On 8 September, Spain’s Council of Ministers approved Royal Decree 723/2026, of 9 September, transposing EU Directive 2019/1152 on transparent and predictable working conditions into Spanish law. The new rules expand the minimum information that employers must provide to employees in writing at the start of — or during — the employment relationship, with particular attention to situations where work is carried out, wholly or partly, outside Spain, and specific provisions for the fishing and maritime sectors.
What actually changes
Until now, the mandatory minimum contractual information was, in practice, limited to the essential elements of the job: category, pay, working hours, duration. RD 723/2026 broadens that minimum content and, crucially, introduces specific obligations when an employee is going to work abroad: details on the destination country or countries, expected duration, the currency of pay, benefits linked to the posting, and repatriation conditions, among other matters that Spanish law had not previously spelled out in this level of detail.
What this means for your company
For any company sending staff to work outside Spain — or, conversely, hiring in Spain people who will then be posted abroad — this decree requires an update to contractual documentation and international assignment letters. This is not a mere formality: the minimum information is now a legal requirement, and failing to provide it can create exposure in a Labour Inspectorate review. This affects Spanish companies with overseas projects or subsidiaries just as much as it affects foreign companies — including British ones — with structures or staff moving to or from Spain, a client profile we see very often at our firm.
In practice, it is worth reviewing three things now: the employment contract templates the company uses, its international assignment or secondment letters, and its onboarding process for new hires or renewals. Updating these documents before the next hire or the next posting avoids having to fix things retroactively and reduces the risk that a labour inspection turns up outdated contracts.
A good moment to review templates generally
Using this regulatory update as an opportunity to review the company’s standard contract templates more broadly — not only those affecting international postings — is usually more efficient than correcting individual documents as new hires come up. It is also a good moment to make sure HR teams are aware of the new minimum content required.
At EBF Consulting we help companies with international workforces — and foreign companies with staff in Spain — adapt their employment documentation to changes like this one, reducing the risk of penalties and strengthening the legal certainty of their contracts. If you manage staff posted abroad, or want to review your contract templates, we would be glad to help.
Official reference: Royal Decree 723/2026, of 9 September 2026 (approved by the Council of Ministers on 8 September 2026), transposing Directive (EU) 2019/1152.