Your business works with one or more self-employed professionals and you have received a request from the Labour Inspectorate.
They ask you for contracts, invoices, schedules, communications or information on how the professionals actually provide their services.
The first question is usually immediate:
“Can the Inspectorate consider that I have falsely self-employed workers even if they all have commercial contracts and are registered as self-employed?”
Yes, it can challenge this.
However, the existence of a commercial contract, a monthly invoice or registration with the RETA does not by itself determine the nature of the relationship. We need to analyse how the work is actually carried out.
At Barcelona Laboral, we are lawyers specialising in false self-employment, Labour Inspectorate matters and the defence of businesses in employment proceedings in Barcelona. We act from the first request, analyse the actual relationship with each professional and prepare the strategy for possible infringement notices and contribution assessment notices.
Quick answer: in the event of an inspection into false self-employment in Barcelona, we need to review how the professionals actually work: who organises their work, whether they have autonomy, who bears the business risk, how they invoice, what resources they use and the extent to which they are integrated into the organisation. If the Inspectorate concludes that they should have been registered as employees, it may claim Social Security contributions for the non-time-barred period and propose penalties for each person affected. The defence should begin before submitting documents or receiving the notice.
What is false self-employment in practice?
A falsely self-employed worker is a person formally presented as self-employed whose services, in practice, have the characteristics of an employment relationship.
If your business works with self-employed professionals and you are unsure whether your situation would withstand a labour inspection, do not wait until you receive a request. At Barcelona Laboral, we analyse your case in detail and tell you exactly where you are exposed.
Article 1.1 of the Workers’ Statute includes within its scope those who voluntarily provide paid services for another party and within that party’s sphere of organisation and management.
Therefore, we cannot decide whether someone is self-employed or an employee simply by looking at the name of the contract.
The principle of reality is key
We may have a document titled “services agreement” and yet find that, in practice, the professional:
- Has imposed working hours.
- Receives ongoing instructions.
- Is integrated into the company team.
- Does not genuinely organise their own work.
- Does not bear business risk.
- Uses mainly resources provided by the company.
- Receives remuneration structured very similarly to a salary.
In this scenario, the Inspectorate may challenge the commercial classification.
What does the Inspectorate consider when deciding whether an employment relationship exists?
There is no checklist where ticking three boxes automatically provides an answer.
The relationship must be assessed as a whole.
Dependence
We analyse the extent to which the company organises and controls the provision of services.
It may be relevant who determines working hours, location, methodology, priorities, holidays, substitutions or daily instructions.
Work performed for another party’s account
We need to examine who the work is really performed for, who benefits from the outcome of the activity, who sets the financial terms and who bears the main risks.
Integration into the organisation
It may be relevant whether the professional appears as another member of staff, uses a corporate email address, attends internal meetings, reports to managers or serves clients under the company’s organisation.
Work resources
The use of the company’s premises, tools, vehicles or systems may be an indicator, although it does not decide the case by itself.
Method of remuneration
A fixed amount every month may be a factor to consider, but it does not automatically turn a commercial relationship into an employment relationship.
We need to assess the overall picture.
Does working exclusively for one company make someone falsely self-employed?
Not necessarily.
This is one of the most common misconceptions.
Spanish law recognises the status of the economically dependent self-employed worker, or TRADE.
The Self-Employment Statute covers professionals who earn at least 75% of their income from a single client, provided they also meet the other requirements needed to maintain a genuinely self-employed activity.
Economic dependence does not necessarily mean employment dependence
A professional may have a main client and still organise their activity independently.
Conversely, a person may have several clients and maintain a relationship with one of them which, in light of the actual circumstances, displays employment characteristics.
For this reason, in an inspection into false self-employment in Barcelona, we do not defend a relationship merely by saying that the professional “has other clients”.
We analyse how they actually work.
Why might an inspection into false self-employment begin?
There are different routes.
Complaint from a professional
A self-employed professional may approach the Inspectorate because they consider that they are, in reality, working as an employee.
Planned Inspectorate action
The ITSS may act as part of campaigns or scheduled actions.
Information obtained during another inspection
A visit initiated for another reason may end up raising issues regarding the commercial relationships in place at the company.
Available administrative information
The Inspectorate has powers to obtain and cross-check information within its remit.
However, we do not recommend claiming that invoicing a certain percentage to one client automatically creates an “alert” that leads to an inspection.
What can the Labour Inspectorate request?
This will depend on the action being taken.
Relevant documentation may include:
- Commercial contracts.
- Invoices.
- Payment information.
- Business emails and communications.
- Organisation charts.
- Information about working hours.
- Access records.
- Documentation on the resources used.
- Information on the duties performed.
Interviews may also be conducted with the people providing services.
We do not recommend submitting documents without reviewing them first
Not because information should be withheld —the company must properly comply with the Inspectorate’s requests— but because we need to understand what is being requested, what each document demonstrates and whether it needs to be accompanied by an explanation.
What happens if the inspector considers that false self-employment exists?
The consequences may arise on different levels.
Social Security registration
The person’s correct classification as self-employed may be challenged, and it may be considered that they should have been registered as an employee.
Contribution assessment notice
The Social Security contributions that should have been paid may be claimed.
Infringement notice
In addition, an administrative penalty may be proposed for failing to correctly register the worker.
A contribution assessment notice and an infringement notice are different concepts, although they may arise from the same facts.
What is the current penalty for false self-employment?
Where the outcome is that the company should have registered the professional as an employee, LISOS classifies the failure to register a person entering the company’s service as a serious infringement.
It is considered an infringement for each worker affected.
Current amounts
- Minimum level: from €3,750 to €7,500.
- Medium level: from €7,501 to €9,600.
- Maximum level: from €9,601 to €12,000.
Where several infringements of this kind are identified in the same inspection action, LISOS also provides for certain percentage increases depending on the number of people affected, while respecting the maximum limit applicable to each infringement.
For this reason, an inspection into false self-employment in Barcelona affecting five or ten professionals can have a very different financial impact from an individual case.
Can overdue contributions be claimed in addition to the fine?
Yes.
The administrative penalty and the Social Security debt are not the same thing.
If an employment relationship is found to have existed, the corresponding contribution assessment may be issued.
General four-year limitation period
The General Social Security Act establishes a general four-year limitation period for the Administration to determine contribution debts.
However, we need to analyse the specific calculation and any possible grounds for interruption of the limitation period.
For this reason, we do not recommend simply taking the date of the inspection and subtracting four years without reviewing the file.
Can the worker also bring a claim?
The possible reclassification may also have consequences for the individual relationship.
Depending on the circumstances, disputes may arise concerning:
- Recognition of the employment relationship.
- Length of service.
- Holidays.
- Salary or pay differences.
- The applicable collective agreement.
- Termination of the relationship.
- Social Security rights.
Each claim has its own requirements and time limits.
What if the self-employed professional voluntarily signed the contract?
Signing it does not end the discussion.
The Workers’ Statute presumes the existence of an employment contract where a person provides paid services for another party and within that party’s sphere of organisation and management.
Therefore, the fact that both parties wrote “commercial relationship” in a document does not prevent an analysis of what was actually happening.
However, this does not mean that every commercial contract will be considered an employment relationship.
Evidence of genuine autonomy remains decisive.
Does the company have to prove that no employment relationship exists?
We should avoid presenting this simply as an “automatic reversal of the burden of proof”.
There is a legal presumption of employment where the circumstances set out in Article 8.1 of the Workers’ Statute are met.
However, in a specific procedure, we must assess the facts established by the Inspectorate, the presumption of accuracy applicable to its actions, and the evidence submitted by the company and the persons concerned.
The strategy cannot consist solely of saying that “the inspector has to prove everything” or, at the other extreme, assuming that the company has already lost the case.
Start-ups, consultants and technology professionals
In Barcelona, we often see companies working with developers, designers, consultants, marketing specialists or technology professionals engaged as self-employed workers.
This model can be entirely legitimate where the services are genuinely independent.
However, we need to monitor situations where the professional:
- Works like another member of the team.
- Has hierarchical managers.
- Must log in at set times.
- Needs authorisation to be absent.
- Cannot decide how to organise the work.
- Lacks a genuine business structure of their own.
Remote work does not automatically remove the element of dependence either.
Riders and digital platforms
Digital delivery platforms are also subject to specific regulation.
The Workers’ Statute contains a presumption of employment for certain delivery activities where the company exercises organisational, management and control powers —directly, indirectly or implicitly— through algorithmic management via a digital platform.
Therefore, it is not technically correct simply to say that “all riders must be employees” without considering the regulated circumstances.
Construction and refurbishment: self-employed does not necessarily mean TRADE
In construction, installations and refurbishment work, it is common to work with self-employed professionals.
The existence of a main client does not automatically make a professional a TRADE either.
To use this status correctly, all the requirements established in the Self-Employment Statute must be met.
And being a TRADE does not allow an employment relationship to be concealed.
The person must continue to carry out a genuinely self-employed activity.
I have not received an inspection yet: what can I review?
This is the best time to check whether the model being used genuinely reflects the way work is carried out.
An inspection into false self-employment can lead to penalties, retroactive contributions and employment claims. Our lawyers specialising in employment law for businesses can help you regularise your position before it is too late.
Contract and reality must match
A well-drafted contract does not save a disguised employment relationship.
But a poorly drafted contract can also create confusion in a relationship that is genuinely commercial.
We review in particular
- Genuine organisational autonomy.
- The professional’s clients.
- How prices are set.
- Assumption of risk.
- Resources used.
- How the professional communicates with the company.
- Integration into internal teams.
- Invoicing.
- A genuine ability to organise the provision of services.
Can I change the contract to avoid false self-employment?
Changing the paperwork alone does not solve the problem.
If the actual provision of services continues to operate as an employment relationship, changing certain clauses in the commercial contract does not alter its nature.
The effective organisation must be consistent
If we genuinely want to maintain a commercial relationship, there must be real business autonomy.
If that autonomy does not exist and the professional operates as an employee, we need to analyse the correct regularisation.
The purpose of a preventive audit should not be to create the appearance of autonomy, but to determine the legal classification that corresponds to the actual relationship.
Is it advisable to regularise voluntarily before an inspection?
It may be an option where we identify relationships that do not amount to genuine self-employment.
However, we should not promise that voluntary regularisation “eliminates the penalty”.
We need to examine:
- How registration should be carried out.
- From what date.
- What contributions may be outstanding.
- What effects it has for the worker.
- What other obligations arise.
The sooner an incorrect situation is reviewed, the greater the scope for putting the relationship in proper legal order.
I have already received the request: can I still regularise?
Once the inspection action has begun, we need to be particularly careful.
Registering the professional immediately may be appropriate in certain scenarios, but it does not automatically erase what happened before or guarantee that the case will be closed.
Before acting, we need to know:
- What exactly the Inspectorate is investigating.
- Since when the services have been provided.
- What documentation the Administration has.
- What position each professional takes.
- What consequences regularisation will have.
What happens if I have already received a notice?
At this point, the defence enters a different phase.
We need to read the full notice and check:
- The facts it states have been established.
- The periods affected.
- The people included.
- The legal classification.
- The proposed penalty.
- The contributions claimed.
- The evidence used.
Time limit for submissions
As a general rule, the regulations governing sanctioning procedures grant 15 working days from the day after notification to submit representations against an infringement notice.
Where an infringement notice and a contribution assessment notice are issued simultaneously for the same facts, we must follow the specific procedure applicable to both.
What can we challenge in our submissions?
This will depend on the case file.
For example:
- The absence of certain elements of an employment relationship.
- Genuine organisational autonomy.
- Errors in the period claimed.
- People incorrectly included.
- Limitation.
- The calculation of contributions.
- The level of the penalty.
- An incomplete assessment of the documentation.
- Facts stated incorrectly.
We do not recommend using a standard template for submissions.
An inspection into false self-employment in Barcelona may involve different professionals who work in completely different ways.
Can I obtain a reduction in the penalty?
There is a specific reduction regime where its requirements are met.
In certain procedures where the proposed penalty is exclusively financial and there are no ancillary penalties, the regulations allow an intention to pay to be declared within the applicable time limit, with the waiver of certain actions and appeals.
The reduction may reach 40% of the proposed penalty under the regulatory terms.
However, accepting that option means waiving the right to challenge the penalty through the ordinary route.
For this reason, we need to compare the financial implications:
paying with a reduction vs. challenging it.
Are Inspectorate notices impossible to challenge?
No.
Facts recorded by Inspectorate officials within their remit have particular evidential weight under the terms provided by law.
However, that presumption does not make every legal assessment in the notice indisputable.
The company can submit evidence and arguments against the relevant facts or conclusions.
Which court will hear the matter subsequently?
The social jurisdiction hears not only disputes between workers and companies.
It also has jurisdiction over numerous challenges to administrative acts in employment and Social Security matters, including sanctioning actions and certain acts relating to registrations and contribution assessments.
The specific route will depend on the act being challenged and the prior exhaustion of the applicable administrative appeals.
Therefore, we should not state in general terms that a penalty for false self-employment will always end up before the administrative courts.
What happens with the tax authorities if the relationship is reclassified?
Reclassification may also have tax consequences, but these must be analysed separately.
We should not automatically state that all invoices cease to be deductible expenses.
It may be necessary to review withholding tax, VAT and previous returns according to the specific circumstances and tax rules.
Where required by the case, the employment-law aspect must be coordinated with the tax analysis.
How we defend these inspections at Barcelona Laboral
Our way of working begins before drafting any submissions.
1. We analyse each person individually
We do not assume that every self-employed professional working with the company is in the same situation.
2. We reconstruct how the services are actually provided
Working hours, instructions, autonomy, resources, clients, invoicing and organisation.
3. We review contracts and documentation
We compare what was signed with reality.
4. We analyse the request or notice
We determine exactly what the Inspectorate is seeking to establish.
5. We calculate the financial exposure
Penalties, contributions claimed and possible employment consequences.
6. We prepare the documentation
We organise the useful evidence to support the company’s position.
7. We draft the submissions
We respond individually to the facts and grounds in the case file.
8. We assess regularisation or challenge
Depending on the situation, we may recommend correcting certain relationships, challenging the notice or combining actions.
9. We defend the case through to court proceedings
Where necessary, we continue the defence against the administrative decision before the competent court.
Mistakes to avoid during an inspection
Thinking that having a commercial contract resolves the issue
The reality of the services provided is fundamental.
Thinking that invoicing other clients guarantees self-employed status
It is a relevant factor, but it does not by itself determine the nature of the relationship.
Changing documents retrospectively
We should not alter contracts, communications or evidence to create an appearance different from what actually happened.
Preparing self-employed professionals to give a false version of events
The defence must be based on provable facts, not on coordinating accounts.
Submitting all documentation without reviewing the request
We must cooperate with the Inspectorate, but it is advisable to properly organise and contextualise the requested documentation.
Assuming the case is lost upon receiving the notice
The notice starts a phase in which submissions can still be made and evidence submitted.
Paying immediately without assessing the alternatives
In some cases, the payment reduction may be worthwhile; in others, there may be sufficient grounds to challenge it.
Conclusion: the time to act is when the first request arrives
An inspection into false self-employment in Barcelona can have a considerable financial impact on a business.
The Inspectorate may challenge the commercial nature of the relationship, promote the appropriate registration, claim contributions for the non-time-barred period and propose penalties for each person affected.
However, not every relationship with a self-employed professional is fraudulent.
There are independent professionals, TRADE workers and genuine service providers who can work entirely lawfully for a company.
The key is to distinguish economic dependence from employment dependence and establish how each service is actually organised.
If you have received an inspection into false self-employment in Barcelona, we can review the documentation and the actual relationship with each professional before deciding which strategy your business should follow.
Frequently asked questions about inspections into false self-employment in Barcelona
Every business has different circumstances. At Barcelona Laboral, we review your contracts, the actual relationship with your collaborators and the available documentation to build a strategy tailored to your specific situation.