founderjob / Countries / Spain
Employer of record in Spain: the real cost, the three routes and who to call
Hiring someone in Spain on €60,000?
It's €60,000 €79,290.
Budget €79,290. Spain adds 32.15% on gross pay up to €61,214 a year, and an employer of record charges €99 to $699 a month on top of that.
Employee, SpainYearly cost to you
- Gross salary€60,000
- Common contingenciesContingencias comunes23.60%€14,160
- UnemploymentDesempleo5.50%€3,300
- Wage guarantee fundFOGASA0.20%€120
- Vocational trainingFormación profesional0.60%€360
- Intergenerational equityMEI0.75%€450
- Accident insuranceAT/EP, CNAE 621.50%€900
- Solidarity chargeCotización de solidaridadnone€0
Employer of record, your own company, or a contractor
Three ways to put one person to work in Spain.
Employer of record
- Fits when
- Your first one to five people in Spain, a hire you need on payroll within weeks, or a test of the market before you commit to a company there.
- What you pay
- €79,290 a year in salary and contributions, plus the provider's fee of €99 to $699 a month.
- Watch out for
- Spanish law only lets a company hire people to lend them to another company through a licensed temporary work agency (ET art. 43). Ask your provider, in writing, how its set-up fits that article.
Your own S.L.
- Fits when
- A team in Spain you expect to grow past a handful, or a founder who wants Spanish payroll under their own name.
- What you pay
- €79,290 a year for each employee, plus incorporation costs and a gestoría or accountant every month. The legal minimum capital is €1.
- Watch out for
- Below €3,000 of capital the company must set aside at least 20% of profit as a legal reserve, and if the company is wound up without enough assets, the shareholders are jointly and severally liable for the gap between their capital and €3,000 (LSC art. 4).
Contractor (autónomo)
- Fits when
- Work the person organises and runs themselves, such as a defined project with a clear end.
- What you pay
- Their invoice. No employer contributions while the relationship really is independent.
- Watch out for
- Spanish labour law covers anyone who works for pay "within the organisation and direction" of another person (ET art. 1.1). A full-time autónomo who takes your instructions and sits in your stand-ups fits that description.
Keeping them as a contractor? Here's the bill if it goes wrong
A contractor costs you no employer contributions. If the role is really a job, the authorities can claim them back.
If the contractor is reclassifiedOn €60,000 a year
- Employer contributions you skippedEach year, at today's rates€19,290
- Years the authority can reach back4 yearsx 4
- Surcharge20% if paid on time€15,432
- Who decides 13 Nov, boe.es
- The labour inspectorate (Inspección de Trabajo) decides.
- On top 13 Nov, boe.es
- A 20% surcharge (35% if paid late), plus interest.
- The employee's share 13 Nov, boe.es
- If you did not deduct the worker's share when you paid them, you cannot claim it back: you pay it too.
Employer of record providers for Spain, compared
We list 19 providers that can employ in Spain, sorted by published price. "Own entity" means the provider employs your person through its own Spanish company; "partner" means it hands the contract to a local firm, so ask who signs the contract and who holds any deposit. 10 of them do not publish a price for Spain at all. One more, Boundless, says in its own Spain guide that it cannot act as an employer of record here, so it is not in the table.
- Not statedNot stated
- daysNot statedNot read
- SpainWorkSpain firm€195flat feeNot statedcalculator says 'We calculate the amount to be deposited' (amount not stated)Not read
- $299billed yearlyone to two weeksNot stated
- Not statedNot stated
- From 4 daysNot stated
- Not statedNot stated
- Not statedno standard deposit; refundable reserve may be required in some cases
- From 48 hoursrefundable deposit required, amount not stated
- Price not confirmedFrom two weeksNot stated
- FMC GroupRegional firmDoes not publish a priceNot statedNot statedNot read
- Price not confirmedNot statedNot stated
- Does not publish a priceNot statedNot stated
- ParakarRegional firmDoes not publish a priceNot statedNot statedNot read
- Does not publish a priceNot statedNot statedNot read
- Price not confirmedNot statedNot stated
- Does not publish a priceNot statedNot stated
- Does not publish a priceFrom two weeksNot stated
- ThisWorksRegional firmDoes not publish a priceOnboard in days (own claim)Not statedNot read
Not listed: Boundless. Its own Spain guide says it cannot act as an employer of record in Spain.
The rules you sign up to in Spain
The rules below are the statutory minimums from the Estatuto de los Trabajadores and the Social Security tables. Your sector's convenio colectivo can raise several of them, so check which one applies before you write the offer.
- Minimum wage13 Nov, boe.es
- €1,221 a monthPaid 14 times a year, €17,094 in total.
- Pay periods13 Nov, boe.es
- 14 a yearTwelve months plus two extra payments, which can be spread over the twelve.
- Paid holiday13 Nov, boe.es
- 30 calendar daysAbout 22 working days.
- Probation13 Nov, boe.es
- Up to 6 monthsFor qualified technical staff. 2 months for others, 3 in companies under 25 people.
- Ending the contract13 Nov, boe.es
- 15 days' noticeFor an objective dismissal, plus severance of 20 days' pay per year worked, up to 12 months' pay.
- Sick pay13 Nov, boe.es
- 60%, then 75%Nothing for days 1 to 3. 60% of the base from day 4, 75% from day 21. The employer pays days 4 to 15.
Not in the total: Anything a sector agreement (convenio colectivo) adds; A different accident rate if the work is not office or IT work. Permanent contract, office or IT work (CNAE 62). The salary includes the two extra payments.
The Beckham law and an employer of record
The Beckham law is the special tax regime in article 93 of the Spanish income tax act. A person who moves to Spain can choose to be taxed under non-resident rules for the year they move and the five years after. The employee files that choice, not you, but your contract decides whether they qualify.
The condition that matters to an employer: the move has to happen because of an employment contract. The statute says this is met when an employment relationship starts "with an employer in Spain". An employer of record with its own Spanish entity is that employer on paper. The same article also accepts remote work done entirely through computers and telecoms, and holders of Spain's international teleworking visa.
Two more conditions sit with the employee: they cannot have been tax resident in Spain in the five years before the move, and they must file form 149 with the Agencia Tributaria within six months of starting the activity.
What you do: get the contract and the Social Security registration done fast, and tell the candidate the six-month clock exists. Whether they qualify is a question for their own tax adviser.
13 Nov, boe.es13 Nov, sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es
Article 43: why "is EOR legal in Spain" is a fair question
Article 43 of the Estatuto de los Trabajadores says that hiring workers to lend them temporarily to another company is only allowed through a duly authorised temporary work agency (empresa de trabajo temporal). It then lists what counts as illegal lending: a services contract that amounts to nothing more than putting workers at the other company's disposal, or a lending company with no real activity or organisation of its own, or one that does not act as the employer.
The penalty lands on both sides. The lending company and the company using the worker are jointly liable for wages and Social Security, and the worker can choose to become permanent staff at either one. Note the second part: your foreign company can end up as the employer.
So before you sign, ask the provider three things in writing. Does it hold a temporary work agency authorisation in Spain, or how does it say its model fits article 43? Who directs the day-to-day work under the contract? Which Spanish company is the employer on the payslip?
The same €60,000 hire across Europe
Total yearly cost to the employer. Light is the salary, blue is what the employer adds by law. Try your own salary.
LowerHigher
Being checked
Questions founders ask about Spain
How much does an employer of record cost in Spain?
There are two numbers to budget. The person costs €79,290 a year at €60,000, because Spanish employer contributions add 32.15% on gross pay up to €61,214 a year. The provider's fee comes on top: €99 to $699 a month among the providers that publish a price. 10 providers in Spain do not publish one, so get a written quote before you compare.
Is an employer of record legal in Spain?
Spanish law allows a company to hire workers to lend them to another company only through an authorised temporary work agency (ET art. 43). If the arrangement breaks that rule, both companies are jointly liable and the worker can choose to become your permanent employee. Ask your provider how its set-up fits article 43 and get the answer in writing.
Can someone hired through an EOR in Spain use the Beckham law?
The statute asks for the move to happen because of an employment contract, and counts it as met when the job is with an employer in Spain. An EOR with its own Spanish entity is the employer on the contract. The employee still has to meet the other conditions, including five years without Spanish tax residence, and file form 149 within six months.
Can I hire in Spain without a Spanish company?
Yes, through an employer of record, which employs your person on a Spanish contract and payroll. The other two routes are your own S.L., where the legal minimum capital is €1 but you run payroll and accounts yourself, or an autónomo contract, which only holds while the person works independently of your direction.
What makes an autónomo look like an employee in Spain?
The Estatuto de los Trabajadores applies to anyone who works voluntarily for pay "within the organisation and direction" of another person. If you set the hours, assign the work and manage the person, that is direction. The test in article 1 describes how the work is done, and nothing in it asks what the contract is called.
What changed
- 2026 rates and the €5,101.20 monthly ceiling checked on seg-social.es.
- Solidarity charge on pay above the ceiling added (2026 rates).
- Sick pay rates read in Real Decreto 53/1980 and Decreto 3158/1966.
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