Objective Dismissal in Spain (Despido Objetivo): Causes, 20 Días and Notice (2026)

An objective dismissal (despido objetivo) is the middle route between a disciplinary dismissal, which blames the worker, and a collective one, which affects a whole group. It ends the contract for a defined objective cause, pays less than an unfair dismissal, and comes with formal steps that, if the employer skips them, turn the whole thing into an improcedente dismissal.

Information last verified on 22 July 2026. This page provides general legal information about Spanish employment law and does not constitute legal advice in an individual case.

What counts as an objective cause

Art. 52 ET lists the causes, and the list changed in 2020, so it is worth stating the current version precisely:

• (a) Ineptitude (ineptitud) of the worker, known or arising after they started, that makes them unable to do the job. Ineptitude that already existed and was known before the probation period ended cannot be raised later.
• (b) Failure to adapt (falta de adaptación) to reasonable technical changes in the role. The employer must first offer a training course, count that time as working time and pay it, and cannot dismiss until at least two months after the change or the end of the training.
• (c) Economic, technical, organisational or production causes, the same causes as a collective dismissal but affecting fewer workers than the art. 51 thresholds. Workers' representatives have priority to stay (prioridad de permanencia) in this case.
• (e) A narrow funding cause for indefinite contracts in non-profit bodies running publicly funded programmes, when the funding for that post runs out.

There is a gap in the list where (d) used to be. Until 2020, art. 52.d allowed dismissal for repeated absences, even justified ones, above a threshold. It was repealed by Ley 1/2020, and dismissing someone for absenteeism on that basis is no longer lawful. This matters because older articles and templates still describe it.

What it pays, and the notice

An objective dismissal is compensated at 20 días of salary per year of service, prorated by month for part-years, capped at 12 mensualidades (art. 53.1.b). The indemnización must be made available to the worker at the same time as the written communication.

On top of the money, art. 53.1.c requires 15 días of notice (preaviso) between handing over the letter and the contract ending. During that notice, art. 53.2 gives the worker 6 horas a week of paid time to look for other work. Failing to give the notice does not by itself make the dismissal improcedente, but the employer must then pay the wages for the missing notice days.

The form, and how it becomes improcedente

The employer has to put the cause in a written communication and follow the steps for that cause (the course for a failure-to-adapt case, the priority-to-stay rule for an economic one). If the alleged cause is not proven at trial, or the form is defective, the dismissal is improcedente, and the consequences shift to art. 56: reinstatement or the higher 33-días indemnización. A worker challenges an objective dismissal the same way as any other, within the 20 días hábiles that art. 59.3 allows.

There is one narrow exception on payment. Where the cause is economic and the employer genuinely cannot make the indemnización available when it hands over the letter, art. 53.1.b lets it defer, stating so in writing, without that alone making the dismissal improcedente. The worker keeps the right to claim the amount.

Objetivo, improcedente or the finiquito

The 20-días objetivo figure, the 33-días improcedente figure and the finiquito are three different things, and a worker dismissed on objective grounds usually meets all three: the 20-días indemnización if the dismissal stands, the 33-días figure if a court finds it improcedente, and the finiquito, which is owed either way. The severance calculator computes the objetivo and improcedente figures side by side.

This page is general legal information about Spanish employment law and does not constitute legal advice in an individual case. The controlling text is always the current version of the Estatuto de los Trabajadores in the BOE.