Key Updates to Birth and Parental Leave 2025

What you need to know about the new work leave entitlements

Royal Decree-Law 9/2025, published in Spain’s Official State Gazette (BOE) on 30 July 2025, introduces a substantial reform to the legal framework governing birth and care leave for a child. This regulation aims to complete the transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/1158 on work-life balance for parents and carers.

With the publication of this Royal Decree, the Spanish legal framework on co-responsibility, gender equality, and work-life balance is strengthened, guaranteeing the right to care for children without causing financial or professional penalties for workers.

Although the legislator’s initial intention seemed to be different —as had been reported in the media— the reality as of this information note is that the suspension of each parent’s employment contract for child care is distributed as follows:

• 6 uninterrupted weeks from the birth or adoption, mandatory.
• 11 weeks at the parent’s disposal, to be taken within the first 12 months of the child’s life.
• 2 weeks for child care, which may be used until the child turns 8 years old. These can be taken full-time or part-time, subject to employer agreement.

In the case of single-parent families, the duration is as follows:

• 6 uninterrupted weeks from the birth or adoption.
• 22 weeks at the parent’s disposal, to be taken within the first 12 months of the child’s life.
• 4 weeks for child care, which may be used until the child turns 8 years old. These can be taken full-time or part-time, subject to employer agreement.

The 2-week leave (or 4 weeks in the case of single-parent families) that can be used until the child turns 8 will have retroactive effect —it will apply to all births from 2 August 2024. Its use, as well as the economic benefit (100% of the regulatory base), may be requested from 1 January 2026, without the need for a new entitlement recognition.

Regarding the 8-week parental leave regulated in Article 48 bis of the Workers’ Statute —for which clarification on payment was expected— there is currently no explicit provision for remuneration, despite recent media reports. This means workers will continue to have unpaid leave of up to 8 weeks to care for a child under 8 years old, but without pay.

As we have noted in previous information updates, this leave, since its approval in 2023, has been unpaid, even though several Spanish court rulings have already addressed the obligation for it to be paid.

Our specialized team at Baker Tilly will continue to monitor any changes in this area closely.