Spanish Corporate Vocabulary for Working in a Spanish Company (SL, SA, Autónomo…)

When you join a Spanish company, you encounter a structure and a set of acronyms that don't translate directly from the English corporate world. What kind of company is it — an SL or an SA? What is an autónomo and why does everyone seem to become one? What happens at a junta?

The vocabulary below covers the essentials of the Spanish corporate world — legal structures, employment terms, company governance, and the professional culture that shapes how meetings, emails, and hierarchies actually work.

Legal Structures

Sociedad Limitada (SL) — a private limited company. The most common business structure in Spain for small and medium enterprises. Lower minimum capital requirement than an SA, simpler governance, typically owner-managed or with a small number of partners (socios).

Sociedad Anónima (SA) — a public limited company (equivalent to a PLC or corporation). Higher minimum capital, ability to issue publicly traded shares, more formal governance structure. Used by larger companies.

Sociedad Unipersonal — a single-person company (SL or SA with one sole shareholder). Common for individual business owners who want limited liability.

Autónomo — a self-employed individual / freelancer. In Spain, autónomo is both a legal status and a widespread way of working. Many Spanish companies engage workers as autónomos rather than as employees; this shifts social security obligations to the individual. As an autónomo, you pay your own cuota de autónomos (self-employment social security contributions, which are progressive in Spain based on income).

RETA — Régimen Especial de Trabajadores Autónomos. The special social security regime for the self-employed. All autónomos are registered here.

Administrador — the company director/administrator. In an SL, the administrador único (sole director) or consejo de administración (board of directors) runs the company. They have personal liability for certain decisions.

Socio — partner / shareholder.

Junta general de socios — the general shareholders' meeting of an SL.

Junta general de accionistas — the general shareholders' meeting of an SA.

Employment Structure

Contrato indefinido — a permanent / open-ended employment contract. The preferred and most protected form of employment in Spain.

Contrato temporal — a fixed-term contract. Since Spain's 2022 labour reform, the use of temporary contracts is more restricted; most employment that is not inherently temporary must be on contrato indefinido.

Contrato por obra o servicio — a contract for a specific project or service. Largely abolished by the 2022 reform, which replaced it with new specific-use categories.

Período de prueba — probationary period. Up to six months for skilled workers, two months for others (varies by collective agreement).

Convenio colectivo — collective agreement. Sector-level agreements that set minimum wages, working hours, holiday entitlements, and other conditions for entire industries. Your convenio supplements the general Estatuto de los Trabajadores (Workers' Statute) and may offer significantly better terms than the legal minimum.

ERTE — Expediente de Regulación Temporal de Empleo. Temporary employment regulation — the Spanish mechanism for temporary collective lay-offs or reduced hours, with workers receiving unemployment benefits during the affected period. Widely known after widespread use during the COVID period.

Finiquito — the settlement document given at the end of an employment relationship, covering outstanding pay, holiday, and any other amounts owed. Sign only after reviewing it carefully.

Indemnización por despido — severance payment on dismissal. For despido improcedente (unfair dismissal): currently 33 days' salary per year of service, capped at 24 monthly payments.

In the Office

Reunión — meeting.

Orden del día — agenda.

Acta — minutes of a meeting.

Dirección — management / the management team.

Gerente — general manager.

Directivo/a — a member of the management team.

Mandos intermedios — middle management.

Plantilla — the company's total workforce.

Departamento — department.

Recursos Humanos (RRHH) — Human Resources.

Nómina — payslip.

IRPF — Impuesto sobre la Renta de las Personas Físicas. Personal income tax, withheld from your salary by the employer and paid to the tax authority (Agencia Tributaria). The rate is progressive.

Seguridad Social — social security contributions, shared between employer and employee.

Número de Seguridad Social — your social security number, issued when you first start working in Spain. Essential for employment.

Culture Notes

Spanish professional culture is relationship-driven and often more hierarchical than northern European or Anglo-American norms. A few practical observations:

Tuteo vs usted — the choice between informal tú and formal usted in address. In many modern Spanish companies, especially in tech and startups, tuteo (informal address) is the norm. In more traditional sectors (law, banking, public administration), usted is standard with seniors. Follow the lead of your colleagues.

Horario de trabajo — working hours. Spanish companies, especially in Madrid, have traditionally operated on a split-day schedule with a long midday break (pausa del mediodía). This is changing, particularly in international companies. Clarify your company's actual working hours rather than assuming.

Conciliación — work-life balance, a topic of active national policy in Spain. Increasingly relevant in workplace conversations.

Working effectively in a Spanish company requires vocabulary at three levels: the formal (contracts, legal structure), the professional (meetings, hierarchy), and the cultural (how people actually speak to each other, what they expect, what they mean by what they say). Build all three.

Professional Spanish in a Spanish company is its own vocabulary. Vokabulo helps you build the exact words for your workplace — from the contrato to the convenio. Available on iPhone and iPad.