Spain's New Contract Rules: What Companies Must Do

Key vocabulary

• transponerv.

  to transpose (a law); to relocate

  “El Gobierno ha transpuesto la Directiva europea mediante un real decreto.”— The Government has transposed the European Directive by means of a royal decree.

  Pattern transponer una directiva to transpose a directive

  Compare convertir to convert

  Conjugation: transpongo, transpone, transpuse (past)

  💡 trans- (across) + poner (to place), 'moving' a European directive into national law

• exigenciaf.

  requirement, rule

  “Esta norma introduce tres nuevas exigencias para las empresas.”— This regulation introduces three new requirements for companies.

  Pattern cumplir las exigencias to meet requirements

  Compare requisito requirement

  Plural: exigencias

  💡 From the verb exigir (to demand), the suffix -encia indicates a quality or state

• desglosarv.

  to itemize, break down in detail

  “Será obligatorio desglosar todos los conceptos retributivos.”— It will be mandatory to itemize all pay components.

  Pattern desglosar los gastos to itemize expenses

  Compare detallar to detail

  Regular conjugation: desgloso, desglosas, desglosa

  💡 des- (apart) + glosar (to annotate), breaking down the whole and explaining item by item

• nóminaf.

  payslip, payroll

  “El trabajador recibirá su nómina con todos los conceptos detallados.”— The worker will receive their payslip with all components detailed.

  Pattern la nómina mensual monthly payroll

  Compare salario salary

  Plural: nóminas

  💡 From Latin nomina (list), originally referring to a list of names, later extended to payroll

• retributivoadj.

  pay-related, wage

  “Todos los conceptos retributivos deben aparecer en el contrato.”— All pay components must appear in the contract.

  Pattern concepto retributivo pay item

  Compare salarial salary-related

  Feminine: retributiva; plural: retributivos/retributivas

  💡 From retribuir (to remunerate), sharing the same root as retribución (remuneration)

• jornadaf.

  working day, working hours

  “La distribución de la jornada laboral debe especificarse.”— The distribution of working hours must be specified.

  Pattern jornada laboral working hours

  Compare horario schedule

  Plural: jornadas

  💡 From Latin diurnus (of the day), originally referring to a day's work

• franjaf.

  time slot, period

  “Debe indicarse en qué franjas horarias se trabaja.”— It must be indicated which time slots are worked.

  Pattern franja horaria time slot

  Compare intervalo interval

  Plural: franjas

  💡 Originally meaning 'strip, edge', extended to a 'segment' of time

• conciliarv.

  to reconcile, balance

  “La medida busca que los empleados puedan conciliar mejor su vida personal y profesional.”— The measure aims to help employees better balance their personal and professional lives.

  Pattern conciliar la vida laboral y familiar to balance work and family

  Compare compatibilizar to make compatible

  Conjugation: concilio, concilias, concilia

  💡 Latin conciliare (to unite), often used in the context of work-life balance

• periodom.

  period, stage

  “Durante el periodo de prueba se examinan ciertos elementos.”— During the probation period certain elements are assessed.

  Pattern periodo de prueba trial period

  Compare fase phase

  Plural: periodos

  💡 From Greek periodos (cycle), note that in Spanish the accent mark is often omitted

• trámitem.

  procedure, formality

  “La empresa puede poner fin al contrato sin apenas trámites.”— The company can end the contract with hardly any formalities.

  Pattern sin apenas trámites with hardly any paperwork

  Compare procedimiento procedure

  Plural: trámites

  💡 Commonly used in administrative contexts, e.g. hacer trámites (to do paperwork)

• despidom.

  dismissal, firing

  “Se busca evitar despidos arbitrarios en los primeros meses.”— The aim is to prevent arbitrary dismissals in the first months.

  Pattern despido arbitrario arbitrary dismissal

  Compare cese termination

  Plural: despidos

  💡 From despedir (to dismiss, to say goodbye), note the distinction from despedida (farewell)

• plazom.

  deadline, term

  “El decreto otorga un plazo de veinte días a las empresas.”— The decree gives companies a period of twenty days.

  Pattern un plazo de veinte días a twenty-day deadline

  Compare término deadline

  Plural: plazos

  💡 Common collocation: dentro del plazo (within the deadline)

• rendimientom.

  performance, output

  “Se evaluará el rendimiento del trabajador durante el periodo de prueba.”— The worker's performance will be evaluated during the probation period.

  Pattern evaluar el rendimiento to evaluate performance

  Compare desempeño performance

  Plural: rendimientos

  💡 From rendir (to yield), originally referring to output, extended to work performance

• formalizarv.

  to formalize, sign officially

  “Las empresas deben adaptar los contratos que formalicen.”— Companies must adapt the contracts they formalize.

  Pattern formalizar un contrato to formalize a contract

  Compare suscribir to sign

  Regular conjugation: formalizo, formalizas, formaliza

  💡 From formal (formal), the suffix -izar means 'to make'

Grammar spotlight

Sentence patterns to steal

• El objetivo principal es que los trabajadores conozcan desde el primer día las condiciones reales de su empleo, sin sorpresas desagradables.

  The main goal is for workers to know the real conditions of their employment from day one, without unpleasant surprises.

  El objetivo principal es que + subject + subjunctive + ...You can replace objetivo (goal) with finalidad (purpose), meta (aim), etc.; replace trabajadores with other groups.

• Ya no bastará con indicar una cifra global.

  Simply stating a total figure will no longer be enough.

  Ya no bastará con + infinitiveYou can replace bastar with ser suficiente (to be enough); replace indicar with mencionar (to mention), etc.

• Esta medida responde a la necesidad de que los empleados puedan conciliar mejor su vida personal y profesional.

  This measure responds to the need for employees to better balance their personal and professional lives.

  responde a la necesidad de que + subjunctiveYou can replace necesidad with demanda (demand), exigencia (requirement); replace conciliar with mejorar (to improve), etc.

• Con ello se busca evitar despidos arbitrarios en los primeros meses.

  This aims to avoid arbitrary dismissals in the first few months.

  Con ello se busca + infinitiveYou can replace evitar with garantizar (to guarantee), conseguir (to achieve), etc.; replace despidos arbitrarios with other issues.

• Los expertos señalan que la norma beneficia sobre todo a los trabajadores, aunque también obliga a las empresas a revisar sus modelos de contrato.

  Experts point out that the regulation mainly benefits workers, although it also forces companies to review their contract templates.

  Los expertos señalan que + indicative + aunque también + indicativeYou can replace señalan with indican (point out), destacan (emphasize); replace beneficia with perjudica (harms), etc.