Banking Law and Labor Rights in the Banking Sector in Spain

1. Introduction

Labor rights in Spain's banking sector are governed by a combination of constitutional law, general employment legislation, collective bargaining agreements, equality legislation, EU employment law and judicial decisions.

Banks are highly regulated financial institutions, but their employees remain protected by ordinary Spanish labor law. Banking regulation does not normally allow an institution to avoid rights concerning working hours, remuneration, equality, collective bargaining, dismissal, employee representation or occupational protection.

The principal legal framework includes:

the Spanish Constitution;

the Workers' Statute (Estatuto de los Trabajadores);

the Organic Law on Trade Union Freedom;

occupational health and safety legislation;

equality and anti-discrimination legislation;

EU employment law; and

banking-sector collective agreements.

For employees working in businesses covered by it, the XXV Collective Agreement for the Banking Sector is especially important. It applies nationally and has a stated duration from 1 January 2024 through 31 December 2026.

2. Constitutional Protection of Bank Employees

The Spanish Constitution establishes several fundamental employment principles.

These include:

equality and non-discrimination;

freedom of association;

trade-union freedom;

collective bargaining;

protection against discrimination;

right to work;

sufficient remuneration; and

health and safety protections.

Article 28 protects trade-union freedom.

Article 35 recognizes the right and duty to work, free choice of profession, professional advancement and sufficient remuneration without discrimination based on sex.

Article 37 protects collective bargaining.

These constitutional protections apply to banking employees in the same way that they apply to workers in other sectors.

3. Workers' Statute

The Workers' Statute, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015, is Spain's central employment statute.

It regulates matters including:

employment contracts;

employee rights;

wages;

working hours;

overtime;

rest periods;

annual leave;

substantial modifications of employment conditions;

suspension;

dismissal;

employee representatives; and

collective bargaining.

Banking-sector agreements can improve or specify many employment conditions, but they operate within the framework established by mandatory labor legislation.

4. XXV Collective Agreement for the Banking Sector

The XXV Collective Agreement is one of the most important sources of employment rights for covered banking-sector employees.

It was signed in November 2024 and published officially on 1 January 2025.

Its territorial scope extends throughout Spain, and its substantive coverage includes banking companies, banking clearing houses and other businesses falling within its definition.

Certain senior-management and comparable functions are excluded under the conditions established by the agreement.

The agreement regulates matters including:

professional classification;

remuneration;

salary levels;

working hours;

time recording;

holidays;

professional development;

geographic mobility;

remote working;

digital rights;

equality;

disciplinary matters; and

employee representation.

It therefore supplements the general Workers' Statute with banking-specific employment rules.

5. Salary Rights

Bank employees are entitled to remuneration according to applicable legislation, their employment contract and collective agreement.

The XXV Banking Agreement establishes salary levels and scheduled increases.

The agreed basic salary tables were increased by:

4.25% for 2024;

4% for 2025; and

2.75% for 2026.

The agreement also contains an additional mechanism linked to cumulative inflation, subject to its stated conditions and limit.

Banks cannot simply disregard collectively negotiated salary rights because they operate in a competitive financial market.

6. Working-Time Rights

Working time is particularly important in banking because employees may face:

customer-service hours;

commercial targets;

meetings;

training;

digital communications;

remote work; and

work outside ordinary branch hours.

The Workers' Statute establishes general working-time protections, while the banking collective agreement provides sector-specific rules.

Employees are also protected by mandatory daily working-time recording requirements.

A bank must therefore distinguish between contractual working time and activities that legally constitute additional working time.

7. Daily Working-Time Records

Spanish employment law requires employers to maintain daily working-time records.

This issue has produced important banking litigation.

The purpose is not merely administrative. Reliable recording helps determine whether employees are:

working contractual hours;

performing overtime;

receiving appropriate rest; and

complying with applicable working schedules.

Employee representatives also have important rights concerning access to working-time information.

The Supreme Court addressed this issue in litigation involving BBVA in STS 1142/2024.

8. Overtime

Where employees work beyond ordinary working hours, the Workers' Statute and applicable collective rules become relevant.

Banks cannot automatically treat additional working time as unpaid merely because an employee has professional responsibilities.

However, the legal result depends upon:

the employee's position;

contractual arrangements;

collective agreement;

actual hours worked;

compensation arrangements; and

statutory limits.

Accurate time records are consequently important evidence in working-time disputes.

9. Right to Rest and Holidays

Bank employees are entitled to legally required rest periods and annual leave.

Collective agreements can provide more favorable conditions than statutory minimum requirements.

A bank cannot ordinarily substitute annual leave with ordinary salary simply because workloads are high.

Holiday arrangements must respect both operational requirements and employees' legally protected rest rights.

10. Collective Bargaining

Collective bargaining has exceptional importance in Spanish banking.

Trade unions and employer organizations negotiate industry-wide conditions covering large numbers of workers.

The current banking agreement was negotiated between the Spanish Banking Association and representative trade-union organizations.

Collective bargaining can regulate:

salaries;

working schedules;

professional classifications;

leave;

benefits;

employee representation;

digital working conditions; and

dispute-resolution mechanisms.

Employers generally cannot use individual agreements simply to undermine binding collective rights.

11. Trade-Union Freedom

Article 28.1 of the Spanish Constitution protects freedom of association.

Bank employees may participate in lawful trade-union activities and employee representation.

Protection includes matters connected with:

joining a union;

union representation;

collective bargaining;

representative activities; and

protection against unlawful anti-union discrimination.

A particularly relevant banking-related decision is STS 307/2025, involving the Spanish Banking Association and union-representation arrangements under the banking collective agreement.

12. Equality and Non-Discrimination

Banks must comply with Spanish equality and anti-discrimination legislation.

Employment decisions cannot unlawfully discriminate on protected grounds.

The principle applies throughout employment, including:

recruitment;

salary;

promotion;

training;

professional classification;

working conditions; and

termination.

The banking agreement was also amended in 2025 to incorporate a planned set of measures connected with effective equality and protection of LGTBI persons under Law 4/2023.

13. Equal Pay

Equal treatment includes remuneration.

Where employees perform work that is legally considered equal or of equal value, unjustified discriminatory salary differences may violate Spanish law.

Banks therefore need objective remuneration systems.

Relevant considerations can include:

responsibility;

experience;

professional classification;

performance;

job requirements; and

legitimately structured variable compensation.

Differences based upon lawful objective factors are different from differences produced by prohibited discrimination.

14. Variable Remuneration and Bonuses

Banking remuneration frequently includes:

fixed salary;

performance bonuses;

commissions;

incentives; and

benefits.

Variable remuneration can produce labor disputes where employees disagree about whether a bonus is discretionary or contractually earned.

The legal analysis requires examination of:

the employment contract;

applicable collective agreement;

bonus rules;

objectives communicated to employees;

established employment practices; and

mandatory labor law.

Banking regulation can additionally impose special remuneration rules for certain categories of employees because excessive risk incentives can affect financial stability.

15. Occupational Health and Psychosocial Risks

Banks must protect employee health and safety.

Modern banking creates risks that are not limited to physical workplace injuries.

Relevant risks can include:

excessive workload;

repetitive computer work;

workplace stress;

organizational pressure;

psychosocial risks; and

ergonomic problems.

Employers must assess occupational risks and implement appropriate preventive measures.

Commercial targets therefore operate within the employer's general occupational-safety obligations.

16. Digital Rights

Digitization has transformed banking employment.

Employees increasingly use:

mobile devices;

email;

internal messaging;

remote-access systems;

algorithmic tools;

videoconferencing; and

digital performance systems.

Spanish labor and data-protection rules therefore protect employees in the digital workplace.

A particularly important concept is the right to digital disconnection.

Employees should not be treated as permanently available simply because banking technology permits constant communication.

17. Remote Work

Remote and hybrid work became increasingly significant in the banking sector.

Where remote-working legislation applies, arrangements may involve rights concerning:

written agreements;

working schedules;

equipment;

expenses;

occupational risk prevention;

privacy;

data protection; and

digital disconnection.

Remote work does not transform an employee into an independent contractor.

Ordinary employment protections continue to apply.

18. Restructuring and Collective Redundancies

Spain's banking industry has undergone substantial restructuring.

Mergers, digitalization, branch closures and organizational changes can produce significant workforce reductions.

Where statutory thresholds and requirements are satisfied, a large-scale reduction can constitute a collective dismissal.

Spanish law requires procedures that can include:

consultation with employee representatives;

disclosure of relevant information;

explanation of economic, technical, organizational or production grounds;

negotiation; and

compliance with statutory formalities.

The existence of banking-sector restructuring does not remove these labor protections.

19. Outsourcing and Illegal Assignment of Workers

Banks frequently outsource:

technology;

back-office operations;

customer services;

administration; and

specialized functions.

Outsourcing is lawful when properly structured.

However, Spanish employment law prohibits arrangements that constitute an unlawful assignment of workers (cesión ilegal).

This distinction became particularly important in litigation involving Banco Santander and Santander Operaciones.

The Supreme Court's later judgment STS 152/2026 dealt with employment consequences arising from a previously judicially declared unlawful assignment.

20. Six Important Banking-Sector Labor Cases

Case 1 — Deutsche Bank SAE v Commission, C-100/18 P, Court of Justice

Although arising within an EU employment context involving banking remuneration and employment-related claims, the wider significance of European employment principles is that banking employers remain subject to the general legal framework applicable to employment rights.

For Spanish banking labor law, EU principles form part of the broader interpretative environment where domestic employment legislation implements European employment standards.

Principle

Banking-sector employment does not exist outside ordinary European employment protections merely because financial institutions operate in a specially regulated industry.

Case 2 — Deutsche Bank SAE, C-55/18, CJEU, 14 May 2019

This is one of the most important working-time judgments for Spanish banking.

The dispute arose between Federación de Servicios de Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) and Deutsche Bank SAE.

The issue concerned whether employers needed a system enabling measurement of each employee's daily working time.

The Court of Justice concluded that Member States must require employers to establish an objective, reliable and accessible system enabling daily working time to be measured.

Importance

The judgment strongly influenced Spain's working-time recording framework.

For banks, it means that working hours cannot depend solely upon assumptions about when employees normally work.

Principle

Effective working-time rights require an objective and reliable mechanism for determining actual hours worked.

Case 3 — Supreme Court STS 410/2024, 5 March 2024 — CaixaBank

This case concerned working-time recording at CaixaBank.

The dispute involved whether implementation of a working-time recording system could alter previously existing employment benefits concerning:

a short break; and

a tolerance period associated with the beginning of the working day.

The Supreme Court protected employment conditions that had an independent collective or established legal basis rather than allowing the recording system itself to remove them.

Principle

A working-time recording system is primarily a control mechanism; introducing it does not automatically eliminate pre-existing collectively agreed or acquired employment rights.

Case 4 — Supreme Court STS 1142/2024, 17 September 2024 — BBVA

This case concerned employee representatives' access to information from BBVA's daily working-time register.

The dispute was brought through collective-conflict proceedings.

The Supreme Court held that the collective-conflict procedure was appropriate for resolving the claim concerning the conduct required from BBVA regarding representatives' access to daily working-time information.

Importance

Working-time recording is not useful only to individual employees.

Employee representatives can have an important monitoring role.

Principle

Collective representation and access to legally relevant working-time information form an important part of enforcing employees' working-time protections.

Case 5 — Supreme Court STS 307/2025, 9 April 2025 — Spanish Banking Association

This case concerned trade-union rights under the banking-sector collective framework.

The dispute involved an agreement granting extraordinary and supplementary union-representation time connected with management and administration of the XXIV Banking Collective Agreement.

The Supreme Court examined whether limiting particular benefits to unions that had signed the relevant collective arrangements violated fundamental trade-union rights.

The Court upheld the arrangement under the circumstances and reiterated its earlier doctrine.

Principle

Differences between unions are not automatically unlawful; their legality depends upon whether the distinction has an objective connection with the collective functions for which the particular rights were created.

Case 6 — Supreme Court STS 152/2026, 6 February 2026 — Banco Santander

This is an important recent banking-sector employment case.

The proceedings concerned Banco Santander SA and consequences arising from an unlawful assignment of employees previously judicially established in litigation involving Santander Operaciones.

The dispute concerned employment conditions including:

seniority;

salary level;

digital supplements;

social benefits; and

working schedules.

The earlier unlawful assignment had been recognized judicially, including in STS 371/2023 of 23 May 2023. The 2026 proceedings examined the resulting conditions and effects for the affected workers.

Principle

Corporate organization and outsourcing cannot be used to deprive workers of employment rights where the arrangement legally constitutes an unlawful assignment of labor.

21. Additional Recent Case — Banco de España, STS 139/2026

Another useful recent authority is Supreme Court Judgment 139/2026 of 5 February 2026.

The case concerned individual agreements extending working hours for certain Banco de España managerial personnel from 38 to 40 hours per week.

The Supreme Court found that the individual agreements themselves did not, in the circumstances, unlawfully undermine collective bargaining because the applicable collective framework permitted the extension.

However, the repeated and unjustified refusal to convene the relevant joint committee violated the claimant union's trade-union freedom because the collective framework provided for the committee's participation.

Principle

Individual employment agreements can operate where the collective framework permits them, but employers must still respect collective and trade-union participation rights created by the applicable agreement.

22. Dismissal Rights

A bank cannot lawfully dismiss an employee without operating within Spanish dismissal law.

Dismissals can broadly raise issues involving:

disciplinary dismissal;

objective dismissal;

collective dismissal; and

termination for other legally recognized reasons.

A dismissal can ultimately be classified by the courts according to the applicable legal framework.

Where fundamental rights are violated—for example, through prohibited discrimination or unlawful retaliation—the consequences can be substantially more serious than an ordinary dispute about whether sufficient dismissal grounds existed.

23. Employee Representation

Spanish banking employees can exercise collective rights through:

employee delegates;

works councils;

trade unions;

union representatives; and

collective bargaining structures.

Representatives perform important functions concerning:

consultation;

workplace information;

restructuring;

working time;

collective agreements;

equality;

health and safety; and

collective disputes.

The BBVA working-time case and the Banco de España judgment demonstrate that representative rights have practical significance rather than merely symbolic status.

24. Banking Regulation and Employment Law

Banks face an unusual dual regulatory environment.

On one side they must comply with:

prudential banking regulation.

On the other they must comply with:

employment and collective-bargaining law.

For example, financial regulation may influence remuneration structures for employees whose activities materially affect a bank's risk profile.

But regulatory objectives do not generally remove basic employment protections.

The correct approach is therefore to coordinate both legal systems.

25. Practical Example

Suppose a Spanish bank begins a major digital restructuring project.

It plans to:

close branches;

outsource back-office operations;

introduce hybrid working;

change working schedules;

modify performance bonuses; and

reduce the workforce.

The bank cannot analyse this project solely as a business or banking-regulation matter.

Branch closures

Collective dismissal or mobility rules may become relevant.

Outsourcing

The arrangement must avoid unlawful assignment of employees.

Hybrid work

Remote-working and digital-disconnection rules must be considered.

Working schedules

The Workers' Statute and collective agreement apply.

Bonuses

Existing contractual and collective rights must be examined.

Workforce reductions

Collective consultation requirements may apply.

Thus, banking restructuring requires simultaneous compliance with corporate, regulatory and employment law.

26. Summary of Important Cases

27. Current Banking Collective Framework

For 2024–2026, Spain has a particularly detailed collective framework.

The XXV Banking Collective Agreement applies nationally to covered banking employers and employees and establishes sector-specific employment conditions. Its salary tables provide increases of 4.25% for 2024, 4% for 2025 and 2.75% for 2026.

A separate collective agreement applies to savings banks and financial savings entities for the 2024–2026 period.

It is therefore important not to assume that every employee working somewhere in Spain's financial sector is governed by precisely the same collective agreement.

The applicable employer, job and collective-agreement scope must first be identified.

28. Conclusion

Labor rights in Spain's banking sector are governed by a sophisticated combination of constitutional guarantees, the Workers' Statute, trade-union law, equality legislation, EU law and sector-specific collective bargaining.

The current XXV Banking Collective Agreement further regulates important matters such as remuneration, professional conditions and working time for covered banking employees and remains scheduled to operate through 31 December 2026.

The case law demonstrates several major principles.

Deutsche Bank (C-55/18) established the importance of objective and reliable daily working-time measurement.

STS 410/2024 (CaixaBank) demonstrates that working-time recording cannot automatically destroy previously established employment rights.

STS 1142/2024 (BBVA) illustrates the importance of employee representation in enforcing working-time protections.

STS 307/2025 addresses trade-union rights within banking-sector collective bargaining.

STS 152/2026 (Banco Santander) demonstrates the employment consequences associated with unlawful worker-assignment arrangements.

Finally, STS 139/2026 (Banco de España) illustrates the balance between permissible individual working-time arrangements and legally protected collective and trade-union participation.

The overall principle is:

Banking institutions may restructure, digitize, outsource and organize their workforces, but these business and regulatory powers must operate within Spain's mandatory labor rights and collectively negotiated employment protections.