People management
Employee onboarding and offboarding in Spain 2026: checklist and legal deadlines
What to do when somebody joins and when somebody leaves, in what order and by when. With the legal basis for each step and the list of things no law requires but that make the difference.
The two ends of the employee lifecycle are the ones most often improvised, and the ones that cost the most. Joining, because there are legal deadlines counted in days that get missed without anyone noticing. Leaving, because when somebody goes nobody has time to think and things are left half done: accounts still open, a laptop never returned, a final settlement miscalculated.
This is the full list for both, with the deadlines Spanish law imposes and the order in which each step actually happens. It works the same for a company of ten as for one of two hundred: what changes is who does it, not what has to be done.
In short. Social Security registration is filed before the person starts work, never after. The contract is reported to the SEPE within 10 working days, and the basic copy reaches the workers' representatives within 10 days. On the way out, the Social Security deregistration is filed within 3 calendar days of the end date, and the final settlement is handed over when the relationship ends. Notice for a resignation is whatever the collective agreement says, typically 15 days. Everything else (equipment, access, training, handover) is required by no law at all, and is exactly what makes the difference.
Onboarding and offboarding: what they are and why they belong together
Onboarding is everything between signing the contract and the moment the person is self-sufficient in the role. It is not the first day: it is the first quarter.
Offboarding is the same process in reverse, from the moment the departure is known until the relationship is properly closed: paperwork, equipment, access, knowledge and relationship.
They belong together because they are the same problem with the sign flipped, and because they share one list of assets: a contract, a set of documents, a set of accounts, a computer and a person who needs to know what is expected of them. Companies with a tidy arrival almost always have a tidy exit, for the same reason: a list exists and somebody owns it.
The legal deadlines when somebody joins
This is the part that is not open to interpretation. The rest of onboarding can be designed however each company wants; this cannot.
| Step | Deadline | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Social Security registration | Before work begins (it can be filed up to 60 days in advance) | Art. 32 RD 84/1996 |
| Reporting the contract to the SEPE (Contrat@) | 10 working days from signature | Art. 8.3 Workers' Statute |
| Basic copy to the workers' representatives | 10 days from signature | Art. 8.4 Workers' Statute |
| Copy of the contract to the employee | On signature | Art. 8.4 Workers' Statute |
| Health and safety information and training | On joining, before exposure to the risk | Arts. 18 and 19 Law 31/1995 |
| Offer of a medical check | On joining | Art. 22 Law 31/1995 |
| Privacy information | When their data is collected | Art. 13 GDPR |
| Time tracking | From the first day worked | Art. 34.9 Workers' Statute |
Late registration is the one that never gets forgiven
Of the whole table, the one penalised severely and almost automatically is registering late. The law does not ask for registration "on the same day": it asks for it to be filed before the person starts providing services. Somebody on site without prior registration is a serious infringement, per person affected.
The practical consequence for HR is simple: registration does not depend on the joining going smoothly, it is the other way round. No registration, no start.
The onboarding checklist
What follows is the whole process, split into the moments when each thing actually happens. If your company is only going to implement one part, make it the first: almost everything that goes wrong in a new hire was decided before they arrived.
Before day one
- Contract signed and a copy handed over.
- Social Security registration filed.
- Contract reported to the SEPE and basic copy sent to the workers' representatives.
- Documents collected: ID, Social Security number, bank details, tax withholding form, any qualification the role requires.
- Equipment ready: laptop, phone, accounts, pass or keys, workwear or protective equipment where applicable.
- Desk assigned and the team told somebody is arriving.
- First week planned, with a name and a time against each block.
Day one
- Welcomed by a specific person, not by whoever happens to be free.
- Equipment handed over and the handover document signed.
- Health and safety information and training for the role.
- Internal policies handed over and read: data protection, information security, code of conduct, harassment protocol.
- Accounts created and time tracking explained: how to clock in, from where, what happens if they forget.
- Lunch or coffee with the team. It costs an hour and is remembered for a year.
The first week
- Training on the product, the customer and the in-house tools.
- A first real task, small and finishable. Nothing is more demoralising than a week of reading documentation.
- A named person for the silly questions, which are the ones that block people most.
- Goals for the first 30, 60 and 90 days, in writing.
The first month and the probation period
- A check-in at 30 days, with the question almost nobody asks: what did you expect to find here that you have not found.
- Outstanding paperwork reviewed: what was missing on day one is usually still missing a month later.
- The end of the probation period marked in the calendar. Article 14 of the Workers' Statute caps it at 6 months for qualified technical staff and 2 months for everyone else (3 in companies with fewer than 25 people), and a shorter period can be agreed. After that date the decision is no longer free.
Documents: what is handed over and what is collected
| The company hands over | The person hands over |
|---|---|
| A copy of the contract | ID or passport |
| Health and safety information for the role | Social Security number |
| Internal policies to read and confirm | Proof of bank account ownership |
| Equipment handover document | Signed tax withholding form |
| Privacy information | Any qualification or licence the role requires |
| Employee handbook and expenses policy | Work permit, where applicable |
Two details that save trouble. First: documents that expire (medical checks, professional licences, work permits, mandatory training) have to be stored with their expiry date, or the day they expire nobody will know. Second: policies handed over to be read need nobody's approval, but they do need a record that they were read, and that record is what you show in an inspection or a tribunal.
The legal deadlines when somebody leaves
| Step | Deadline | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Notice for a resignation | Whatever the collective agreement or local custom sets (typically 15 days) | Art. 49.1.d Workers' Statute |
| Notice for an objective dismissal | 15 days | Art. 53.1.c Workers' Statute |
| Written dismissal letter, with the facts and the effective date | At the time of dismissal | Art. 55.1 Workers' Statute |
| Final settlement | When the relationship ends | Art. 49.2 Workers' Statute |
| Social Security deregistration | 3 calendar days from the end date | Art. 32 RD 84/1996 |
| Employer certificate to the SEPE | 10 days from the end date, electronically | Art. 1 RD 625/1985 |
| Tax withholding certificate | Before the annual tax return window opens | Art. 108.3 RD 439/2007 |
The final settlement is not severance: it is the liquidation of what has been earned and not yet paid. It covers the salary for the days worked that month, accrued and untaken holiday, the pro rata share of extra payments and anything else outstanding (hours, commission, expenses). Signing it does not waive anything: it can be signed "under protest", and the employee is entitled to have a representative present.
The offboarding checklist
As soon as the departure is known
- Effective date set and confirmed in writing.
- Final settlement started, with untaken holiday counted.
- Handover plan: what this person carries, who picks it up and in what order.
- The team told, before they hear it in the corridor.
The last week
- Handover of tasks, accounts and shared passwords, with the receiving person in the room.
- Writing down what only existed in their head. An hour of recording beats a manual nobody will write.
- Exit interview, run by somebody other than their direct manager.
- Equipment, passes, keys and protective gear returned, against the same handover document signed on arrival.
The last day and after
- Access revoked on the effective date: email, applications, VPN, repositories, shared accounts, physical access.
- Social Security deregistration within three days.
- Final settlement handed over and signed.
- Employer certificate and tax withholding certificate.
- File archived: employment records must be kept after the person has gone, and the retention periods do not end with the relationship.
Access: the part everybody forgets
This is where offboarding stops being an HR matter and becomes a security one. A mailbox still live a month after somebody left is an open door nobody is watching, and in an audit it is an immediate finding.
The cause is rarely carelessness: it is that the list of accounts does not exist anywhere. Everyone knows they had email and the ERP, but nobody remembers they also had access to a supplier's billing portal. That list is built when somebody joins, not when they leave.
The three most expensive mistakes
1. Starting before registration is filed. It happens when a start date is pulled forward for an urgent business reason. It is a serious infringement, per person, and no later explanation helps.
2. Calculating the final settlement without the holiday. The most common error and the one that generates most claims. Accrued and untaken holiday is always paid, including the current year in proportion to time worked.
3. Treating offboarding as paperwork. Whoever leaves today is a customer, a supplier, a candidate or an advocate tomorrow, and they describe how they left in far more detail than how they arrived. The exit interview is also the only honest source a company has about why people go.
How to run this without spreadsheets
All of the above fits in a spreadsheet for the first year. It stops fitting when several people join at once, when documents expire on different dates for each person, and when whoever keeps the list goes on holiday.
What solves it is not one more tool, but having the three pieces in the same place: the task list for each process, with an owner and a date; the documents required, with who has delivered what and when it expires; and each person's file, which is what you open when an inspection or a claim arrives.
At Quantummycos those are two modules that work together: onboarding and offboarding processes with their task templates, and document compliance with the matrix of who has what delivered, approved or expired. You see at a glance who is halfway through and exactly what is missing.
You can open the app and set it up with your team. Free plan up to 2 users, no card.
Keep reading
- 8 mistakes in the digital employee lifecycle, the wider frame these two ends belong to.
- Paid leave in Spain 2026: the full table of days, for everything that happens between arriving and leaving.
- Mandatory digital time tracking in 2026, which starts counting on each person's first day.
Sources
- Spanish Workers' Statute, consolidated text (BOE), articles 8, 14, 34, 49, 53 and 55.
- Royal Decree 84/1996 on company registration and affiliation (BOE), article 32, registration and deregistration deadlines.
- Law 31/1995 on the Prevention of Occupational Risks (BOE), articles 18, 19 and 22.
- Spanish income tax regulation, Royal Decree 439/2007 (BOE), article 108, withholding certificate.
This article is for information only and is not legal advice. Deadlines and entitlements may be improved by your collective agreement, and the rules change: always check the consolidated text in force in the BOE and consult your employment adviser. Last reviewed: September 2026.
- Onboarding
- Offboarding
- Ciclo del empleado
- Normativa laboral
Frequently asked questions
Before they start providing services, never after. Registration can be filed up to 60 days before the start date, and having somebody working without prior registration is a serious infringement, per person affected (article 32 of Royal Decree 84/1996).
A copy of the contract, health and safety information and training for the role, privacy information, the internal policies they must read and confirm (data protection, information security, code of conduct, harassment protocol) and the equipment handover document. The employee provides ID, Social Security number, proof of bank account ownership, the tax withholding form and any qualification or permit the role requires.
The Workers' Statute sets no general figure: it defers to the collective agreement or local custom (article 49.1.d). Fifteen days is the norm. An objective dismissal does have a statutory period: 15 days' notice (article 53.1.c).
Salary for the days worked that month, accrued and untaken holiday, the pro rata share of extra payments and anything else outstanding such as hours, commission or expenses. It is not severance, and signing it waives nothing: it can be signed under protest and the employee may have a representative present.
Three calendar days from the end date. The employer certificate goes to the SEPE electronically within the following ten days, and the tax withholding certificate before the annual tax return window opens.
It is the exit process: paperwork, final settlement, equipment return, access revocation, knowledge handover and exit interview. It matters for two concrete reasons: an account that is never revoked is a security hole nobody watches, and people describe how they left in far more detail than how they arrived.
