Employer of Record for Spain

We offer expert Employer of Record services in Spain. Our service is in English and Spanish. We take care of the hiring, payroll and compliance duties in Spain.​

• Are you a company that offers EOR services around the world and are looking for a reliable white label partner in Spain? We serve as provider in Spain for a number of EOR/PEO companies. Our software is flexible to handle your clients and billing as you wish.
• Are you an expat living in Spain and you have been told by someone who wants to hire you to look for an EOR firm to handle the payroll? This service is for you.

How EOR works

An Employer of Record (EOR) is a service provider that is responsible for hiring, onboarding, and paying your employees on your behalf, in a country where you do not have a legal entity. While the EOR acts as the legal employer, you maintain the role of managing employer, overseeing the day-to-day activities of the employees. In simpler terms, you have the authority to decide who to hire, how to compensate, what tasks to assign, and when to terminate employment. The EOR functions as your HR service provider, ensuring that your business remains compliant with local regulations in the country where your employees are based.

If later on, your company decides to register in Spain and directly hire employees, please see our page on VAT registration for hiring.

Our service

Strong Abogados acts as the Employer of Record (EOR), hiring employees in Spain for you through our local business entity. We assume all legal risks.

Strong Abogados is responsible for:

• Handling employment contracts and social security registration for employees.
• Adhering to local labor laws.
• Providing guidance on required notice periods and termination rules.
• Managing Spain-compliant payroll and taxes.
• Facilitating payments of salaries, taxes, and social security contributions.
• Administering benefits, including statutory entitlements such as holidays and maternity leave.
• Work visas, tax ID, social security numbers for the employees when necessary.

The hiring process in Spain

Note that in Spain, there is no separate employment contract. The contract is nothing more than a form, delivered by the government (SEPE) after the employment is recorded in the system. So steps:

• Fill out our form to provide the data of the employee. By law, the employee must also fill out and sign the Spain Form 145.
• Salary is a must, based on the gross salary, our team will calculate the amount that must be deposited, and the monthly cost for your employee, and the net the employee shall receive. Be aware GROSS SALARY is not NET SALARY, as social security is around 32% and tax withholding start at 20% and this one is progressive (both numbers are estimations).
• We will register the employee at the social security, at the SEPE (national employment service) and we will upload the “contract” form in Tempo, our online software. Payslips, social security forms, and tax forms will all be uploaded in Tempo. Once the employee is registered with social security and you have filled out our form, the employee can be hired within 24 hours.

For more information, please read our Guide to hiring employees in Spain and Guide to the Spanish payslip.

Once the employee is registered with social security and you have filled out our form, the employee can be hired within 24 hours.

Every employee must have a valid social security number in Spain. We will help them to obtain their social security number.

If the employee is not a European citizen and needs a work visa in Spain, please contact us before making an offer. It is crucial to make sure that they qualify for a visa before any offer is made. We are experts in visas for skilled workers and visas for employees transferred to Spain by their employer.

FAQs

What are the key differences between using an Employer of Record (EOR) service versus setting up your own local entity in Spain?

The key differences are:

• With an EOR, you avoid having to set up your own local entity which requires legal registration, tax registration, bank accounts, etc. The EOR handles all of that.
• The EOR is the legal employer on paper but you as the client still manage the employees and make all HR decisions.
• With your own local entity, you take on all legal, tax and compliance responsibilities yourself.

As the client using an EOR, what level of control do I have over hiring, firing, compensation, etc. versus if I set up my own local entity?

As the EOR client, you have full control over hiring, firing, compensation and management of the employees. The EOR simply acts as an HR/payroll service provider to implement your decisions. With your own local entity, you would have the same level of control.

What ongoing HR services does Strong Abogados provide as an EOR beyond just initial hiring and onboarding?

Strong Abogados provides payroll, benefits, time tracking, termination compliance, HR administration, worker classification compliance, employment contract management, and full phone and email support.

What are the costs associated with using your EOR service compared to setting up my own local entity and using your payroll service?

The EOR service has a higher per-employee monthly fee and lower upfront costs. Setting up your own entity has greater upfront legal/registration costs, but lower monthly fees. Administrative headaches may occur when using your own entity. For example, we have known banks in Spain to block the bank account until the administrator of the company comes to sign a document.

How does payroll work with an EOR? Do employees receive payslips from the EOR or from my company?

The EOR processes payroll. You can then pay the employees directly from your back account or deposit with the EOR and let the EOR pay the employees. Employees receive payslips issued by the EOR.