🇵🇹 Hire in Portugal vs 🇪🇸 Spain
Statutory employer on-costs are lower in Portugal; the full picture depends on salary level, termination exposure and how fast you need the person on payroll.
Not professional advice. Rates, rules and prices change often. Figures here are researched estimates from the sources listed; anything marked “unverified” needs checking with the provider or a local adviser before you rely on it.
| Portugal | Spain | |
|---|---|---|
| Employer on-costs | 24–27% | 31–34% |
| Total cost on a $60,000 salary | $74,400–$76,200 | $78,600–$80,400 |
| Mandatory benefits | 14 annual salary payments (holiday and Christmas subsidies); Meal allowance (not mandatory but common, tax-exempt up to a limit); Work accident insurance; 40 hours annual training; Work-from-home expense allowance when remote (Remote) | Two extra payments per year (summer and Christmas) or 14 payments in total; Employee social security coverage; Maternity 19 weeks and paternity leave of up to 16 weeks (Remote), paid by Social Security |
| Probation | 90 days standard, extendable to 180 days for complex roles (Remote). | Estatuto de los Trabajadores art. 14: collective agreement may set it, otherwise maximum 6 months for qualified technicians and 2 months for other workers (3 months for non-technicians in firms with under 25 employees). |
| Notice and severance | Notice for dismissals on indefinite contracts per Remote: 30 days up to 2 years of service, 60 days beyond. Severance applies to collective and objective dismissals (rates not verified from a retrieved source). | Improper dismissal: 33 days of salary per year of service, up to 24 monthly payments (ET art. 56, confirmed). Objective dismissal: 20 days per year up to 12 months with 15 days' notice (ET art. 53, general knowledge, not fetched). Notice for other reasons varies by collective agreement (Remote). |
| Paid leave | 22 working days annual leave and 13 national public holidays (Remote). | Statutory minimum 30 calendar days (Estatuto de los Trabajadores art. 38; typically 22 working days; many agreements give 23) plus up to 14 public holidays (national, regional and local). |
| Contractor risk | Portugal presumes employment if indicators such as subordination, fixed hours and company equipment exist (Labour Code); misclassification brings back social security and fines (rules not verified from a retrieved source). | Falsos autonomos (false self-employment) are actively policed by labor inspection, with back contributions and fines (Remote notes risk; penalties not verified). Contractors should invoice multiple clients. |
| EOR onboarding | Not verified from a retrieved provider source | Not verified from a retrieved provider source |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (WET) in winter, UTC+1 in summer: 5 hours ahead of US Eastern. | UTC+1 winter, UTC+2 summer (Canary Islands one hour behind): 6 hours ahead of US Eastern. |
| Data confidence | medium | medium |
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FAQ
Is it cheaper to hire in Portugal or Spain?
On statutory employer on-costs alone, Portugal is lower (24–27%). Salary levels, EOR fees and benefits also matter; use the cost calculator.