Digital employment contracts in Spain: legal validity and best practices for SMEs

A digital employment contract is not a PDF sent by email with a “please confirm receipt”. It is a document signed with an electronic signature that identifies the parties and guarantees the text has not changed, notified on time to the authorities, delivered to the worker and kept with its evidence for years. Done that way, it has the same validity as a paper contract and quite a few advantages: it is signed the same day from a phone, it does not get lost and it is found in seconds when the Inspectorate or a court asks for it. In this guide we review what Spanish law says about the validity of electronically signed employment contracts, which contracts require written form, what obligations accompany the signature, and the best practices for digitising the full cycle without running out of evidence.

The legal validity of the electronically signed contract

Three rules underpin the validity of a digital employment contract in Spain:

• The eIDAS Regulation (EU Regulation 910/2014) defines three levels of electronic signature and establishes that an electronic signature cannot be denied legal effect or admissibility as evidence solely because it is electronic. A simple signature is any electronic data attached to the document (an acceptance click, a typed name); an advanced signature is uniquely linked to the signatory, identifies them and detects any later change to the document; a qualified signature is an advanced one created with a qualified device and certificate, and has the same effect as a handwritten signature.
• Law 6/2020 on electronic trust services develops eIDAS in Spain and regulates evidence: if the authenticity of an advanced signature is challenged, whoever presents it must prove its guarantees; the qualified one is presumed.
• The Workers’ Statute does not require any particular form of signature. Article 8 allows the contract to be made in writing or orally and sets the cases in which written form is compulsory; what matters is being able to prove consent and content.

In practice, Spanish employment courts accept electronically signed contracts and documents when the company can prove who signed, when, and that the document was not altered. That is why the signature level matters: an advanced signature with evidence (identification of the signatory, timestamp, document hash, biometric stroke data if handwritten on screen) withstands a challenge far better than a simple click. The biometric signature of contracts used by LapsoWork captures stroke, pressure and cadence and is configured as an advanced electronic signature under eIDAS.

Which contracts must be in writing

Under article 8.2 of the Workers’ Statute, the following must be formalised in writing, among others: training contracts, part-time and permanent-seasonal contracts, remote-work contracts, fixed-term contracts of more than four weeks, and those of workers hired in Spain to serve Spanish companies abroad. In addition, either party may demand that the contract be formalised in writing at any time. If written form is missing where required, the contract is presumed to be open-ended and full-time, unless proven otherwise.

Digitising the signature does not change this rule: a digital contract is a written contract. What changes is that it is signed and archived in minutes.

The obligations that accompany the signature

Signing is the first step. The digital employment contract must then go through the same circuit as the paper one:

• Registration with Social Security before work begins.
• Notification of the contract to the public employment service within the ten working days following its conclusion (article 16.1 of the Statute), through the corresponding electronic system.
• Basic copy to the workers’ legal representatives, if any, within ten days, without the data the law excludes (identity number, address, marital status and anything else affecting privacy).
• Delivery of a copy to the worker, which in digital form means they can access and keep it.
• Retention: employment and contribution documentation is kept for at least four years, and the contract itself should be kept throughout the employment relationship and the subsequent limitation periods.
• Data protection: inform the worker about the processing of their data, including signature data, and apply the corresponding security measures.

Best practices for digitising the contract cycle

1. Templates reviewed by your adviser for each contract type and collective agreement, with variable fields marked. Avoid every contract being drafted from scratch.
2. Identification of the signatory before signing: access with the worker’s personal credentials, or identity verification at onboarding if they sign before having access.
3. Advanced signature with evidence, not a click: timestamp, document hash and, if handwritten on screen, biometric capture of the stroke. Keep the evidence document together with the contract.
4. Signature of everything that accompanies the contract: data-protection clause, remote-work agreement if applicable, equipment handover, disconnection policy, harassment protocol. All in the same onboarding act.
5. A single repository: contract, annexes, extensions, changes of hours and settlement in the worker’s digital file, with access control.
6. A calendar of notifications: prior registration, notification within ten working days, basic copy within ten days. Let the system remember the deadlines.
7. Proof of delivery: the worker accesses their signed contract from their portal or app and can download it whenever they want. That is delivery of the copy, with a record.
8. Retention and deletion: define how long you keep each document and who may delete it. The four-year minimum retention is a floor, not a ceiling.

How LapsoWork solves it

LapsoWork’s document manager is designed so the digital contract is the normal flow, not the exception:

• Centralised repository of contracts, payslips, certificates, training and any employment document, per employee.
• Biometric signature from the phone, capturing stroke, pressure and cadence, configured as an advanced electronic signature under the eIDAS Regulation.
• Templates and bulk sending: an annex changing working hours for the whole workforce is sent and signed in an afternoon, not a week, as we explain in the guide to the app to sign documents.
• Employee access to their signed documents from the app, which counts as delivery of the copy.
• Retention and traceability: each document with its signature evidence, date and signatory, available when the Inspectorate or a court asks.

The document manager and biometric signature are included in the Basic plan, at €2 per employee per month; the contracts module, with templates and the full cycle, in Advanced. Details are on our pricing page.

Frequently asked questions

Is an electronically signed employment contract valid in Spain?

Yes. The eIDAS Regulation establishes that an electronic signature cannot be denied legal effect because it is electronic, and the Workers’ Statute does not require a specific form of signature. What must be provable is who signed, when, and that the document was not altered; hence an advanced signature with evidence rather than a simple click.

What is the difference between simple, advanced and qualified signatures?

Simple is any electronic data attached to the document, such as an acceptance click. Advanced is uniquely linked to the signatory, identifies them and detects later changes; a biometric on-screen stroke signature with evidence is an advanced signature. Qualified is created with a qualified certificate and device and equals a handwritten signature. For employment contracts, advanced with evidence is the usual standard.

Does a digital contract have to be notified to anyone?

Yes, just like the paper one: prior registration with Social Security, notification of the contract to the public employment service within the following ten working days and a basic copy to the workers’ representatives within ten days if they exist. Signing digitally does not change these deadlines.

How long must an employment contract be kept?

Employment and contribution documentation is kept for at least four years, the limitation period for infringements and Social Security debts. The contract should be kept throughout the employment relationship and the limitation periods after it ends, with its signature evidence.

Can I have the worker sign the contract from their phone?

Yes. With a platform that identifies the signatory, captures the signature with evidence and stores the document in their file, signing from the phone is valid and leaves better evidence than a scanned paper. In LapsoWork the worker signs from the app and then accesses their copy.

Conclusion

Digital employment contracts are fully valid in Spain when signed with an electronic signature that identifies the signatory and protects the document, and when the same circuit as with paper follows: registration, notification, basic copy, delivery and retention. The advantage is not just speed but evidence: a biometrically signed contract with its evidence holds up better than a paper one lost in a filing cabinet. To see the full cycle with your own workforce, try LapsoWork free for 30 days.