Your company just crossed 50 employees in Spain: here are all the obligations that now apply

The 50-employee threshold is one of the most consequential milestones in Spanish labour and compliance law. Crossing it triggers a cascade of legal obligations that many growing companies discover only when a labour inspection arrives, a disgruntled employee mentions them in litigation, or an investor's due diligence team flags non-compliance as a deal risk. Ley 2/2023 (the Spanish Whistleblowing Law) mandates an internal reporting channel; the Equality Law requires a negotiated equality plan; the Workers' Statute requires a works council; transparency regulations require a pay register with gender breakdowns; and a harassment prevention protocol is legally required and actively enforced. Missing any one of these obligations can result in fines, invalidated dismissals, or lost public contracts. Companies that grow organically through multiple hiring waves often cross the threshold without anyone in the organisation realising the legal framework has changed.

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Why BM Consulting

Specialised advice and personal service

BMC's [labour compliance](/en/legal/labor-compliance) team has developed a specific compliance audit service for companies approaching or recently crossing the 50-employee threshold. We deliver a complete diagnostic of your current compliance status against all applicable obligations, identify any gaps, and manage the implementation of each requirement in the correct priority order — coordinating with employee representatives where negotiation is required.

  • Crossing 50 employees in Spain triggers five concurrent legal obligations

    whistleblowing channel (Ley 2/2023), equality plan, pay audit, works council, and harassment protocol — failure on any generates fines and public procurement exclusion.

  • Missing or non-compliant whistleblowing channel

    fines up to €300,000 from the Anti-Corruption Authority (Autoridad Independiente de Proteccion del Informante) under Ley 2/2023 (Art. 64).

  • Equality plan must be negotiated with employee representatives and registered at REGCON; it must include a gender diagnosis, pay audit, work-life balance measures, and harassment prevention — renewed every 4 years (RD 901/2020).

  • Works council (comite de empresa) is mandatory from 50 employees at a single workplace or multiple sites aggregated; trade union elections must be called by the employees or the works council is established by court order.

How we work

From first contact to case completion

  1. Compliance audit and obligation mapping

    We review all existing policies, protocols, and documentation against the full set of obligations triggered at the 50-employee level. We deliver a structured report showing which obligations are met, which are missing, and the legal consequences and sanction exposure associated with each gap.

  2. Whistleblowing channel implementation (Ley 2/2023)

    We implement or review your internal reporting channel to ensure full compliance with Ley 2/2023: guaranteed informant confidentiality, seven-day acknowledgement deadline, three-month maximum response time, designated channel manager, and a non-retaliation policy. We can act as the external channel manager if the company prefers. We coordinate with our [criminal compliance](/en/legal/criminal-compliance) team to integrate the channel with the company's broader crime prevention programme.

  3. Equality plan and pay audit

    We negotiate and implement the mandatory equality plan with the employee representatives: gender equality diagnosis, work-life balance measures, pay equality audit, harassment prevention, and monitoring mechanisms. We establish the pay register by professional category and group with gender breakdown, ensuring both documents are registered with the relevant authorities.

  4. Harassment protocol and works council

    We draft the mandatory sexual harassment and gender-based harassment prevention and response protocol. We advise on the trade union election process to establish or renew the works council (comite de empresa) if not already in place, and we brief management on works council rights and consultation obligations.

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The problem

The 50-employee threshold is one of the most consequential milestones in Spanish labour and compliance law. Crossing it triggers a cascade of legal obligations that many growing companies discover only when a labour inspection arrives, a disgruntled employee mentions them in litigation, or an investor's due diligence team flags non-compliance as a deal risk. Ley 2/2023 (the Spanish Whistleblowing Law) mandates an internal reporting channel; the Equality Law requires a negotiated equality plan; the Workers' Statute requires a works council; transparency regulations require a pay register with gender breakdowns; and a harassment prevention protocol is legally required and actively enforced. Missing any one of these obligations can result in fines, invalidated dismissals, or lost public contracts. Companies that grow organically through multiple hiring waves often cross the threshold without anyone in the organisation realising the legal framework has changed.

Our solution

BMC's [labour compliance](/en/legal/labor-compliance) team has developed a specific compliance audit service for companies approaching or recently crossing the 50-employee threshold. We deliver a complete diagnostic of your current compliance status against all applicable obligations, identify any gaps, and manage the implementation of each requirement in the correct priority order — coordinating with employee representatives where negotiation is required.

Process

How we do it

1

Compliance audit and obligation mapping

We review all existing policies, protocols, and documentation against the full set of obligations triggered at the 50-employee level. We deliver a structured report showing which obligations are met, which are missing, and the legal consequences and sanction exposure associated with each gap.

2

Whistleblowing channel implementation (Ley 2/2023)

We implement or review your internal reporting channel to ensure full compliance with Ley 2/2023: guaranteed informant confidentiality, seven-day acknowledgement deadline, three-month maximum response time, designated channel manager, and a non-retaliation policy. We can act as the external channel manager if the company prefers. We coordinate with our [criminal compliance](/en/legal/criminal-compliance) team to integrate the channel with the company's broader crime prevention programme.

3

Equality plan and pay audit

We negotiate and implement the mandatory equality plan with the employee representatives: gender equality diagnosis, work-life balance measures, pay equality audit, harassment prevention, and monitoring mechanisms. We establish the pay register by professional category and group with gender breakdown, ensuring both documents are registered with the relevant authorities.

4

Harassment protocol and works council

We draft the mandatory sexual harassment and gender-based harassment prevention and response protocol. We advise on the trade union election process to establish or renew the works council (comite de empresa) if not already in place, and we brief management on works council rights and consultation obligations.

300,000€
Maximum fine for missing a whistleblowing channel
5
Key obligations triggered at the 50-employee threshold
7
Working days to acknowledge a whistleblowing report (Ley 2/2023)

We went from 48 to 67 employees in about four months due to a major project win. We had no idea we were suddenly non-compliant on five separate requirements. BMC conducted the audit in two weeks and had us fully compliant within three months. The peace of mind was invaluable, especially with an investor due diligence coming up.

Sandra Palomares Head of People, Technology services company, Madrid

The 50-employee threshold: a major shift in the regulatory framework

In Spanish labour and compliance law, headcount is not merely a statistic — it is a legal trigger. When a company’s workforce reaches 50 employees, it enters a significantly more demanding regulatory regime covering five main areas: employee representation, gender equality, pay transparency, internal reporting obligations, and harassment prevention.

Many companies that grow organically — through project wins, seasonal peaks, or gradual expansion — cross this threshold without a clear moment of recognition that the legal framework has changed. The cost of discovering the gap during a labour inspection, an employment tribunal claim, or an investor due diligence is always higher than the cost of proactive preparation.

The five principal obligations

1. Internal Reporting Channel (Ley 2/2023, Whistleblowing Law): The Spanish transposition of EU Directive 2019/1937 requires all companies with 50 or more employees to operate a functioning internal reporting channel. The channel must be confidential, managed by a designated responsible person, and capable of acknowledging reports within 7 working days and responding substantively within 3 months. The company may operate the channel internally or outsource its management to a third party such as BMC. Fines for missing or non-compliant channels reach up to 300,000 euros.

2. Equality Plan: Mandatory for companies with 50 or more employees since 2019 (with phased implementation completed by 2022). The plan must be negotiated with employee representatives, registered at the REGCON, and reviewed every four years. It encompasses a gender equality diagnostic, a pay audit, work-life balance measures, and a harassment prevention framework.

3. Works Council (Comite de Empresa): The Workers’ Statute requires the establishment of a works council — a multi-member elected employee representative body — in companies with 50 or more employees. The works council has information and consultation rights over a wide range of company decisions, including major restructurings, working condition changes, and collective redundancies.

4. Pay Register and Pay Audit: All companies must maintain a pay register showing average remuneration by professional group, level, and gender. Companies with 50 or more employees that have an equality plan must also carry out a pay audit verifying that no unjustified gender pay gaps exist for roles of equal value.

5. Harassment Prevention Protocol: Technically required for all companies regardless of size, the sexual harassment and gender-based harassment prevention and response protocol is in practice most actively enforced in companies with 50 or more employees, where labour inspectors specifically check for its existence and adequacy.

Integration with criminal compliance

Companies at this size level should also consider whether they need to implement or strengthen a criminal compliance programme. While not strictly mandated by employee headcount, a formal crime prevention model reduces the criminal liability of the legal entity itself — and its directors — in the event of offences committed by employees or managers. The whistleblowing channel required by Ley 2/2023 is typically integrated into this broader compliance framework.

At BMC we deliver integrated compliance programmes that address all these requirements coherently, avoiding the duplication of policies and documentation that results from addressing each obligation independently.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

For most labour law obligations, the threshold is calculated based on the average workforce over the previous year or the current headcount at the time of assessment, counting all employees with employment contracts — permanent, temporary, and part-time (the latter weighted by their working-time fraction). Fixed-term training contracts and work experience placements without employment contracts are generally excluded. If the company operates across multiple locations, the general rule is to aggregate the total headcount across all Spanish sites, although some specific obligations (such as the works council) have site-by-site thresholds as well.
Spain's Ley 2/2023 (transposing EU Directive 2019/1937 on the protection of whistleblowers) requires all companies with 50 or more employees to operate an internal reporting channel for receiving information about actual or suspected breaches of law or ethical standards. The channel must guarantee informant confidentiality, acknowledge receipt within 7 working days, provide a substantive response within 3 months, have a designated manager, and include a formal non-retaliation policy. Compliance is inspected by the Anti-Corruption Authority (Autoridad Independiente de Proteccion del Informante) and fines for missing or non-compliant channels can reach 300,000 euros.
The equality plan must be negotiated with employee representatives and registered at the REGCON (Registro de Convenios Colectivos y Planes de Igualdad). It must include: a gender equality diagnosis covering all aspects of employment; access to employment, professional classification, training and promotion measures; work-life balance and co-responsibility measures; pay equality audit and analysis; sexual and gender-based harassment prevention measures; and follow-up and evaluation mechanisms. It must be reviewed every four years.
The pay register (registro retributivo) is a document that all companies — regardless of size — must maintain showing average pay, supplements, and overtime by professional group, category, and sex. Companies with 50 or more employees that also have a mandatory equality plan must include a more detailed breakdown by sex across all remuneration components. The pay audit (auditoria retributiva) goes further: it analyses whether unjustified pay gaps exist between men and women in roles of equal value. The audit is mandatory as part of the equality plan for companies above the threshold.
While the law does not automatically void dismissals for lack of an equality plan, failure to have one creates significant legal exposure: administrative fines of up to 7,500 euros per serious infringement; exclusion from public procurement contracts (non-compliance with equality obligations is a disqualifying ground under Spanish public contracting law); and the absence of a harassment protocol or pay register can be used by employees in litigation to strengthen their position. For companies growing towards and beyond 50 employees, proactive compliance is consistently more cost-effective than reactive remediation.
The harassment prevention and response protocol is mandatory for all companies regardless of size (since the 2007 Equality Act and confirmed by RD 901/2020). It must include: a statement of commitment from management against all forms of harassment; a clear definition of sexual harassment, gender-based harassment, and moral harassment; a confidential complaint procedure accessible to all staff; a fast-track investigation process with defined timelines; a range of disciplinary sanctions proportionate to the severity of the conduct; and specific protection measures for the complainant to prevent retaliation. Companies without a functioning protocol face sanctions from the Labour Inspectorate and are severely exposed in employment tribunal proceedings brought by harassment victims.

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Frequently asked questions

Questions about Legal Compliance for Companies with 50+ Employees in Spain

For most labour law obligations, the threshold is calculated based on the average workforce over the previous year or the current headcount at the time of assessment, counting all employees with employment contracts — permanent, temporary, and part-time (the latter weighted by their working-time fraction). Fixed-term training contracts and work experience placements without employment contracts are generally excluded. If the company operates across multiple locations, the general rule is to aggregate the total headcount across all Spanish sites, although some specific obligations (such as the works council) have site-by-site thresholds as well.
Spain's Ley 2/2023 (transposing EU Directive 2019/1937 on the protection of whistleblowers) requires all companies with 50 or more employees to operate an internal reporting channel for receiving information about actual or suspected breaches of law or ethical standards. The channel must guarantee informant confidentiality, acknowledge receipt within 7 working days, provide a substantive response within 3 months, have a designated manager, and include a formal non-retaliation policy. Compliance is inspected by the Anti-Corruption Authority (Autoridad Independiente de Proteccion del Informante) and fines for missing or non-compliant channels can reach 300,000 euros.
The equality plan must be negotiated with employee representatives and registered at the REGCON (Registro de Convenios Colectivos y Planes de Igualdad). It must include: a gender equality diagnosis covering all aspects of employment; access to employment, professional classification, training and promotion measures; work-life balance and co-responsibility measures; pay equality audit and analysis; sexual and gender-based harassment prevention measures; and follow-up and evaluation mechanisms. It must be reviewed every four years.
The pay register (registro retributivo) is a document that all companies — regardless of size — must maintain showing average pay, supplements, and overtime by professional group, category, and sex. Companies with 50 or more employees that also have a mandatory equality plan must include a more detailed breakdown by sex across all remuneration components. The pay audit (auditoria retributiva) goes further: it analyses whether unjustified pay gaps exist between men and women in roles of equal value. The audit is mandatory as part of the equality plan for companies above the threshold.
While the law does not automatically void dismissals for lack of an equality plan, failure to have one creates significant legal exposure: administrative fines of up to 7,500 euros per serious infringement; exclusion from public procurement contracts (non-compliance with equality obligations is a disqualifying ground under Spanish public contracting law); and the absence of a harassment protocol or pay register can be used by employees in litigation to strengthen their position. For companies growing towards and beyond 50 employees, proactive compliance is consistently more cost-effective than reactive remediation.
The harassment prevention and response protocol is mandatory for all companies regardless of size (since the 2007 Equality Act and confirmed by RD 901/2020). It must include: a statement of commitment from management against all forms of harassment; a clear definition of sexual harassment, gender-based harassment, and moral harassment; a confidential complaint procedure accessible to all staff; a fast-track investigation process with defined timelines; a range of disciplinary sanctions proportionate to the severity of the conduct; and specific protection measures for the complainant to prevent retaliation. Companies without a functioning protocol face sanctions from the Labour Inspectorate and are severely exposed in employment tribunal proceedings brought by harassment victims.
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