Online employment advisory Spain: payroll and inspections

Online employment advisory in Spain is the remote handling of registrations, deregistrations, changes, notified contracts, payslips and contribution settlement through Sistema RED, SILTRA or RED Directo, Contrat@ and electronic notification channels; a video call or email replaces a visit to the firm’s office, not the employer’s status or the legal deadlines. TGSS, what Sistema RED is; SEPE, Contrat@; Law 39/2015, Article 14.

If you need to decide which engagement layer to open when staff join, that decision sits in employment advisory: contracts, payroll and social security. The focus here is different: how that layer runs without turning up at a local office, which channel opens each filing, and where remote work falls short.

Scope: the common state scheme. Outside that scope, unless mentioned, are the Basque Country and Navarre in their foral layer, the Canary Islands for anything that is not state law, household service, and any advice about your own specific staff. It also does not replace a written engagement with your adviser.

What “online” means in Spanish employment practice

In Spanish practice, “online employment advisory” is not a separate legal regime. It is the same map of affiliation, contract, payslip and contributions, run over the internet. The TGSS (Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social, General Treasury of Social Security) describes Sistema RED as the service that lets companies or professionals exchange information and documents with the Treasury: contributions, affiliation, temporary incapacity reports and management of authorisations, from their own office, without the limits of counter opening hours. TGSS, what Sistema RED is.

That channel needs prior authorisation. To operate you need an electronic certificate and you must apply for the authorisation (form FR101), in person at the User Attention Unit of the Provincial Directorate or through the electronic office. The authorisation is granted to companies, professionals and other parties who file contribution documents on behalf of those responsible for paying contributions. TGSS, Sistema RED authorisation.

Two types matter for a remote engagement:

• Authorisation to act in one’s own name, when the NIF on the authorisation matches the CCC or NAF being managed.
• Authorisation to act in the name of others: a chartered professional or third party, when the CCC or NAF carries a different NIF.

TGSS, Sistema RED authorisation. Without assigning the CCC (código de cuenta de cotización, contribution account code) to that authorisation, the remote firm cannot file the registration even if you already have a signed contract by email.

The employment contract uses another channel. Contrat@ lets employers and professionals acting on their behalf notify the content of hiring to the employment services from their office, with prior authorisation from the employment service and access by certificate, electronic ID card or identifier and password. SEPE, Contrat@. Employers must notify the content of contracts or extensions within ten working days of concluding them. RD 1424/2002, Article 1.

Notifications close the triangle. Legal persons and anyone representing a party who is already under that obligation must deal with the Administrations by electronic means. Law 39/2015, Article 14. When electronic notification is mandatory or chosen, it is treated as rejected if ten calendar days pass from when it is made available without access to the content. Law 39/2015, Article 43. The operational detail of the mailbox and DEHú is in mandatory electronic tax notifications. What matters here is simpler: a remote adviser without a power of attorney or without watching the channel does not handle what the Administration has already treated as notified.

Video calls and email work for reviewing a receipt, clearing an incident or preparing a request. They do not replace the RED authorisation, the Contrat@ authorisation or electronic appearance when the rule requires it.

Registrations, deregistrations and changes without a local office

Employers are obliged to notify the start or cessation of the provision of services so that registration or deregistration can be recorded. RD 84/1996, Article 29. Registration applications must be filed before the start of the provision of services, and may not be filed more than 60 calendar days in advance; deregistration and change applications must be filed within the six calendar days following cessation or the change. RD 84/1996, Article 32; TGSS, filing deadlines. Royal Decree 643/2026 expressly extended that deregistration and change deadline from three to six calendar days to make compliance easier. RD 643/2026.

Distance to the firm does not move those clocks. If the person starts on a Monday at 09:00, prior registration must already be filed. The PDF of the ID, the scanned contract and the signed modelo 145 can travel over a secure channel the Friday before; the Sistema RED filing does not wait for someone to cross the city.

Documents that usually travel digitally (an operational list, not a closed statutory checklist):

• Identification of the worker and Social Security number, or the data needed for affiliation.
• Contract or essential conditions (working time, pay, start date, applicable collective agreement).
• Personal and family situation for withholding purposes, when required.
• Bank details for the CCC and for the person, if the month already includes payroll.
• Medical leave reports or contract changes when hours or pay change.

The employer remains the obliged party. If the employer fails, the interested person may apply directly for affiliation, registration, deregistration or a change, without prejudice to the liabilities and sanctions that may apply. General Social Security Act, Article 16. Instructing a RED-authorised party splits the operational work; it does not erase that position.

The first-day map, step by step, is in hiring your first employee. Typical calendar and probation failures are in first-employee mistakes and labour inspection. If the doubt is TRADE versus employment, use TRADE or an employment contract.

What the remote adviser can do, and what they cannot invent

With a RED authorisation and the CCC assigned, the adviser can file registrations, deregistrations and changes from their professional office. Responsibility for the acts performed falls in every case on the authorised party, regardless of who presses send inside that authorisation. TGSS, Sistema RED authorisation. That does not turn the authorised party into the employer; it makes their diligence part of the file.

What the remote channel does not invent:

• A start date different from the real one.
• An “approximate” collective agreement because the client is unsure.
• A verbal “provisional” registration while the ID arrives.

If the data arrive incomplete on the start day itself, the problem is not that the firm is in another province. The prior deadline has already been missed.

Payslips and social security contributions at a distance

Save for a regulatory exception, contribution settlement periods refer to complete calendar months. RD 2064/1995, Article 16. In the Direct Settlement System, the responsible party requests the calculation and supplies the data by the penultimate calendar day of the regulatory payment period; the TGSS calculates and, after confirmation, issues the Nominal List of Workers (Relación Nominal de Trabajadores, RNT) and the Contribution Settlement Receipt (Recibo de Liquidación de Cotizaciones, RLC) for direct debit or electronic payment. RD 2064/1995, Article 18; TGSS, RED Directo. Users authorised for the Direct Settlement System must download the SILTRA application; the usual flow pairs a payroll program adapted to that system with the application supplied by the Treasury. TGSS, WinSuite32 and SILTRA.

That is what an online employment adviser can complete at a distance: calculate the receipt, send bases or request a draft, confirm the settlement and leave you the RLC/RNT. What they leave with you:

1. Payment of the wage to the worker.
2. The accuracy of hours, supplements, holiday or absences that only the centre knows.
3. The decision to direct-debit or pay the contribution receipt if the account has no balance.

Settlement and payment of wages shall be made punctually and with supporting documents; the period of periodic remuneration may not exceed one month; documentation is by individual receipt justifying payment. Workers’ Statute, Article 29. Confirming contributions in SILTRA on a Tuesday does not prove that the wage was paid.

What the client must send each month

Without inventing a single legal day for “sending incidents”, a remote engagement only works with a clear internal cut-off. In the particular terms of the packs, Pack NÓMINAS sets, unless otherwise stated, that the client must supply the information before day 10 of the settlement month; that cut-off is contractual for the service, not the Treasury’s deadline. Particular terms of the packs. If the information arrives late or is wrong, surcharges that flow from that delay sit with the client under that same text.

In remote practice, what usually travels each month is:

• Registrations or deregistrations in the period and changes of working time or pay.
• Overtime, holiday taken, leave and temporary incapacity.
• Variable supplements and agreed regularisations.
• Confirmation that the previous month’s wage was paid.

The adviser can follow up and send templates. They cannot invent overtime or a supplement the centre has not documented. If the month includes medical leave and the report does not arrive, the settlement is calculated with gaps; a generic video call does not fill that hole.

On prices and scope of Pack NÓMINAS (65 €/mes + IVA base, plus 16 €/mes + IVA per worker; inspections charged separately), the published detail is in employment advisory and in the particular terms of the packs. This page does not rewrite the catalogue.

Labour inspection: what remote work can cover, and what it cannot

The Labour and Social Security Inspectorate (Inspección de Trabajo y Seguridad Social, ITSS) may act by visiting workplaces without prior notice; by requiring appearance with documents; or by administrative file when the content allows it. It may also check data held by other Administrations. Law 23/2015, Article 21.

Inspectors are authorised to enter freely at any time and without prior notice any centre subject to inspection. If the centre coincides with the home of a natural person, express consent or a court order is required. Law 23/2015, Article 13.

That visit power marks the remote limit. An adviser in another city can:

• Help prepare the folder of contracts, payslips, registrations, RNT/RLC and working-time records.
• Act through the electronic office when the step is document filing or follow-up of an action already opened. The Ministry’s electronic office describes, in the inspection-action procedure, the possibility of dealing with the ITSS once the action has started, filing required documents, making statements on behalf of the company and checking status. MITES electronic office, inspection action.
• Manage electronic notification alerts from the ITSS through the OEITSS electronic-relation system. OEITSS, notification alerts.

What they cannot do with a screen alone:

• Be at the centre when the official walks in without notice.
• Replace the employer or the person in charge if identification and presence on site are required.
• Invent a prevention plan or a working-time record that does not exist at the workplace.
• Turn a visit into a “documents only” file because the firm prefers remote work.

If you need to separate Labour from the tax office, use labour inspection vs tax office in Spain. Labour inspections sit outside the ordinary Pack NÓMINAS fee and are charged separately. Particular terms of the packs.

Appearance and electronic documents

When a visit cannot continue because records are missing, the action may continue by a request for documents. Law 23/2015, Article 21. That part does fit a remote firm: organise PDFs, indexes, dates and one contact person. The usual risk is mixing folders or dumping an unordered pile on the last day.

Checking actions shall not run beyond nine months, except for delay attributable to the inspected party, with a possible further nine months in listed cases. Law 23/2015, Article 21. The electronic channel does not extend that frame; it only speeds up or slows down the filing.

When remote is enough, and when it is not

The remote channel is enough when the CCC is assigned to a RED authorisation, monthly data arrive on time, notifications are watched and there is no inspection visit or act that requires physical presence; travel or local support is needed when the ITSS enters the centre, the home coincides with the workplace, or the case needs a notary, a court or a special scheme. Law 23/2015, Article 13; TGSS, Sistema RED authorisation.

Practical criteria:

Remote work also fails for mundane logistics: an expired certificate for the authorised party, a CCC not assigned, Contrat@ without authorisation, or an administrator who never opens DEHú. Labelling the service as online does not fix any of that.

Limits you should not treat as covered

This guide is limited to the common state scheme: it does not resolve the Basque Country or Navarre in their foral layer, household service, or a specific contested dismissal; it is not personalised advice and it does not replace a written engagement. Particular terms of the packs.

Other boundaries:

• Occupational risk prevention and the presence of preventive resources at the centre do not “upload” into a payroll video call.
• A power of attorney for the tax office does not by itself open Sistema RED or Contrat@.
• Representation before the ITSS or the Treasury needs the instrument each channel asks for; the label “online advisory” is not that instrument.
• If the workplace is in a territory with transferred inspection functions, the administrative counterpart may not be the same as in a pure state file.

When ordinary employment work is not enough (inspections, complex dismissals, household service), the pack terms leave it outside the fee and charge it separately. The published employment service is at employment and payroll.

What to do now

1. Check whether a CCC already exists and whether it is or can be assigned to a RED authorisation of the firm you want to use at a distance.
2. Separate the Contrat@ channel from the RED channel: they are different authorisations.
3. Set a monthly cut-off for incidents (hours, leave, holiday) that still fits the penultimate calendar day of direct settlement.
4. Decide who watches electronic notifications from TGSS, SEPE and ITSS, with an effective and confirmed power of attorney.
5. If you expect an inspection visit or a termination dispute, budget specific support; do not assume it sits inside the payroll fee.

If you have not hired yet, start with hiring your first employee. If you already have staff and are choosing an engagement, go back to employment advisory and to the pack terms.

Frequently asked questions

Does online employment advisory replace the employer before the Treasury or the Inspectorate?

No. The employer remains obliged to notify registrations, deregistrations and changes, and to pay contributions. A RED or Contrat@ authorisation lets a professional file on your behalf, but liability towards the Administration and towards the worker does not move to the firm just because the work is remote. RD 84/1996, Article 29; LGSS, Article 16.

Can I register someone on the same day they start if the adviser is in another province?

Registration must be filed before the start of the provision of services, and may not be filed more than 60 calendar days in advance. The firm’s geographic distance does not extend that deadline: you need a RED authorisation, complete data and an electronic filing before the person starts. If registration arrives late, the breach is the obliged party’s. RD 84/1996, Article 32; TGSS, deadlines.

Does an online payslip already include payment of the wage?

No. The adviser can prepare the receipt and confirm the contribution settlement in the Direct Settlement System. Punctual payment of wages, with no more than one month between periodic payments, remains the employer’s duty. Confirming the RLC does not move money into the worker’s account. Workers’ Statute, Article 29; RD 2064/1995, Article 18.

Can a labour inspection be handled only by video call with the adviser?

Not always. The ITSS may visit the workplace without prior notice, demand documents on site or summon a personal appearance. A remote adviser can help gather contracts, payslips and registrations, and answer electronic requests, but that does not replace appearing when the official acts at the centre or requires the employer or the person in charge to be present. Law 23/2015, Articles 13 and 21.

When is online employment advisory not enough?

When physical presence is required at an inspection visit, before a notary, at a workplace that coincides with a private home, under foral or special schemes (household service, for example), or for a contested dismissal that needs in-person procedural strategy. Also when monthly data arrive late: the electronic channel does not extend legal deadlines. Law 23/2015, Article 13; Particular terms of the packs.

What authorisation does the firm need to operate at a distance?

For affiliation and contributions, a Sistema RED authorisation (in one’s own name or in the name of others) with an electronic certificate and, where relevant, assignment of the CCC. To notify contracts, a Contrat@ authorisation before the employment service. They are separate channels; one does not open the other automatically. TGSS, Sistema RED authorisation; SEPE, Contrat@.