Working on a Sunday or a public holiday is lawful, but it is not free for the company and it cannot eat into your rest. The Workers Statute (Estatuto de los Trabajadores) guarantees you a weekly rest of a day and a half and up to fourteen paid public holidays a year that cannot be clawed back, and it leaves the compensation for working them to your convenio colectivo (collective agreement). This guide separates what the law sets from what you must look up in your agreement.
The minimum weekly rest is an uninterrupted day and a half
Article 37.1 recognises a minimum weekly rest of an uninterrupted day and a half. The general rule is that it includes Saturday afternoon (or Monday morning) and all of Sunday. For under-eighteens it is two uninterrupted days.
It is a minimum. Your agreement can improve on it but not cut it, apart from the cases the Government regulates for specific sectors: article 37.1 refers to article 34.7 for extensions, reductions and alternative rest regimes in certain activities. Those regulations are not in the text of the Statute, so check whether your sector has one.
It can be accumulated over up to 14 days, but not skipped
The same article says the rest can be accumulated over periods of up to fourteen days. That means it does not always have to be a day and a half every seven days: over two weeks you must add up three days of rest, and you can have them together.
Example with numbers. You work in a shop on shifts.
| Item | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum rest per week | 1.5 days | 1.5 days |
| Minimum rest in a 14-day period | 1.5 × 2 | 3 days |
| Days you can work in a row in those 14 days | 14 − 3 | 11 days |
Working eleven of the fourteen days is the most you can do if the rest is grouped. If the company schedules twelve or thirteen, it is taking away rest, and that merits a written complaint. See also the 12-hour rest between shifts, which applies at the same time.
Public holidays: up to fourteen a year, paid and non-recoverable
Under article 37.2, public holidays (fiestas laborales):
- are paid and non-recoverable,
- cannot exceed fourteen a year, of which two are local,
- always include, as national holidays, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, 1 May and 12 October.
“Non-recoverable” means the company cannot make you pay those hours back later. “Paid” means you are paid for the day even if you do not work.
The Government may move to Monday the national holidays that fall midweek, and a holiday that falls on a Sunday is moved to the following Monday. The regions may replace national holidays with their own and make that move, always within the limit of fourteen. That is why your calendar may differ from another region’s. The exception: if a region cannot set one of its traditional holidays because not enough national holidays fall on Sundays, it may add one more as a recoverable holiday, that year, up to the maximum of fourteen.
Working on a Sunday or holiday is not banned
Some activities never stop on Sundays or holidays. Article 36.3 provides that companies working shifts, including Sundays and holidays, may organise teams working whole weeks or hire staff to complete the teams for one or more days a week.
What the Statute does not say is how much you are paid for it. There is no legal “double”, no percentage, no number of euros. What to check, in order:
- Your collective agreement: look for the clause on “Sundays and holidays” or “work on public holidays”. Your agreement may set a supplement or compensatory rest.
- Your contract, in case it includes a specific supplement.
- Company practice, if it is an established more beneficial condition.
If your payslip shows no holiday item and you work on holidays, ask which of the three applies. In how to read your payslip you can see where to look for it.
Three ways to compensate a worked holiday, with made-up numbers
To see how the result changes with what your agreement says, suppose you work three public holidays in a year and your salary is €1,800 a month, that is 1,800 ÷ 30 = €60 a day. The clauses in the table are hypothetical.
| What the agreement clause says | Calculation | What you receive |
|---|---|---|
| €30 supplement per holiday worked | 3 × €30 | €90 extra on your payslip |
| One day’s rest per holiday worked | 3 × 1 day | 3 days off |
| Salary already includes holidays | no separate item | €0 extra: it is inside the salary |
The third route only works if the contract or agreement says so expressly; otherwise you cannot assume the holiday is “included”. Note too that holidays and annual leave are regulated in different articles of the Statute (37.2 and 38): how holiday days are counted is in how much holiday you are entitled to by law.
If the reason for absence is a death in the family, check bereavement leave in Spain, which has its own conditions.
Why your case may be different
- Your collective agreement improves on the law. It may give more rest, a fixed supplement or a day off per holiday worked.
- Your sector has a special regime. Some sectors have rest extensions or alternative regimes set by regulation (arts. 34.7 and 37.1).
- You work shifts including nights. The rules on night work combine with those on weekly rest.
- You are under eighteen. Your minimum weekly rest is two uninterrupted days.
How to claim if you do not get the rest or the compensation
- Note which days you worked and which were due as rest, with your rosters and the working time record.
- Write to HR citing article 37.1 (rest) or the clause of your agreement (compensation).
- If there is no reply, go to a union or an employment lawyer (abogado laboralista).
The labour infringements law (LISOS) treats breaching the legal or agreed limits on rest, working time and hours as a serious offence (art. 7.5), with fines of €751 to €7,500 depending on the grade (art. 40). Any money you are owed is claimed through the labour route with proof of the days worked.
This page is general information based on the consolidated text of the Workers Statute. If deadlines or money are at stake, talk to an employment lawyer or a union.