Since the 2021 labor reform, the Workers’ Statute has reinforced the presumption that the employment contract is concluded for an indefinite period, with the temporary contract reserved for exceptional cases. One of these, due to the specialties of the performing, audiovisual and musical arts sector, is the fixed-term artistic employment contract applicable to artists and technical and auxiliary staff. This post explains the characteristics of this contractual modality regulated in Royal Decree 607/2026.
Royal Decree 607/2026, of July 22, which regulates the special employment relationship of artists who carry out their activity in the performing, audiovisual and musical arts, as well as people who carry out technical or auxiliary activities necessary for the development of said activity, will enter into force on May 25, 2027.
Among other issues, Article 7 of this royal decree establishes the rules for concluding a fixed-term artistic employment contract, which can only be entered into to cover the temporary needs of the company. It can be arranged for one or more performances, for a certain time, for a season, for the time that a play is running or for the duration of the different phases of production. Structural or permanent activities of the company are excluded, even if they are carried out in a cyclical manner.
Here the difference with the common regime appears. The artistic contract does not have to fit into the causes of article 15 of the Workers’ Statute: its own cause is the need for personnel linked to a performance, a season, a play or a production phase, and it is this need that marks its duration. In addition, it admits successive extensions if the need that justified its conclusion persists.
Through this modality, the company can hire artists as well as technical and auxiliary personnel to participate in the direct and exclusive execution of the activity that justifies the artistic contract.
The cause must be explained in the contract. As in the ordinary regime, the contract must specify precisely the qualifying cause, the specific circumstances that justify it and its connection with the expected duration. A generic mention such as “production” or “tour 2027” is not enough: it is necessary to explain for which phases of that production the person in question is hired and justify the duration.
This requirement arises from article 7.2 of Royal Decree 607/2026, although it already exists in general for all types of temporary contracts and has been reinforced by Royal Decree 723/2026, of September 9, transposing Directive (EU) 2019/1152 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of June 20, 2019, on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union, in force since October 5, 2026. Article 3.2.b) obliges the company to inform the employee in writing of the same cause and its connection with the duration of the contract, and to do so before the employment relationship begins.
These contracts are also subject to the chaining limits of article 15 of the Workers’ Statute, to which the regulation expressly refers. Thus, anyone who, under this contractual modality, has been hired within a 24-month period for more than 18 months through 2 or more contracts, with or without interruption, for the same or a different job in the same company or group of companies, will acquire the status of permanent employee. Anyone who occupies a position that has been covered through temporary contracts for more than 18 months within a 24-month period will also acquire this status. In addition, there are 2 other cases in which the fixed-term contract becomes permanent: when the contract does not comply with the rules of article 7 of Royal Decree 607/2026 explained in this post, and when the employee is not registered with Social Security.
At the end of the fixed-term artistic contract, the employee is entitled to compensation of 12 days’ salary per year of service, or the higher compensation established by the collective bargaining agreement or contract. If the contract, with its extensions, exceeds 18 months, the minimum compensation is 20 days per year of service. In contracts of less than 6 months, the parties may agree on the pro-rata payment of the compensation together with the remuneration; in those of longer duration, it will be necessary to comply with the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement.
Termination also requires notice, which can be agreed in writing in the contract within the limits of the collective agreement. Its minimum duration is 10 days if the contract has lasted more than 3 months, 15 days if it has lasted more than 6 months and 1 month if it has lasted more than 1 year. If the company does not respect it, it must pay the employee the salary of the days of notice not fulfilled.
The fixed-term artistic employment contract is a valuable specialty for a sector that works on projects, productions, seasons or tours, but it is not a space free of control: its validity depends on the company knowing how to explain in writing, before the relationship begins and with the same wording in the contract and in the information given to the employee, what the specific hiring need is and what event ends the contract.
