The conditions of service for academic staff working in higher education vary depending on whether they teach in university education or non-university education.

In university education, the State establishes the framework laws and the autonomous communities are responsible for their implementation, according to what their Statute of Autonomy stipulates. In turn, universities enjoy institutional autonomy, ensuring this way academic, study and research freedom, as well as their autonomy in the administration and management of their own resources.

The working conditions of both employed and civil servant teaching staff at universities are regulated by various laws and regulations. Some of the key laws and regulations affecting civil servant teaching staff in Spanish universities are:

• Organic Law 2/2023 on the University System (LOSU): the main law regulating the university system in Spain. It contains provisions concerning the structure of universities, teaching and research staff, research, teaching, etc.
• Statute of pre-doctoral research staff in training (EPIF): it regulates the working conditions of pre-doctoral researchers.
• Basic Statute of Public Employees (EBEP): it establishes the basic rules for public employment in Spain, including civil servants. It affects the general conditions of employment for all civil servants, including university teaching staff.
• The Workers Statute (only applicable to staff on a contract basis):  this law regulates labour relations in Spain, including recruitment, salary, working hours, holidays and other employment-related aspects. University teachers hired by universities are subject to this regulation.
• Regional regulations: in addition to national regulations, the autonomous communities in Spain may have their own specific regulations affecting the working conditions of teaching and research staff at public universities.
• Collective agreements: in some universities, collective agreements may be reached between the university administration and the unions representing teachers. These agreements may detail specific aspects of working conditions, such as teaching loads, promotion or evaluation, among others.

Working conditions may vary from one university to another and depend on the type of contract (full professor, professor, assistant professor, etc.) and the status of the professor within the university.

Planning policy

There is no national planning for university teaching staff; each autonomous community decides, taking into account different criteria, on the places to be offered to students, which will influence the number of teachers.

Within the General Negotiating tables, both in the State General Authority and in the Autonomous Community, there is a Sectoral Table for the Civil Servants of Universities, where the issues concerning the scope of university are dealt with.

Other coordination bodies relevant for the university planning policy:

• At State level:
  • Council of Universities;
  • General Assembly for University Policy.
• At regional level:
  • Secretariats or General Directorates for Universities.
• At university level:
  • Governing Council.

Once they have reached the necessary agreements, the universities themselves, depending on their needs, publish their own public vacancies for teaching staff, both for the teaching bodies and the staff on a contractual basis.

Entry to the profession

In accordance with the provisions of article 69 of Organic Law 2/2023 on the University System (LOSU), access to university teaching bodies will require, in addition to the PhD degree, prior accreditation by the National Agency for Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA). This Agency will establish, by means of an agreement, the development of the evaluation of merits and competences of the applicants by the quality agencies in the autonomous communities.

The main requirements for obtaining ANECA accreditation for access to the university teaching staff (Article 4 of Royal Decree 678/2023) are the following:

• to hold a doctoral degree,
• to prove having carried out research or teaching activities for at least 9 months in universities or research centres other than the institution where the doctoral thesis was defended.

ANECA's board shall create the accreditation commissions, indicating which specialities of knowledge will be assigned to each of them. ANECA will also establish mechanisms for the internal functioning and coordination of the commissions in order to guarantee consistency in their functioning and in the results of their evaluations (article 6  of Royal Decree 678/2023 on state accreditation and access to university teaching bodies).

The majority of these commissions will be made up of university teaching staff, as well as lecturers from foreign universities and other permanent teaching and research staff and experts of renowned prestige.

In order to take part in competitions for access to university teaching bodies, participants must meet the following requirements (from Royal Decree 678/2023):

• to hold a doctoral degree,
• having been previously accredited by ANECA or the accreditation agencies of the autonomous communities.

The universities themselves, in accordance with the provisions of their internal regulations, shall organise competitions for access to vacancies. Posts open to competition for access to university teaching bodies shall indicate one or more specialities of knowledge to which they are assigned. These competitions shall be judged by selection committees made up of a majority of members from outside the university, chosen in a public draw from among the teaching and research staff of the same or a higher category as the post being offered.

There are different types of teaching and research staff contracts with different responsibilities for which different requirements apply. These contracts are detailed in articles 77 to 87 of the LOSU:

• PhD assistant teachers: universities may contract under this modality individuals who hold a Doctoral Degree without the need for accreditation. No person may be hired under this modality, in the same or a different university, for a period of more than six years.
• Associate professors: universities may contract under this modality specialists and professionals of recognised competence who can accredit that they carry out their main activity outside the university academic sphere when there are specific teaching needs related to their professional field.
• Emeritus professors: universities, in accordance with their Statutes, may appoint Emeritus Professors from among retired teaching and research staff, whether civil servants or employees, who have provided outstanding services in the field of teaching, research or the transfer and exchange of knowledge and innovation at the same university.
• Permanent professors: universities may hire under this modality individuals who hold a Doctoral Degree and who have the corresponding accreditation, issued by the ANECA or the quality agencies of the autonomous communities, according to their competences.
• Visiting professors: universities may hire under this modality lecturers of recognised prestige from other universities and research centres, both Spanish and foreign, who can make a significant contribution to the performance of the university centres.
• Distinguished professors: universities, as provided for in their Statutes and the selection procedures they establish, may contract under this modality teachers and researchers, both Spanish and foreign, who are developing their academic or research career abroad, and whose excellence and scientific, technological, humanistic or artistic contribution are relevant and internationally recognised, the duration and conditions being determined in accordance with the provisions of Law 14/2011, of 1 June, for the modality of distinguished researcher.

Summary of requirements for the most common contracts:

¹ The only requirement is to be a specialist or professional of recognised competence who can prove to carry out his/her main activity outside the university academic sphere. 

In the case of PhD Assistant Teacher and Associate Professor contracts, accreditation will not be necessary but will count as a preferential merit.

In order to be accredited for access to the body of University Professors, the following requirements must be met (article 5 of Royal Decree 678/2023):

1. The following are eligible for accreditation as Senior University Professor:
   • Full University Professors
   • Permanent Tenured Professors
   • Individuals who can accredit having the status of doctor with at least eight years' seniority and who, in addition, are in one of the following situations:
     • Having justified an excellent track record in research activity, including the transfer and exchange of knowledge, in the accreditation with a positive report for Full University Professor or Permanent Tenured Professor.
     • Being a civil servant belonging to bodies or scales of research staff who are required to hold a PhD degree for entry.
2. University teaching staff from universities in other European Union Member States who have attained a position at least comparable to that of full university professor shall also be eligible for this accreditation.
3. The teaching and research staff of universities or research centres may apply for an assessment to be accredited as both Full Professor and University Professor at the same time, and may obtain the latter without the need to belong to the body of University Professors, provided that they can accredit having the status of doctor with at least eight years' seniority. The committee may grant accreditation only as a Full University Professor, or as a Full Professor and University Professor in the Professors body jointly.

Professional status

The university teaching and research staff is made up of the teaching staff of the university teaching bodies and of the employed teaching staff and is regulated in Chapter IV of the Organic Law 2/2023 of the University System (LOSU).

The teaching staff of the university teaching bodies in public universities (civil servants) shall have permanent contracts and may be:

• Senior university professors;
• Full university professors.

Public universities may hire teaching and research staff on a labour contract basis through the specific contract modalities regulated in the LOSU:

• Professors and PhD Assistant Teachers: 6 years maximum with up to 180 teaching hours per academic year;
• Associate Professors: indefinite contract and up to a maximum of 120 teaching hours per academic year;
• Substitute Professors: teaching and non-teaching activity, which may not exceed the time assigned to the person being replaced;
• Emeritus professors:  universities, in accordance with their Statutes, may appoint Emeritus Professors from among retired teaching and research staff, whether civil servants or employees, who have provided outstanding services in the field of teaching, research or the transfer and exchange of knowledge and innovation at the same university;
• Permanent Professors: the contract will be permanent and indefinite, with rights and duties of an academic nature and categories comparable to those of civil servant teaching and research staff, and will entail full-time dedication.

Private universities are subject to the 8th National collective bargaining agreement for private universities, private university centres and postgraduate training centres, which defines the terms of employment of teaching staff in article 12 in the following way:

• the recruitment of staff covered by the scope of application of this agreement shall take place through free contracting between the worker and the institution;
• the contract modalities of the teaching staff shall be those regulated by current legislation.

The teaching staff of private universities and university private institutions attached to universities cannot be active civil servants of a university teaching body and work in a public university. The same restriction applies to full-time teaching and research staff.

The 2015 Law on the Revised Text of the Basic Statute of the Public Employee (TREBEP), establishes the duties that the staff working for the public administration must comply with, no matter what their field might be, specifying the code of conduct and the ethical and conduct principles to be followed.

In addition, the General Council of the Official Colleges of PhDs and Bachelors in Philosophy, Literature and Sciences approved, in November 2012, the Code of Ethics for the Teaching Profession, which sets out the fundamental duties of education professionals in the exercise of their duties towards students, families and tutors, the educational institution, colleagues, the profession itself and society.

Salaries

Professors' salaries vary depending on the ownership of the university where they teach and on their professional status.

In public universities, the salaries and the promotion requirements of the teaching and research staff depend on whether they are career civil servants or contract staff.

As for civil servants, they are established at State level by the general regulations for workers, within each teaching body and for each series of professional levels or categories.

The State and the autonomous communities may establish additional remuneration linked to individual merits related to the teaching practice and time devoted to it, teacher training, research, technological development, transfer of knowledge and management. Thus, university civil servant professors may receive two types of additional payments aimed at promoting the teaching and research activity:

• the specific additional remuneration for teaching merits, received after the positive evaluation every five years;
• the productivity additional remuneration, which is received after a positive evaluation of the research activity carried out every five or six years.

Minimum salaries of university career civil servant professors with a full-time basis 2024

(*) There are two extraordinary bonuses, one in June and one in December. The extraordinary bonus includes the additional remuneration attached to a post and the specific additional remuneration.

Source: Drawn up by Eurydice España-REDIE (INEE, MEFD).

The remunerations of contract teaching and research staff in public universities are regulated by the State, Royal Decree 1086/1989  and the autonomous communities. Therefore, it may vary from one autonomous community to another.

Likewise, within the limits set by the autonomous communities, each university may agree on the assignment of salary complements linked to individual merits related to the teaching practice and time devoted to it, teacher training, research, technological development, transfer of knowledge and management. Besides, the Government may establish incentive programmes aimed at fostering the contract staff’s productivity.

At private universities, the salaries of the teaching staff are established in the respective employment contracts, with the limits and amounts established by the regulations in force.

In addition, in line with the for-profit nature of the institution, the salary is set by:

• the 12th State Collective Agreement for University Education and Research Institutions (non-profit-making institutions) and consists of:
  • salary;
  • remuneration that can be consolidated (seniority [bonus every 3-year period] and additional remuneration linked to the exercise of management posts, if applicable;
  • extraordinary bonuses;
  • other types of remuneration: special remuneration linked to the teaching activity and remuneration that cannot be consolidated;
  • salary linked to the length of time spent in the company, if applicable.
• the 8th National Collective Agreement for Private Universities, Private University Centres and Postgraduate Training Institutions (for-profit institutions), whose salary components are:
  • basic salary by group (or subgroup);
  • basic salary attached to level;
  • voluntary bonuses;
  • non-assimilated supplements;
  • hourly specific teaching supplement;
  • additional supplement linked to the temporary exercise of management posts;
  • extraordinary bonuses.

The final salary of this teaching staff depends on several factors, such as the kind of working day, the professional category of the professor and the type of institution.

Working time and holidays

Working day

In public universities, full-time teaching staff’s working hours shall be the same as those established in general for civil servants in the State Public Administration. As from January 1st 2012, and for the whole of the state public sector, the ordinary working day will consist of a weekly average of no less than 37 hours and 30 minutes. 

• Teaching duties during the working day:
  • usually 8 teaching hours per week, both for civil servants and contract professors;
  • civil servant teachers must devote to the teaching activity the necessary time of the day for teaching 24 ECTS credits every academic year;
  • teachers' activity can vary depending on their research activity, according to the following rules:
    1. the following teacher groups must devote to the teaching activity the necessary part of the day for teaching 16 ECTS credits every academic year:
       • Senior university professors, Senior university school professors, or Senior university school professors with three or more consecutive positive evaluations of their research activity, having passed the last one in the last six years;
       • Senior university professors with four or more consecutive positive evaluations of their research activity, having passed the last one in the last six years. In any case, if five evaluations of the research activity have been passed.
    2. the following teachers must devote to the teaching activity the necessary part of the day for teaching 32 ECTS credits every academic year:
       • those who have not been evaluated during the first six years of their research activity or who have obtained a negative evaluation of the said period or;
       • when more than six years have passed since the last positive evaluation of their research activity;
       • academic supervision: 6 hours a week;
       • the rest of the timetable: research work, management and administration activities for their Department, Centre or University.

Part-time professors are regulated by article 9 of Royal Decree 898/1985 on the system for university teaching staff. They teach a minimum of 3 hours and a maximum of 6 a week, and devote the same number of hours a week to tutoring.

In private universities, the total number of working hours per week depends on the different teachers' work dedication:

• The  13th State Collective Agreement for University Education and Research Institutions, establishes the work dedication in non-profit educational institutions:
  • full-time professors with exclusivity: 37.5 hours per week of presence at the educational institution (1 615 hours per year);
  • full-time professors: 30 hours per week of presence at the educational institution (1 290 hours per year);
  • part-time teaching staff: all of those whose working time is lower than for those who work full-time. The working time is agreed between the employee and the institution;
  • during the months of July and August the amount of working hours per week is reduced to 35, on a continuous basis and non-recoverable.
• The 8th National collective bargaining agreement for private universities, private university education institutions and postgraduate training institutions defines the regime of dedication for teaching staff in for-profit educational institutions:
  • full-time professors with exclusivity: 1 685 hours per year, of which 613 are devoted to teaching and 1 072 to other activities (management duties, research projects, class preparation and tutoring, etc.);
  • the distribution of the weekly working time is established by the Company according to their needs at the beginning of the academic year or at the beginning of each four-month period;
  • during the months of July and August full-time teaching staff’s working time is continuous, with a maximum of 6 hours per day (in cases where there is no teaching activity during those months)

Holidays

In accordance with the provisions of  article 50 of Royal Legislative Decree 5/2015, teaching staff in public universities have:

• 22 working-day holidays per year of active service (Saturdays are not considered as working days);
• the corresponding days in proportion if the time worked was less than a year;
• the bank holidays established at State, regional and local level.

Teaching staff in private universities are entitled to the following holidays: 

• The  13th State Collective Agreement for University Education and Research Institutions, establishes the holiday time regime in non-profit educational institutions:
  • 31 calendar days of holiday per calendar year (preferably in July and August) of which 9 days must be mandatory on Saturdays and Sundays​;
  • the corresponding days in proportion if the time worked was less than a year;
  • the same rest days that students enjoy for Christmas and Easter;
  • one rest day per year;
  • the bank holidays established at State level;
  • the corresponding regional and local bank holidays
•  The 8th National collective bargaining agreement for private universities, private university education institutions and postgraduate training institutions defines the holiday time regime for teaching staff in for-profit educational institutions:
  • 1 month for holidays a year, preferably in Summer;
  • the same amount of days for Christmas an Easter set for the students, being compulsory for them  to go back to work 1 day before the students;
  • the bank holidays established at State level;
  • the corresponding regional and local bank holidays

Promotion, advancement

University statutes establish the norms in order to ensure that professional promotion of the staff takes place in accordance with the principles of publicity, equality, merit and capacity.

Civil servant professors of public universities may move up from one body to another immediately higher by participating in the competitive examinations announced by universities. Candidates must meet the requirements related to qualifications, merits and seniority, and pass the qualifying examinations established by each university.

In addition, university professors may also undertake posts in leadership and management bodies within the university. 

As for contract professors of public universities, vacancies in higher categories are to be covered, preferably, by staff from lower levels in the same group, on the basis of their ability, qualifications, eligibility and seniority in the institution.

They may also participate in competitive examinations to gain access to civil servant status providing that they meet all requirements.

In the case of profit oriented private institutions, the 8th National Collective Agreement for Private Universities, Private University Institutions and Postgraduate Training Institutions  specifies that teachers’ advancement to the immediately higher level is done by the company, taking into account the candidates’ degree and the duties that they will be performing. The positions shall be preferably filled by members of the staff in lower categories as long as the company considers they comply with the necessary skills, capacities and applicable legal requirements.

Part time workers, specially those working less than 12 hours per week and less than 48 hours per month, will have priority above others should they want to extend their working hours or apply for any vacancies, as long as they comply with the established requirements.

In the case of non-profit private institutions, teachers’ advancement conditions are established in the 13th State Collective Agreement for University Education and Research Institutions, which specifies that the promotion of these professors is subject to the statutes and internal regulations and rules of each institution. When there is no such plan, teachers’ promotion should comply with the following criteria:

• vacancies are to be covered, preferably, by staff from lower levels in the same group, on the basis of their ability, skills and seniority in the institution;
• if the responsible person in the institution considers there is no ideal candidate among the staff, the vacancies can be freely covered, in which case priority will be given to interim teachers, teachers with fixed-term contracts  or part-time teachers, as long as they comply with the established requirements. 

Retirement and pensions

In general, retirement is not effective until the end of the academic year in which the teacher reaches the ages established.

In addition, both the education authorities and universities must promote the gradual reduction of teaching activity once they reach the age of 60, through early and voluntary retirement plans, which are specific to each university.

According to article 205 of Royal Legislative Decree 8/2015, which approves the revised text of the General Law on Social Security, in public universities there are different retirement conditions for civil servants and hired staff: 

• Civil servant staff:
  • compulsory retirement at the age of 70
  • early retirement: at the age of 65 on request, proving 15 years of effective service to the State
  • retirement due to permanent disability.
  • Emeritus professors may continue collaborating in academic activities, after the compulsory retirement age, according to their agreement with the university where they work.
• Contract staff: the autonomous communities are in charge of developing the regulations that regulate different aspects of the teaching and research personnel hired by the universities in their area of management, including the different retirement modalities.

The exact amount of the pension is calculated by the relevant department of the Ministry of Labour, Migration and Social Security.

Private universities establish the following retirement modalities:

• Non-profit educational institutions:
  • forced retirement at the age set on general terms (which in 2019 was set at 65 if teachers had contributed 36 years and 9 months or more, or at 65 years and 8 months if they had contributed less than 36 years and 9 months). Age may be postponed annually and by agreement of both parties (teacher and educational institution) until the age of 70.
  • partial retirement linked to a relief contract
  • the institutions and their employees may, by mutual agreement, take advantage of legally established partial or early retirement schemes (General Law on Social Security)
• For-profit educational institutions:
  • teachers may retire ordinarily in accordance with the requirements laid down in the legislation in force:  at the established age (which in 2019 was set at 65 if teachers had contributed 36 years and 9 months or more, or 65 years and 8 months if they had contributed less than 36 years and 9 months) and a minimum contribution period of 15 years, of which at least two must be within the 15 years immediately prior to the time of access to retirement
  • teachers who do not have the legal minimum contribution period guaranteed by the retirement pension may remain in the company until this period has expired
  • retirement may take effect at the end of the academic year
  • the company and its employees can, by mutual agreement, take advantage of legally established early retirement schemes (General Law on Social Security). 

The exact amount of the pension is calculated by the relevant department of the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy.