Kind regards.

Send it in good time and keep the reply. If you want to postpone or split the leave, add the proposal and ask for express confirmation.

Common mistakes

• Counting from the Saturday of the wedding. If you do not work that day, the count starts on the next working day.
• Not giving enough notice. The law requires notice, even though it does not set a period.
• Assuming you can postpone it to the honeymoon. Without a written agreement, you cannot.
• Not checking the collective agreement. Many add days or regulate cases such as the wedding of children and brothers or sisters.
• Forgetting the certificate. Without it, the company may doubt that the leave applies.

What I would do

I would give at least a month’s notice, by email, stating the date of the wedding and saying that I am going to take the leave under article 37.3.a from the first working day. I would read the collective agreement first, because many improve on the law. And if I wanted to separate the days, I would put the proposal in writing and not buy anything until I had the answer. Almost everything fits into 15 calendar days; in a dispute over three days of counting, what matters is having the dates in writing.

Where to go next

If what you need is days to care for a relative, see leave for a relative’s hospitalisation or serious illness and bereavement leave. And to plan your holiday, how many days you are entitled to by law.

If a child is next, the weeks and the procedure are in birth leave in Spain.