Unpaid wages and money claims in Barcelona

What can be claimed

A money claim covers any amount owed under the employment relationship: unpaid or late salary, shortfalls against the collective agreement’s pay tables, extra payments, allowances, overtime, earned commissions and bonuses, untaken holiday at the end of the contract, or expenses the employer should have reimbursed.

Each item has its own logic. A bonus depends on the agreed targets and how they were communicated; overtime requires evidence of the hours actually worked; a collective-agreement shortfall first requires establishing which agreement applies and which professional category you should hold. Lumping everything into one global figure tends to weaken the claim.

The deadline: one year, amount by amount

As a general rule, claims for amounts arising from the employment contract become time-barred one year after the day they could first be demanded. In practice, each payslip has its own due date: what was owed fourteen months ago may already be out of time, even if what was owed eight months ago is not.

The limitation period can be interrupted by specific acts, such as a formal out-of-court demand that can be proven, or filing the conciliation request. A verbal comment or an informal message does not always have that effect. Reviewing the calendar early avoids losing older amounts over a formality.

Building a figure that holds up

I usually work with a monthly table: what you should have received under your contract and agreement, what appears on the payslip and what was actually paid in. That comparison makes the source of each shortfall visible and lets the claim be explained simply, to the other side or to a court.

Working-time records, which employers are required to keep, can be decisive in overtime claims. Emails with instructions, rotas, system logins or messages that show activity also help. Gather them lawfully and without accessing information you are not authorised to see.

Routes to recovery

Often the first step is a written, documented demand to the employer, which also records the date. If there is no response or agreement, the usual route is prior conciliation and then a claim before the labour court. Late-payment interest may be added to certain salary amounts.

If the company is insolvent or in insolvency proceedings, different rules apply and the Wage Guarantee Fund (FOGASA) may step in within its limits. Assessing the employer’s real solvency is part of a realistic strategy.

Typical claims in Barcelona

In practice, many claims arise from incorrect job classification: duties of a higher category paid at a lower one. Others stem from part-time contracts that are really full-time, collective-agreement allowances that are never applied, or variable pay whose calculation was never explained. In sectors such as hospitality, retail, office work or logistics, the Barcelona provincial agreement or the Catalan regional agreement is usually the first reference to check.

The one-year limit and why it matters

Claims for unpaid salary are generally subject to a one-year limitation period counted from the date each payment should have been made. In practice this means that each month that goes by without action can cost the oldest unpaid amount. Sending a written demand to the company, or filing for conciliation, interrupts that period, so acting early protects the full amount rather than only the most recent months.

Delayed salary also accrues interest for late payment under the Workers' Statute. It is a modest figure, but it is part of what can be claimed and it signals to the employer that the delay has a cost.

When the company cannot pay

If the employer is insolvent, in insolvency proceedings or has simply disappeared, a court judgment or conciliation agreement is still worth obtaining. The Salary Guarantee Fund (FOGASA) can cover part of unpaid wages and compensation within legal limits, but it requires the debt to be properly recognised first. The order in which steps are taken affects what can eventually be recovered.

Overtime, variable pay and wrongly applied agreements

Many wage claims are not about a missed payslip but about amounts that were never calculated correctly: overtime recorded on the time register but not paid, bonuses whose targets changed without notice, or a collective agreement that places the job in a lower salary group than the work actually done. These cases depend on documents. The time-recording register, which every company must keep, is often the most useful piece of evidence, and you are entitled to ask for access to your own records.

What to expect from the first conversation

In our first contact you tell me what happened and what worries you. I will tell you whether any deadline requires immediate action, which documents to gather and, broadly, which routes are available. If we decide to work together, you will receive the scope of the engagement and the fees in writing before anything starts.

You do not need to have everything in order or know the legal name for your situation — that is precisely my job. The one thing that matters is not letting time slip by when deadlines are involved. I work in Spanish, Catalan and English.