Hiring in hospitality: the agreement that applies to you, seasonality and time records
Nextica Law & Tax organises hiring for bars, restaurants and hotels under the Catalan hospitality collective agreement and the sector's national labour agreement: front-of-house and kitchen grades and supplements, permanent-seasonal contracts, part-time hours and additional hours, daily working-time records under art. 34.9 of the Workers' Statute, and the hiring of foreign workers through the appropriate route.
Hospitality is one of the most litigated sectors on payroll: the agreement has supplements, public holidays and working patterns like nobody else's.
What's included
1. Determining the applicable agreements —the Catalan hospitality agreement and the sector's national labour accord— and what each governs in job grades, allowances and working time.
2. Grading floor, kitchen, back-of-house and reception within the agreement's groups, using each role's real duties and not the name used in-house.
3. Designing the season
permanent-seasonal contracts with call-up in the form and order the agreement sets, and fixed-term only where there is a defined cause.
4. A working time and rest calendar compatible with split services, weekends and public holidays, with the night and holiday allowances the agreement recognises.
5. Hiring foreign staff through the appropriate route —residency on grounds of ties or a work authorisation— with each procedure's real timescales built into the opening calendar.
6. Day-one documentation, with kitchen and floor risk information in a language the person understands.
7. A review before every season, which costs far less than arguing about the contracts once eighty have been signed.
THE MOST LITIGATED PAYROLL AGREEMENT IN THE COUNTRY
With high turnover, split shifts and public holidays, a collective agreement mistake does not stay with one person: it repeats across the whole season's workforce.
Grading by job title rather than by real duties
when someone recorded as an assistant performs a chef's duties, the pay scale difference accumulates per person and per open season, and is regularised for everyone.
Catalan hospitality agreement and the sector's national labour accordUsing fixed-term contracts for what repeats every summer on predictable dates
the right form is the permanent-seasonal contract, with call-up and with length of service counting the whole relationship. Chaining fixed-term contracts without evidenced cause turns them into permanent ones.
Workers' StatuteCall-up with no form and no order
the agreement sets how and in what order permanent-seasonal staff are called back, and skipping that order or leaving no record of the call-up is treated as a dismissal.
Catalan hospitality agreementCURRENT CONTRACTUAL MODALITIES IN 2026
| Mode | When to use | Key requirements and risks |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary indefinite | The standard modality since the 2021 reform. Preferable in case of doubt. | It can be full-time or part-time. For part-time work, specific hour recording and limitation of supplementary hours. |
| Fixed-discontinuous | Seasonal or cyclical activity, or work that is not provided continuously but is predictable. | Replaces the work and service contract for non-permanent but recurring activities. Incorrect design → can become ordinary indefinite. |
| Temporary replacement (art. 15.1.c ET) | Replace an employee with the right to job reservation (sick leave, maternity, leave of absence) or cover vacancy during the selection process. | The replaced worker or the reason for the vacancy must be identified. 3-month limit for vacancy coverage. |
| Alternating training (art. 11.2 ET) | Unqualified people for the position, under 30 years old. Bonuses in social security contributions. | Duration: 3 months to 2 years. Maximum workload: 65% in the first year, 85% in the second. Minimum compensation of 60%/75% of the minimum wage or the agreement. |
| Senior Management Contract (RD 1382/1985) | Senior management personnel who exercises powers inherent to the ownership of the company with full autonomy. | It is governed by RD 1382/1985 and not by the ET. Compensation in case of withdrawal: minimum 7 days/year unless otherwise agreed. No mandatory maximum legal probation period. |
Ordinary indefinite
Fixed-discontinuous
Temporary replacement (art. 15.1.c ET)
Alternating training (art. 11.2 ET)
Senior Management Contract (RD 1382/1985)
Frequently asked questions
Permanent-seasonal or fixed-term contract for the season?
For an activity that recurs every year on predictable dates, the intended figure is the permanent-seasonal contract: the employee is permanent and is called back each season in the order and manner set by the collective agreement. A fixed-term contract requires a specific, time-limited cause, and chaining seasonal fixed-term contracts is one of the things most often corrected by the Inspectorate and in court.
How is working time recorded in the dining room and the kitchen?
With a daily record showing each employee's start and end time, kept for four years and available to the staff, the union representatives and the Inspectorate. In hospitality the usual trap is the record filled in at the end of the week with the theoretical schedule: if the real hours were different, that record protects nobody —and in an overtime claim it works against the company.
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