Disciplinary dismissal of a domestic worker in Spain: final pay and severance (2026)
In a fair disciplinary dismissal the worker is owed the settlement only; if it is declared unfair, also 33 days' salary per year, capped at 24 months' pay. Either way she can claim unemployment benefit. The calculator opens on the fair case and switches to unfair in one click.
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THE ESSENTIALS
What is paid in a disciplinary dismissal
A disciplinary dismissal is the employer's decision to end the contract for a serious and culpable breach by the worker (ET art. 54, applied to domestic service by RD 1620/2011 art. 11.1). It must be notified in writing, stating the facts behind it and the effective date (ET art. 55.1), and it carries no notice period.
If the dismissal is fair, there is no severance, but the settlement is still paid: salary for the days worked, pro-rata extra payments and untaken holiday. That is the case the calculator opens with. If it is declared unfair — the facts are not proven, the letter fails the formal requirements or there is no real cause — severance is 33 days' salary per year of service, with periods under a year prorated by months, capped at 24 months' pay: pick 'Unfair dismissal' in the calculator to see it.
In both cases the worker can claim unemployment benefit, because dismissal is a legal unemployment situation, and she has 20 working days to challenge it before the Social Court, after the mandatory conciliation filing. The Social Security deregistration is filed within 6 calendar days of the effective date.
FREE CALCULATOR
Work out what you have to pay when it ends
The reason for the termination drives everything: severance, notice and the paperwork you must hand over. Enter the dates and the salary and we'll give you the breakdown and the documents.
Who is calculating?
The result is framed as what you must pay and the paperwork that is on you.
2026 figures from the BOE
What you have to pay
Breakdown of the final settlement by item, with the gross amount of each
Item
Amount
September salary (30 days)30 days × €47.48/day
€1,424.50
Untaken holidays (22.44 days)22.44 days × €47.48/day
€1,065.53
Severance (fair dismissal: none due)
€0.00
Total to pay (gross)€2,490.03
Gross amounts. The worker's contribution is deducted from the salary items (salary, extra pay, holiday and notice): 6.40% on an indefinite contract and 6.45% on a temporary one. Severance does not contribute.
How the severance is worked out
This reason carries no severance, but the settlement still has to be paid.
Holiday
Accrued this year
22.44 days
Already taken
0 days
Still outstanding
22.44 days
Paid in the settlement
€1,065.53
Notice period
This reason requires no notice period, so there are no extra days to pay.
The link only carries the calculation figures: no names, ID numbers or address.
What to do now
The steps that are on you, with their deadlines.
Hand over the notice in writing, stating the cause clearly and unequivocally.
File the Social Security deregistration within 6 calendar days of the effective date.
This termination gives access to unemployment benefit: the worker has 15 working days to claim it at the SEPE, with 360 days contributed in the last 6 years.
The settlement pays untaken holiday: record that period in the employer's certificate (certificado de empresa). If the worker is entitled to unemployment benefit, it starts when that period ends, and her 15 working days to claim count from then (LGSS art. 268.3).
Get the settlement receipt signed in duplicate. If the worker signs 'no conforme', the payment stands and she keeps the right to claim the amounts for one year (ET art. 59.2); if she also challenges a dismissal, that deadline is 20 working days (ET art. 59.3).
Small print worth reading
Disciplinary dismissal requires a written letter with the facts and the effective date (ET art. 55.1); no notice period. If declared unfair, severance is 33 days per year (capped at 24 months' pay). No rule excludes reinstatement, but in practice the courts do not impose it in a private household, given the nature of the relationship (RD 1620/2011 art. 11.1).
The worker's contributions (6.40% indefinite / 6.45% temporary) are deducted from the salary items (salary, extra payments, holidays, notice), not from the severance.
Untaken holidays paid on termination are contributed separately, as additional registration days (LGSS art. 147.1).
Notify the TGSS of the termination within 6 calendar days (RD 643/2026).
Unemployment benefit: requires 360 contributed days in the previous 6 years. As the settlement pays untaken holiday, the legal unemployment situation starts when that period ends, which must appear in the employer's certificate, and the claim at the SEPE is due within 15 working days from then. A late claim is not lost: the benefit runs from the claim date and the days of delay are deducted (LGSS arts. 266–270).
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For termination with justified cause and for dismissal, the letter must state the cause clearly and unequivocally.
Indicative result with the figures in force in 2026 (RD 126/2026, RD 1620/2011, Workers' Statute). It is not professional advice. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
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This is the wording behind the calculator's figure: what is paid, with what notice and which deadlines apply.
Fair disciplinary dismissal
No severance
The employer dismisses the worker for a serious and culpable breach, and that breach is proven (or not challenged).
No severance and no notice period, but the final settlement is still due: month's salary, extra pay and untaken holiday.
RD 1620/2011 art. 11.1 and ET art. 54: a disciplinary dismissal requires a written letter stating the facts behind it and the effective date (ET art. 55.1); there is no notice period. If a court declares it fair there is no severance, but the settlement (salary, pro-rata amounts and holiday) is still owed. The worker has 20 working days to challenge it. A fair disciplinary dismissal does not block unemployment benefit: it is still a legal unemployment situation.
The dismissal is declared unfair (or the employer accepts it is): the facts are not proven, the letter fails the formal requirements, or there is no real cause.
33 days' salary per year worked, capped at 24 months' pay. In practice the courts do not impose reinstatement in a private household, so the contract ends.
RD 1620/2011 art. 11.1 referring to ET art. 56: severance for unfair dismissal is 33 days' salary per year of service, with periods under a year prorated by months, capped at 24 months' pay. No rule expressly excludes reinstatement in this special relationship, but in practice the courts do not impose it in a private household, given the intensely personal nature of the relationship (art. 11.1): once unfairness is declared, the contract is normally terminated on the dismissal date and only severance is due. On the 45 days per year that ET transitional provision 11 keeps for contracts signed before 12 February 2012: this calculator applies 33 days to the whole period, because until Royal Decree-Law 16/2022 domestic service had no art. 56 severance at all (unfair dismissal was settled with 20 days per year, capped at 12 months' pay); the point is not settled, and part of the doctrine does apply the 45-day stretch to employment that started before that date, so if your contract predates 2012, get advice. Mind the tax: where unfairness is acknowledged out of court, the exemption in art. 7.e of the Income Tax Act requires that acknowledgement to be made in conciliation or by a court ruling — its first paragraph excludes anything set by collective agreement, pact or contract, and its third paragraph expressly saves what is agreed at the conciliation hearing; acknowledged in a private document, the severance is taxed as employment income.
How much is a domestic worker owed after a fair disciplinary dismissal?
Only the settlement: the salary for the days worked in the last month, the pro-rata share of the extra payments if they are not prorated, and the holiday accrued and not taken. A fair dismissal carries no severance and no notice period. With the real dates and salary, the calculator gives you the exact figure and the dismissal letter as a PDF.
And if the dismissal is declared unfair?
Then it is 33 days' salary per year of service, with periods under a year prorated by months, capped at 24 months' pay (ET art. 56). No rule excludes reinstatement in domestic service, but in practice the courts do not impose it in a private household, so the relationship normally ends with the severance. The '20 days per year' figure still circulating online predates 2022 and no longer exists in this relationship. If the employer acknowledges the unfairness, the severance is only exempt from income tax when that acknowledgement is made in conciliation or by a court ruling.
Can the dismissed worker claim unemployment benefit?
Yes, whether the dismissal is fair or unfair: the employer's decision to end the relationship is in itself a legal unemployment situation, with no need to challenge it (LGSS art. 268.4). She needs at least 360 days contributed in the previous six years and has 15 working days to claim the benefit at the SEPE, counted from the termination or, if the settlement pays untaken holiday, from the end of that holiday period (LGSS art. 268.3).
What must the dismissal letter say, and how long is there to challenge it?
The letter is handed over in writing, with the facts behind the dismissal and the date it takes effect (ET art. 55.1); the calculator generates it with a field to describe the facts. The worker has 20 working days from the dismissal to challenge it before the Social Court, and filing for conciliation pauses that deadline (ET art. 59.3). Settlement amounts can be claimed for one year.
