Companies in Spain will have to provide information to their employees on elements including algorithms, equality or procedure for terminating contracts

The Spanish Official State Gazette has published Royal Decree 723/2026 of September 9, 2026, transposing Directive (EU) 2019/1152 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union, which implements article 8.5 of the Workers’ Statute regarding information on the essential elements of the employment contract and the main terms and conditions for the performance of employees’ services. The new royal decree, which repeals Royal Decree 1659/1998, applies to all companies and workers falling within the scope of the Workers’ Statute. The obligation to provide information on the essential elements of the contract (as set out in chapter II of this royal decree) applies to employer/employee relationships for terms longer than four weeks.

The main new provisions are listed below:

• Expanded contents of the obligation to provide information. Companies will have to provide written information to workers, before commencement of the employer/employee relationship (article 7.1), on the essential elements of the contract, which the royal decree expands.  

  The new royal decree adds to the list of essential elements of the contract that were already required (identities of the parties, commencement date and term for fixed-term contracts, workplace, professional classification, pay or working hours), among other elements: (i) the right to in-house training; (ii) the specific length of the trial period (whether within the six-month limit stipulated in the law or a longer period determined by the collective agreement where warranted by the nature of the job, by the worker’s interests or by the need to perform a fitness assessment of the worker in the event of suspension of the employer/employee relationship), with information relating to the employer’s and the employee’s respective obligations regarding the demands forming the subject-matter of the trial; (iii) the existence of algorithmic or automated decision-making systems impacting working conditions; (iv) the applicable equality plan and sexual and sex-based harassment procedure; (v) LGTBI equality measures; (vi) the procedure for terminating the contract and the notice periods; (vii) the system for participation in social security management; (viii) the conditions in which the contents of the employee’s services, professional classification, pay or working hours could be modified, together with the procedures that must be followed in this respect. 

It also expands the contents of the information that the employer must provide on pay and working hours:

• Pay: together with basic salary and supplements, and the frequency and method of payment, employers must provide information on the calculation module for variable items and the criteria determining their receipt.

• Working hours: aside from length and distribution of working hours, number of days’ vacation and the procedure for determining when vacation can be taken, information must be included on the conditions and procedures for modifying the length and distribution of working hours and, where relevant, shift changes, agreements relating to overtime and how it is paid. 

  If an uneven distribution of working hours is stipulated, the employee must receive information on how they are determined, identifying the hours and days taken as reference in which the employer can require services to be provided, the minimum notice periods that must be given before commencement of the task and of its cancellation, and, in permanent contracts for intermittent work, the periods of work and inactivity or an estimate of those periods, in addition to this information being specified when the employee is called up.

The royal decree also expands the information that companies must provide where employees provide their services abroad for longer than four-week periods, before they leave for the other country. Besides providing information on the length of time the employee is to work abroad, the currency in which the employee’s salary is to be paid, the compensation to be received in cash and in kind and the conditions for repatriation (if stipulated), employers must also specify the country or countries in which the work is to be performed. If the employee is assigned to an EU country or a signatory country of the European Economic Area Agreement in the context of a provision of cross-border services, employers must provide information on the amounts of compensation the worker is entitled to receive under the applicable legislation in the host country, all provisions relating to the refunding of traveling, accommodation and living expenses and any specific travel supplement payable, and supply a link to the host country's official online portal.

• Means of information. The obligation to provide information is considered to be performed where the information appears in the written contract that is in the worker’s possession. Where it does not appear in the contract, it must be provided in one or more written documents. The information must be given on paper or electronically, provided that it is accessible to the worker, and that it can be stored and printed, and additionally the employer must retain proof of transmission or receipt. For contracts entered into with individuals with disabilities or borderline intellectual capacity, the employer must ensure that all the information is accessible and understandable.
• Implementation of the specific provisions applicable to fishing work (chapter III) and addition of the provisions applicable to seafarers (chapter IV).
• Transitional provisions for employer/employee relationships in effect (single transitional provision). For contracts in effect on the royal decree’s entry into force date, employers will have thirty working days, starting from the date the worker’s request was received, in which to provide the information stipulated in the royal decree, if it is not yet in the employee's possession.
• Information document form (additional provision one). The Work and Social Economy Ministry will make available to employers and employees, through the State Public Employment Service, an information document form with the required contents, within twenty days from the publication date of the royal decree in the Official State Gazette. The availability of the form is not a condition for the requirement to perform the obligations, which become applicable on the entry into force of the royal decree. Until the form is published, employers must provide the information as stipulated in article 6 (in writing through the necessary documents that are in their possession and including all the required information).

The royal decree enters into force twenty days after the date of its publication in the Official State Gazette (i.e., on October 5, 2026).