Hiring staff when setting up a business in Spain is usually an essential step for every foreign entrepreneur who wishes to leave his or her business in good hands. If the businessman or woman lives in Spain, everything is simpler. But what happens when you want to set up a business in Spain and keep on living in your homeland? Everything becomes an ordeal: managing the taxes, opening a bank account and surely, hiring staff… Something it seems so complicated that you might be tempted to give up. Never!
Today we are going to review the process for hiring staff when setting up a business in Spain as a foreigner, without opening a branch or a subsidiary of your company and operating from the very first moment. There are ways and methods (completely legal and reliable) which may not be familiar to you. When you know them, you will be surprised of how easy everything can be. Do not miss this post! If you are considering setting up a business in our country and need to recruit legal and efficient workers, we give you all the tips.
Hiring staff when setting up a business in Spain as a foreigner. What do you need?
When a foreign Company comes to Spain, they are usually in the need of hiring resident workers (apart from moving employees from the country of origin). This can become a real problem, as foreign entrepreneurs are not familiar with the Spanish laws and the ways to do things properly. On the other hand, if there is not a branch or a subsidiary everything becomes more difficult, especially because of the timelines.
When hiring staff when setting up a business in Spain as a foreigner, it is essential to take in consideration that all the procedures previous to the hiring must be completed before in a satisfactory way. This means that the homework must be done (and well done). The company or Permanent Establishment in Spain must be constituted and have the definite CIF (ID Tax number). Be careful: the provisional CIF is of no use. Once obtained, you will be able to start the procedures to register your Spanish employees in the Social Security.
Staff recruitment: alternatives
Nevertheless, hiring staff when setting up a business in Spain is not always possible in an immediate way. Imagine you are a foreign entrepreneur who has just come to our country and cannot wait to start doing business here. You have already started to set the wheels turning in order to set up a company in Spain, but things are taking some time and you need to hire workers NOW. What is more, maybe you are already working with undocumented employees… This is quite a risk! It must be clear to you that haste is a bad counsellor and can lead you to heavy fines. In this case it is essential to find a provisional alternative that makes it possible for you to stay in the legal framework without losing a single day’s activity.
The simples and most popular way to do this is to register your workers in the RETA (Self-Employed Workers Regime) so they can operate under this legal figure until your company has the definite CIF and the compulsory registration in the Spanish Social Security. Self-employed workers are freelancers who assume their payments to this agency and manage their activity themselves. You will have to negotiate the hiring conditions with your freelance employees so the final outcome is advantageous for all sides.
When will my staff be ready to start working?
If you are thinking of hiring staff when setting up a business in Spain, the procedure just described is the best one if the society has not been registered yet. Though the option of having self-employed workings is quite interesting, something the timeframes become longer: registering a self-employed worker in the Social Security can take between 15 and 20 days that can be crucial for your business in Spain. Again, there is a solution! A Spanish legal consultancy specialized in helping foreign entrepreneurs to set up business in Spain will be your greatest alley during the procedures. In LEIALTA we can register your Spanish self-employed workers in the Social Security immediately, as we have previously-registered numbers and can do it with retroactive effect. Hiring staff when setting up a business in Spain will be easy for you from the very first moment!
A piece of advice: it you are considering managing all the procedures by yourself or are not sure of being well advised, be careful. In Spain, staff recruitment is usually put under the microscope and frauds are subject to heavy fines. The best thing you can do is to look for a tax and legal consultancy with experience in setting up business in Spain. They will explain all the options to you and will manage the procedures in an efficient way. From our business consulting Leialta we invite you to contact our foreign-business department, perfect for entrepreneurs who wish to do business in Spain. Our professional English-speaking team is trained to keep a fluid communication with our customers: this is essential for your peace of mind and your business’s success.
If you are in the need of hiring staff when setting up a business in Spain, this means that you want to bring your company to our country. We welcome you with open arms and want to help you so your business grows and generates profits for you and the society. Leave a comment and give us your opinion!
