Sick leave deadlines in Spain
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Choose what you received and its date: the result gives the last day to act and the rule that sets each deadline.
Summons to a medical check
12 November 2026
If you miss it, the benefit is suspended from the next day and you have 10 working days to justify it; otherwise it ends (RD 625/2014 art. 9).
| The summons had to reach you by | 4 working days before |
| Suspension from | 30 October 2026 |
Working days counted Monday to Friday; local holidays lengthen the deadline. Tell them before the check if you cannot go: they can set another date.
Prepared by Radif Partners · Method · Rules and agreements read in the BOE on 29 October 2026
Several short deadlines run during Spanish sick leave, some in working days and others in calendar days. If the mutua or the INSS summons you to a medical check, the summons must reach you 4 working days ahead; if you miss it, the benefit is suspended from the next day and you have 10 working days to justify it, or it ends. When the mutua proposes discharging you from an ordinary illness, the medical inspection has 5 days to answer and, if it does not, the INSS decides within 4. Against a discharge by the INSS after 365 days, you have 4 calendar days to lodge your disagreement. For example, for a discharge dated 9 November 2026 the last day is 13 November 2026. Local public holidays lengthen deadlines counted in working days.
Every deadline in one table
Most deadlines are in Royal Decree 625/2014, which governs the management of sick leave in its first 365 days, and in article 170 of the General Social Security Act, which governs what happens afterwards. The table brings them together with an example: a notice or discharge dated 9 November 2026.
| Situation | Deadline | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum notice of a medical check | 4 working days | Before the check |
| Justifying a missed check | 10 working days | 23 November 2026 |
| Medical inspection on a discharge proposal | 5 days | 14 November 2026 |
| INSS if the inspection does not answer | 4 days | After the mutua asks |
| Disagreeing with an INSS discharge | 4 calendar days | 13 November 2026 |
| Discharge takes full effect if nobody answers | 11 calendar days | 20 November 2026 |
| Employer: data through the RED system | 3 working days | From receipt of the leave |
Working days and calendar days
Deadlines for medical checks and for the employer are in working days: Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays do not count. The calculator counts Monday to Friday and does not know your region's or town's holidays, so if one falls in between you get an extra day. Deadlines on an INSS discharge are in calendar days and run every day. The length of the leave and the pay bands are also counted in calendar days, as the leave calendar shows.
Your deadline
Summons to a medical check
12 November 2026
| The summons had to reach you by | 4 working days before |
| Suspension from | 30 October 2026 |
The discharge proposal, step by step
For an ordinary illness managed by a mutua, article 6 of the royal decree sets the route. The mutua sends a reasoned proposal to your health service's medical inspection and tells you at the same time. The inspection passes it to your doctor, who either confirms the leave with a report or signs a discharge. Within 5 days the inspection must answer the mutua. If it does not, the mutua may ask the INSS for a discharge, and the INSS decides within 4 days. At no point does the proposal itself stop your pay.
What to keep
Keep the summons, the envelope or the electronic notice with its date, and any proof of why you could not attend: an emergency report, a medical appointment at the same time or a hospital admission certificate. If you receive a discharge proposal, you need do nothing except keep attending your reviews; if you receive a discharge you disagree with, the medical discharge page explains the routes depending on who signed it. When the dispute is about the cause of the leave, ordinary or work-related, the procedure is different and is covered in work accidents.