Can you go to work with a red alert for rains? What does the law say

To amend the Workers' Statute regarding leave for adverse meteorological phenomena, the ordinary procedure for reforming a state law must be followed. This procedure combines a governmental phase (when the initiative comes from the Government) and a strictly parliamentary phase in the Congress and Senate, regulated by the Constitution and the Rules of both Chambers.

1. What type of initiative is used?

The amendment can reach the General Courts through two main routes:

• Government bill: the Council of Ministers approves a bill that modifies, for example, the articles of the Statute where paid leave is regulated (currently in art. 37 and related provisions).
• Private member's bill: it can be registered by a parliamentary group of the Congress or the Senate, a certain number of deputies or senators, or an autonomous assembly. It can also specifically modify leave for meteorological phenomena (for example, by creating a new section or expanding cases).

In both cases, the final result is an ordinary law that introduces changes to the current wording of the Workers' Statute.

2. Preliminary phase in the Government (if it is a bill)

Law 50/1997, on the Government, and the regulations on normative procedure establish a general framework for the preparation of draft bills:

• Draft bill in the competent ministry (usually Labor), with prior studies and technical consultations.
• Prior public consultation via the ministry's website, unless its omission is justified (for example, due to urgency or low impact), to gather the opinion of potentially affected persons and organizations.
• Regulatory Impact Analysis Report, detailing the opportunity of the reform, its alternatives, economic, social, gender impact, etc.
• Mandatory reports and opinions (Technical General Secretariat, Treasury if there is budgetary impact, Council of State if applicable...).
• Approval by the Council of Ministers of the bill and submission to the Congress of Deputies.

In this phase, the specific content of the reform of leave for meteorological phenomena is defined (requirements, duration, remuneration, coordination with emergencies, etc.).

3. Processing in the Congress of Deputies

The Rules of the Congress establish the common legislative procedure, which applies to the reform of the Statute:

• Qualification and admission for processing by the Bureau of the Congress, which checks formal requirements and orders the publication of the text and its referral to committee.
• Amendment period: groups and deputies can submit:
  • Total amendments (to return or replace the entire text).
  • Partial amendments (to change specific articles, for example, only the meteorological leave provisions).
• General debate in Plenary (if there is a total amendment). If the Plenary rejects that amendment, the bill continues its course; if it approves it, it is returned to the Government or the alternative text is processed.
• Committee work (Labor Committee or other competent):
  • A working group is appointed to negotiate a text based on the bill and the amendments.
  • The committee debates and votes the report and decides which amendments to incorporate.
• Congress Plenary: the report is debated and voted on, with the possibility to defend amendments not incorporated in committee. The approved text is sent to the Senate.

4. Processing in the Senate

The Senate receives the text from the Congress and, according to its Rules, has an ordinary period (shortened if the bill is urgent) to:

• Approve the text without changes: the law is ready for sanction and promulgation.
• Formulate amendments: these are debated in committee and Senate Plenary. The amended text returns to the Congress, which decides whether to accept these amendments fully or partially.
• Raise a veto: the Senate can oppose the entire law. The Congress can lift the veto by absolute majority immediately or by simple majority after two months.

At this point, technical or political adjustments can be introduced regarding the regulation of leave for meteorological phenomena (for example, limiting geographic areas, coordination with civil protection, etc.).

5. Final approval, sanction, and publication

Once the Congress resolves any Senate amendments or vetoes, the text is definitively approved by the General Courts. The Constitution provides that:

• The text is sent to the King for sanction and promulgation within the constitutional period.
• The law is published in the Official State Gazette (BOE), from which moment it forms part of the Workers' Statute, with the new regulation on leave for meteorological phenomena, on the effective date established by the law itself.

From that effective date, any company or worker must adjust the management of these leaves to the new statutory wording.

The Labor and Social Security Inspectorate (ITSS) is the main body responsible for monitoring compliance with the Occupational Risk Prevention Law (LPRL) in Spain, also when there are rain alert situations (yellow, orange, or red warnings for heavy rain, storms, floods, etc.). Its powers do not change because there is a weather alert, but these alerts are a key element to assess the risk and the company's diligence.

1. General function of the ITSS in occupational risk prevention

Generally, the Inspectorate has three main functions regarding the LPRL:

• Monitoring and control of compliance with preventive obligations (risk assessment, planning, training, protective equipment, coordination of business activities, etc.).
• Advice and warning to companies and workers about the correct application of the regulations.
• Sanction and enforcement of responsibilities when non-compliance is detected, especially if it involves a serious and imminent risk.

2. Inspection and control powers in intense rain situations

In contexts of rain alerts, the Inspectorate can act both ex officio (through campaigns, accidents, news, etc.) and following complaints. Its main powers are:

• Entry and inspection of workplaces, even without prior notice, to verify if the company has taken into account the risk from meteorological phenomena (torrential rains, overflows, slips, falls from different and same levels, water currents, electrical risk, etc.).
• Review of risk assessment and preventive planning to verify if adverse weather conditions have been considered and if specific protocols exist (for example, for outdoor work, excavations, roofs, proximity to watercourses, tunnels, or sanitation networks).
• Verification of specific measures: adoption of appropriate PPE, restriction of certain outdoor tasks, reinforcement of signage, cleaning of flooded areas, emergency and evacuation plans, etc.

3. Work stoppage due to serious and imminent risk

One of the most relevant powers during heavy rain episodes is the authority to stop work when a serious and imminent risk to the safety or health of workers is observed. In practice, this includes, for example:

• Work at height on wet and slippery roofs or structures.
• Work in trenches, basements, or spaces susceptible to flooding.
• Activities near watercourses, channels, or infrastructures at risk of overflow.

The stoppage order is formalized in writing and the company must comply immediately. Non-compliance may be considered a very serious infraction and aggravate liability in case of an accident.

4. Requirements and infraction reports

If the Inspectorate detects deficiencies, it has several instruments:

• Requirements: the company is given a deadline to correct non-compliances (for example, review the risk assessment to include flood risk; implement a procedure to suspend work in case of orange or red alert; improve information to staff on what to do during heavy rains).
• Infraction reports: when non-compliances classified as minor, serious, or very serious are found, an economic sanction is proposed and, if applicable, surcharges on Social Security benefits if there has been an accident.
• Warning or recommendation reports: in situations where prevention should be reinforced without yet imposing sanctions.

5. Risk assessment and use of weather alerts

Alerts from meteorological services and Civil Protection are an objective element that the Inspectorate takes into account to evaluate:

• Whether the company could reasonably foresee the risk.
• Whether it has adapted schedules, shifts, or tasks (for example, advancing or postponing outdoor work).
• Whether it has informed staff and activated protocols (telework, temporary closure, restricted access to especially exposed areas, etc.).

Ignoring an official alert and maintaining activity without additional measures can be interpreted as serious lack of diligence.

6. Coordination with other authorities and consequences for the company

During extreme rain episodes, the ITSS can exchange information with:

• Autonomous labor authorities, which can promote specific control campaigns in certain sectors (construction, agriculture, street cleaning, etc.).
• Civil Protection and emergency services, when occupational risks overlap with risks to the population or infrastructures.

Consequences for companies that do not adapt their working conditions to rain situations may include:

• Significant economic sanctions for serious or very serious prevention infractions.
• Social Security benefit surcharges in case of accidents derived from lack of measures.
• Possible criminal liabilities if the conduct is considered criminal (for example, due to gross negligence resulting in injury or death).

In summary, the Labor Inspectorate has broad powers to control, demand, and, if necessary, impose consequences when, in the face of rain alerts, companies do not adjust their preventive management to the real risks faced by workers.

According to the available information, there is no official public statistic indicating how many times the paid leave for inability to access work due to meteorological phenomena has been applied in Spain in the last decade. Moreover, this leave, as we know it today, is a very recent figure, incorporated into the Workers' Statute starting in 2024, so there could not even be a homogeneous ten-year series.

The current framework of this right originates with Royal Decree-Law 8/2024, which introduces what the Ministry of Labor and the press call the “paid climate leave”. The legal reference is integrated into the Workers' Statute (art. 37.3.g, as explained by specialized media), recognizing up to four days of paid leave when:

• It is not possible to access the workplace or travel through the necessary routes to get there, as a consequence of recommendations, restrictions, or prohibitions on travel agreed by the competent authorities.
• There is a serious and imminent risk situation, including those derived from a disaster or adverse meteorological phenomenon, as reflected in the interpretation disseminated by economic and labor press.

Official press releases from 2025 and 2026 from the Ministry of Labor and Moncloa emphasize that Spain is a “pioneer” in implementing this paid climate leave of up to four days per year in emergency climate situations and adverse meteorological phenomena. It is stressed that it applies, for example, when there are orange or red warnings from AEMET and it is impossible or dangerous to travel to the workplace.

However, those same sources focus on explaining the content of the right and the company's obligations, but do not provide usage figures: they do not indicate how many workers have taken the leave, how many days have been granted, or how many specific episodes (DANA, floods, fires, snowstorms, etc.) have triggered its activation.

On the other hand, the chronology itself is decisive for your question:

• The specific regulation of the paid climate leave was approved in 2024.
• Before that date, there could have been justified absences due to force majeure, workplace closures, or occupational risk prevention measures against adverse weather, but this specific design of leave of up to four days typified in the Statute did not exist.
• Talking about “the last decade” for this specific figure mixes periods without the leave (2016‑2023) with only a few years in which it is in force (since 2024).

Furthermore, even if we wanted to limit the question only from 2024 onwards, the sources reviewed (BOE, Ministry of Labor notes, and labor analysis news) agree that:

• It is repeatedly explained that the leave exists, is paid, and covers up to four days in case of meteorological phenomena or disasters that prevent travel.
• Practical examples are given (forest fires, rain and snow storms, extreme heat alerts, transport cuts) where workers can avail themselves of this right.
• No centralized usage counter of the leave is published, neither in the Ministry of Labor's statistical reports nor in Inspection balances oriented to this specific data.

For the figure you ask (“how many times it has been applied in the last decade”) to exist, it would be necessary that:

• Either the Ministry of Labor systematically collected and published internal communications from all companies and administrations about granting this leave.
• Or there was a specific code in some official labor absence statistics (INE, Social Security, inspection) identifying “paid climate leave for inability to access work”.

None of this appears in the sources consulted: the information is normative and informative, but not quantitative. Therefore, with the available data, it can only be stated reliably that:

• The paid climate leave for inability to access work due to meteorological phenomena is a new figure (since 2024).
• There is no official public statistic indicating how many times it has been applied either since its creation or, much less, in a “last decade” that includes years when the leave did not exist.

If you need a quantitative approximation, the only realistic way today would be to request specific data from administrative sources (for example, the Ministry of Labor or large public employers) through information requests, knowing that it is possible that even they do not aggregate this data systematically.