One of the concepts that are deducted from the payroll of all employees every month is the unemployment benefit that entitles to collect unemployment when the company fires you.
However, accessing that benefit it’s not that simple as it may seem and the SEPE (State Public Employment Service) can deny you unemployment if a series of requirements are not met.
Condition for collecting unemployment: being fired
It may sound like a truism, but the right to collect unemployment benefits in Spain is conditioned to a fundamental requirement: that the worker who being able and wanting to work lose your job by causes beyond their control. This means that if an employee voluntarily resigns In his position, in principle, he will not be able to access this benefit, unless certain conditions are met.
As and as specified SEPE, by quitting a job, the worker loses the immediate right to collect unemployment benefits. However, if after resigning you find a job and are fired for legal reasons (end of contract, dismissal, ERE, etc.), then you will be able to apply for unemployment benefits accumulated in previous jobs.
The regulations in this case contemplate that, even if the contracts after the voluntary resignation are of short duration because they have not passed the trial periodthe worker can recover his right to unemployment as long as together add up to a period of more than three months from the resignation. For example, if an employee resigns from his or her job and begins working in a temporary job and does not pass the two-week trial period, he or she will not be able to access unemployment benefits, but he or she will be entitled to unemployment benefits if he or she is fired or his or her contract ends without renewal.
However, if you chain several jobs without passing the trial period, you will not be able to apply for unemployment until you exceed the three months established by the SEPE. Only then could he apply for it and access unemployment with the contributions he had accumulated in the job he resigned from.
Again, the condition will always be that the reason for the termination of those jobs whether by ordinary dismissal, end of contract, not having passed trial periods or being affected by an ERE. In any of the cases, they are causes beyond the control of the employee.
Another condition is that, to have access to that unemployment benefit has been previously quoted the time necessary. Depending on the time quoted, the benefit may be received for more or less time, as detailed in this SEPE table.
For example, with 360 days of contributions, you have the right to 120 days of unemployment. From 2,160 days of contributions (about six years) you are entitled to 720 days (about two years) of unemployment benefit, this being the maximum limit of the benefit.
“You fix my unemployment and I’ll leave”
When the employee resigns, the employer is not obligated to compensate the workerand you should only settle your situation with the settlement to compensate for vacations not taken, salary pending collection, extra pay, etc. That is why, sometimes, both parties can agree to simulate a disciplinary dismissal.
In that case, the company is not obliged to pay no compensation (only settle the settlement) and the employee would be entitled to unemployment benefits. However, this very sweet formula has an important drawback: It is a fraud and, therefore, totally illegal.
As and how they detail At Capmany Abogados, if the SEPE or the Labor Inspection detects that a dismissal has been agreed, both parties would be committing a crime of fraud and will face the legal consequences.
The employee would be required to return the benefits you have received and you would lose your right to receive them. For the company, the consequences were not going to be very different. If it is proven that a disciplinary dismissal has been agreed for fraudulent purposes, the company may lose all incentives and tax benefits for a period of up to six years as stated in the Law on Violations and Sanctions of the Social Order (LISOS).
In addition, both company and employee would face serious sanctions with amounts ranging from 7,501 euros to several million euros depending on the amount and number of people affected.
Exceptions in which you can resign and be unemployed
He Workers Statute contemplates some specific situations in which voluntary withdrawal yes it gives the right to collect unemployment. According what was published by Ancla Abogados, among these causes are unilateral changes in the location of the job, substantial modifications in working conditions, workplace harassment or repeated delays in salary payment.
Furthermore, this exception also applies in situations of gender violence that force the worker to change jobs, a situation covered by the Law on Comprehensive Protection Measures against Gender Violence.
In that way, the reform from the article 50.1 of the Workers’ Statute of April 2025 delimits the assumptions and deadlines for non-payment of salaries that justify the voluntary withdrawal of the employee, acquiring the same consideration as an unfair dismissal.
That is, the right to compensation and recognition of unemployment benefits if applicable, as long as the causes are documented and adjusted to current regulations.
A version of this article was published in September 2025
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Image | Unsplash (TECNIC Bioprocess Solutions, Jeriden Villegas), SEPE
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