You've Been Dismissed: The 20 Working Days That Decide Your Claim

Of all the deadlines in Spanish employment law, none is shorter or less forgiving than the one for challenging a dismissal: 20 working days. Once it passes, the claim is forfeited for good, no matter how unfair the dismissal was.

20 working days, and it's a strict deadline

Article 59.3 of the Workers' Statute (Estatuto de los Trabajadores) sets the deadline to bring a claim against a dismissal at 20 working days, counted from the day after the dismissal takes effect. "Working days" excludes Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

This is a limitation period based on forfeiture (caducidad) rather than an ordinary limitation period, and that has one specific consequence: it is not interrupted by just any complaint or claim. What does suspend it is filing the conciliation request (papeleta de conciliación) with the relevant administrative mediation service, a mandatory step before a lawsuit can be filed.

The clock starts on the day of the dismissal itself, not the day you come to terms with it, not the day you receive your final settlement, and not the day your unemployment claim is resolved.

What to sign the day you're told

The typical scene: you're handed a letter and a couple of documents and asked to sign. It's worth knowing what each one actually is.

Refusing to sign anything isn't a good idea either: the company will simply record your refusal in front of witnesses, and you'll be left without a copy. Sign, but sign with a reservation.

Fair, unfair, or null

The court's classification determines everything else that follows:

• Fair (procedente). The company proves the reason it gave. A disciplinary dismissal generates no severance; an objective dismissal carries the statutory severance that applies to it.
• Unfair (improcedente). The reason is not proven, or the process was defective. The company then chooses between reinstating the employee with back pay, or paying severance.
• Null (nulo). Applies where there is a violation of fundamental rights, or the case falls under one of the categories of special protection — pregnancy, birth and childcare leave, a prior complaint against the company. This requires reinstatement, with no alternative, plus payment of the wages the employee failed to receive.

Whether a dismissal is null does not depend on how serious the underlying conduct was; it depends on whether one of those specific circumstances is present. That's why it's worth checking for them before a claim is filed.

The dismissal letter is what matters most

Article 55.1 of the Workers' Statute requires that a disciplinary dismissal be notified in writing, stating the facts giving rise to it and the effective date. This is not a mere formality: the company is bound by those stated facts and cannot rely on different ones at trial.

That is why most dismissals ruled unfair are found so because of defects in the letter, not because of the substance of the case: facts described in generic terms, without dates, without specifying exactly what the employee did and when. A letter that simply states "a sustained drop in performance" rarely holds up on its own.

A dismissal is won or lost on the paper you're handed far more often than on what actually happened at the office.

How much you're entitled to

The amount depends on the classification and the type of dismissal:

• Unfair dismissal: 33 days' salary per year of service, prorated by month for periods of less than a year, up to a maximum of 24 months' salary. For contracts predating the 2012 labor reform, a transitional regime may apply that increases the calculation for the portion of seniority accrued before the reform.
• Fair objective dismissal: 20 days' salary per year worked, up to a maximum of 12 months' salary.
• Null dismissal: mandatory reinstatement, plus back pay for the period the employee should have been working.

On top of that comes whatever is owed in any case: the current month's salary, the proportional share of extra (bonus) payments, and accrued but untaken holiday pay.

The steps, in order

1. Keep the paperwork: the dismissal letter, the final settlement, payslips from the last twelve months, and the employment contract. That's everything needed to work out the numbers.
2. Have the letter reviewed by a professional within the first few days, not in the final hours before the deadline.
3. File the conciliation request before the 20 working days run out. This step suspends the countdown.
4. Attend the conciliation hearing. A significant share of cases are resolved there, with a financial agreement and no need for trial.
5. File the lawsuit if no agreement is reached, within whatever time remains.

If you were dismissed this week, the priority isn't deciding whether to make a claim. It's making sure someone reviews the letter before the deadline makes that decision for you.

Pre-trial conciliation in the Canary Islands

Before filing a lawsuit, conciliation must first be attempted before the mediation, arbitration and conciliation service of the Government of the Canary Islands, and it is the filing of that conciliation request that suspends the 20-working-day countdown.

If no agreement is reached, the claim goes to the Labour Courts (Juzgados de lo Social) of Las Palmas or to whichever court has territorial jurisdiction. Case backlogs in the province tend to add delay, which works in favor of whoever comes to the negotiation with the paperwork already in order.

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Notice: this article is for general information purposes and reflects the law in force on its publication date. It is not legal or tax advice for any specific case. Before making any decision, consult a professional.