He Workers Statute recognizes any employee with at least one year old the right to request a voluntary leave of absence of up to five years. You can use it to study, dedicate time to personal projects or simply disconnect from work, but it means stopping receiving your salary and generating vacations. Furthermore, although the employment relationship is not terminated, return to your position is not guaranteed.
This is how he collects it article 46.2 of the Workers Statute: it is enough to have been in the company for one year to request this leave, which must last between four months and five years. It does not imply the termination of the contract, but rather the suspension of its main obligations. During that time you don’t have to work or justify why you are leaving.
The Workers’ Statute establishes the requirements for leave of absence and its effects on salary
Let’s see who can qualify: it is enough to have been working in the same company for at least a year, and the law does not require you to explain why. You can take advantage of this period to finish some studies or take a break, although it is advisable to review the applicable collective agreement, because it may establish conditions on the deadlines and how to request it.
The suspension of the contract has a clear economic effect: during the entire leave there is no payrollneither vacations nor extraordinary pay are accumulated. The company has no obligation to pay you anything during this period, so the longer you request it, the greater the financial cushion you will need.
Furthermore, during voluntary leave The company must process your withdrawal from Social Security and stop quoting for you. This does not mean that the employment relationship disappears, but rather that the activity is suspended, without reservation of the job or calculation of that period for seniority purposes.
Voluntary leave does not guarantee recovering the same job
No. He article 46.5 of the Workers Statute recognize a preferential right to re-entrybut only when there is a vacancy of the same or similar professional category in the company. If none are available when you request to return, you will have to wait for one to occur.
This nuance is important: having preference is not the same as having a guaranteed place. If your position ceases to exist or is occupied by another person before the end of the leave, you cannot demand to recover exactly the same position. The company must respect your preference when a suitable vacancy exists. Therefore, it is convenient request re-entry in writing and respect the deadlines established in the collective agreement.
The law also limits how many times you can take advantage of this right: once a voluntary leave ends, you have to wait at least four years from that date, not since it started, to be able to request another one. For example, if your leave ends in 2026, you will not be able to request a new one until 2030 at the earliest, even if the previous one had only lasted a few months.
A right in force since 1980 that should not be confused with training permits
It is not a legislative novelty. Voluntary leave of up to five years has been included in labor regulations since the Law 8/1980which approved the first Workers Statute. Of course, the conditions have changed: initially a minimum duration of two years was required, while currently it is enough to request four months. What continues to happen is that many workers are unaware that they can benefit from this right.
Nor should it be confused with vocational training permits. Workers with at least one year of seniority have the right to 20 hours of paid training per yearlinked to the company’s activity and cumulative for a maximum of five years, up to 100 hours. The difference is clear: this leave maintains the remuneration, while voluntary leave implies stopping receiving salary for the entire period.
The choice between one or the other option depends on the time you need and the reason for your absence. Training permits allow you to improve your professional preparation without losing salary, while voluntary leave offers the possibility of stay away from work for several months or years without having to justify a specific cause, even if that means being left without income and without a guaranteed reinstatement.
