Unemployment of domestic workers: how much is paid and when does the two-year benefit period reach?

Unemployment contributions for domestic workers have been mandatory since October 1, 2022, as established by Royal Decree-Law 16/2022, but this rule did not have backward effects. The SEPE only added the days of contributions from that date, so no worker employed solely in homes could reach the maximum of 720 days of unemployment before the end of August 2028, when they would add the 2,160 days of contributions required by article 269 of the General Social Security Law.

Since November 11, 2025, a SEPE criterion allows adding the periods of registration at home for the six years prior to becoming unemployed, although in those years it was not possible to contribute for unemployment, according to the note in which CCOO summarized it. The SEPE issued it after a report from the General State Attorney’s Office and several rulings, such as the one that recognized the subsidy for those over 52 years of age to a domestic worker. In this subsidy, the six years are counted from the application.

How much unemployment time can a domestic worker receive?

The duration depends on the days contributed in the last six years, including those from other employed jobs, according to the scale of article 269 of that law. With less than 360 days there is no unemployment, although you can request the subsidy for insufficient contributions if your requirements are met.

An employee with six consecutive years of employment in the same company who is fired at the end of October 2026 adds up to around 2,190 days and would collect 720 days of unemployment. With the previous rule, they would only count the days since October 2022 (about 1,490) and it would remain at 480 days.

How much do you collect in unemployment as a domestic worker?

70% of the regulatory base (the average of the unemployment contributions in the last 180 days, without overtime) is charged during the first 180 days and 60% thereafter until the benefit is exhausted, according to article 270 of the General Social Security Law.

Thus, if a full-time employee with the 2026 minimum wage contributes for 1,424.50 euros per month (her salary with the proportional part of the extra payments), she would collect about 997 euros gross at the beginning and about 855 from day 181. Now, unemployment has minimum and maximum amounts.

Minimum amounts

• Minimum amount without children will be 560 euros per month (80% of the IPREM plus the increase of one sixth).
• Minimum amount with one child or more will be 749 euros per month (107% of the IPREM plus the increase of one sixth).

Maximum amounts

• Maximum amount without children will be 1,225 euros per month (175% of the IPREM plus the increase of one sixth).
• Maximum amount with one child will be 1,400 euros per month (200% of the IPREM plus the increase of one sixth).
• The maximum amount for two or more children will be 1,575 euros per month (225% of the IPREM plus the increase of one sixth).

With part-time employment, a few hours a week, these limits decrease in proportion to the day.

Requirements to collect unemployment as a domestic employee

You must have lost your job unintentionally and the family must communicate in writing the end of the contract and its cause. Whoever leaves of their own free will only receives unemployment benefits in cases covered by article 267 of that law, such as that of the victim of gender violence. The cause may be any of those that apply to the rest of the employees, disciplinary dismissal at the end of a temporary contract, or one of these three, as long as it is justified:

• A drop in income or an unexpected increase in expenses in the family.
• A major change in the needs of the house.
• A reasonable loss of trust due to the worker’s behavior.

In these three cases, the family must pay, when notifying the dismissal, a compensation of 12 days’ salary per year worked, with a maximum of six monthly payments, according to the SEPE website for domestic workers. Then you must register as a job seeker and request unemployment within 15 days of becoming unemployed, as established in article 268 (if you request later, the days of delay are lost).

The 2025 criterion applies to new applications, previous claims and, ex officio (without the worker requesting it), to resolutions that had already been appealed in court. According to the CCOO summary, it says nothing about the denials that no one appealed.