Excedencia in Spain: Unpaid Leave and Whether You Keep Your Job (2026)

Excedencia is a period away from work with the contract kept alive but suspended. Whether it protects your actual job or only a right to come back to some job depends entirely on which kind you take, and that distinction, reserva del puesto versus a mere derecho al reingreso, is the thing most people do not check until it is too late. This page sets out the types in art. 46 ET and what each one really guarantees.

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.

The distinction that matters: reserva versus reingreso

Before the types, the concept that decides everything. Two very different protections hide behind the word excedencia:

• Reserva del puesto means your specific job (or an equivalent one) is held for you and you return to it at the end.
• Derecho preferente al reingreso means only that, if a suitable vacancy exists or arises, you have priority for it. If there is no vacancy, you can be kept waiting.

Getting these two confused is the single most consequential mistake, because the most common kind of excedencia gives you only the weaker one.

Voluntary excedencia (excedencia voluntaria)

Under art. 46.2, a worker with at least one year of service may take voluntary excedencia for a period of not less than 4 meses and not more than 5 años. It cannot be taken again by the same worker until four years have passed since the last one.

The catch is in art. 46.5: a worker on voluntary excedencia keeps only a preferential right to return to a vacancy of the same or a similar category, not a reserved post. So if the employer has no suitable vacancy when you want to come back, your return can be delayed, and disputes about whether a vacancy existed are common. This is the weakest form of excedencia despite being the one people reach for.

Excedencia to care for a child or a family member

These are stronger, and the reason is the reserva rule.

For a child (art. 46.3): up to 3 años from the birth or the judicial or administrative decision, one period per child. The job is reserved for the first year; after that the reserva applies to a post in the same professional group or an equivalent category. The whole period counts towards seniority. There are longer reserva periods for large families (familia numerosa).

For a family member (art. 46.3): up to 2 años, unless a convenio colectivo sets a longer period, to care for a spouse, partner or relative up to the second degree who cannot look after themselves through age, accident, illness or disability and does not work. The same reserva rules apply.

Forced excedencia (excedencia forzosa)

Under art. 46.1, forced excedencia is granted to take up an elected or appointed public office that prevents attendance at work. It keeps the post reserved and counts the time towards seniority, and re-entry must be requested within the month following the end of the office. A parallel right exists for workers carrying out trade-union functions at provincial level or above (art. 46.4).

Choosing, and coming back

The practical lesson is to match the excedencia to the protection you need. If keeping your exact job matters, the childcare and family-care forms reserve it, at least for a period; voluntary excedencia does not. When you want to return, request re-entry in writing and in good time, and keep the record, because a refused or delayed reingreso from a voluntary excedencia is exactly the kind of dispute that ends up before the Juzgado de lo Social. For the wider structure of the employment relationship and its endings, see the employment law overview.

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.