Spain's Supreme Court has reinforced its doctrine by ruling that the five days of paid leave for a serious accident or illness of a family member must be taken on working days, not calendar days. This judgment reviews the collective agreement in the contact center sector and warns of the risks of flexibility in natural days. The decision aligns with European norms and prioritizes the immediacy of care.
Spain's Supreme Court, in a ruling dated November 13, 2025, accessed by EL PAÍS, has insisted that paid leave for serious accidents or illnesses, hospitalization, or surgery of a close relative must be taken on working days. The Social Chamber argues that this type of license “is only conceivable if it is projected over a period of time in which there is an obligation to work, otherwise it would make no sense for its main effect to be absenting oneself from work”.
The judgment examines the collective agreement of the contact center sector, negotiated with the Association of Customer Experience Companies (CEX), which allows these leaves to be taken on “natural” days. Unions such as Unión Sindical Obrera (USO), Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT), Comisiones Obreras (CC OO), and Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT) challenged this pact before the National Court, claiming it violates the Workers' Statute, reformed in 2023 to comply with the European directive.
On January 25, 2024, the National Court partially upheld the claims, declaring the “natural days” provision null, though validating it for displacements of 200 kilometers or more. The Supreme Court, which has shaped its jurisprudence since 2020, concludes that collective agreements can only improve the Statute's conditions, which is not the case here. The agreement's flexibility, allowing the five days within the following 10 natural days, potentially reduces effective days if the triggering event occurs between Tuesday and Friday, and sacrifices the immediacy of care, overburdening work-life balance.
This doctrine builds on 2020 rulings, which established that leaves start on the first working day, reiterating that they only make sense in periods of work obligation.