Sick leave and permits in a Spanish SME: types, proof and who approves

What types of sick leave and permit does an SME need?

There is no single list that fits every firm. The collective agreement, the contract and your advisor decide what exists and how it is paid. What you can lock down inside the company is the operating catalogue: what a person can request and what document each type carries.

• Configurable types: sick leave, permit and whatever the company defines. You do not need a product per case; you configure the type.
• Holidays usually sit on their own screen (balance and calendar). Sick leave and a permit are not “holiday days under another name”.
• Anyone with no staff does not manage third-party sick leave. A sole trader with no employees does not open a file on themselves in this module.
• This article does not say whether a permit is paid, nor the deadlines for Social Security notices. That is the law and your advisor, not the software.
• A badly named type on a sheet (“personal matter”, “sick”, “absence”) becomes a payroll problem. The type name must be the one the agency later understands.

When do you need proof?

The attachment is not decoration. It is the document the type requires before the request can be decided. If the type does not ask for it, do not ask out of habit. If it does, do not leave it in the manager’s inbox.

• Attachments when the type requires them: the person uploads proof with the request, not in a parallel thread.
• The sick note, the permit document or whatever your policy asks for sits with the request.
• A loose PDF in the agency mailbox is not a history. If Inspection or payroll ask about that day, the request, the file and the status have to appear.
• Do not confuse absence proof with the working-time record. Article 34.9 requires start and end times each day. Sick leave explains why there is no working day; it does not replace the record of days actually worked.
• Keeping a file that shows who asked, what they attached and who decided avoids rebuilding the month from WhatsApp screenshots.

Who approves, and what statuses exist?

The request is not decided with a chat “ok”. It goes through Approvals: pending, approved or rejected, with a trail of who said what.

What history do payroll or the agency need?

The firm does not want a story. It wants, per employee, what was asked, with which document and in which status it ended. That is what stops a different absence spreadsheet per client.

• History per employee: type, dates, attachments and status. Retrievable when payroll closes or when the client asks.
• The Approvals queue holds the yes or no next to clock-ins and leave. You do not open three inboxes to close the week.
• An agency that starts with Laboral (payroll, contracts) adds Time when the client’s sick-leave spreadsheet no longer holds the month.
• None of this is software certification. There is no official ITSS or AEAT list that “approves” your absence process.
• The working-time record (start and end, four years, accessible) remains a separate duty. Absences explain it; they do not replace it.

What can SOLIA do, and what can it not do?

SOLIA can help frame a sick-leave or permit request. It does not replace your advisor, and it does not tell you whether that day is, in law, a paid permit.

• It can guide the request: type, dates, whether the type needs an attachment.
• It does not sign off the fit with the agreement, Social Security deadlines, or the legal classification.
• Approving or rejecting remains the responsible person’s decision, with a history.
• If there is a legal doubt, the right answer is the firm, not the chat.

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