What a “collaborating family member” is

If your spouse, civil partner, or a close relative (up to the degree of kinship set by law, usually including children and parents) works with you in the business on a regular basis, lives with you, and isn’t paid as an employee, the status that applies to them isn’t an employment contract: it’s registration as a collaborating family member under the self-employed scheme.

Why this status exists separately

A family member who helps you on an ongoing basis in the business doesn’t fit well as an employee (there’s no genuine employment relationship with the usual features of dependency and being an outside party when it’s someone from your immediate family) or as “undeclared work” (which would be straightforwardly irregular). Registering them as a collaborating family member fills that gap: it gives them social security cover (healthcare, contributions towards their future pension, benefits) without needing an employment contract between you.

The usual requirements

  • A degree of kinship within what the law sets: spouse, registered civil partner, and relatives by blood or marriage up to the 2nd degree.
  • Living with the business owner (with the nuance of being dependent on them).
  • Regular, not occasional, work in the business.
  • Not being registered as an employee in that same business.

The reduction on contributions

To encourage these arrangements to be declared rather than left in the informal economy, the law provides for a reduction on self-employed contributions:

  • 50% reduction on the common-contingencies contribution for the first 18 months after registering as a collaborating family member.
  • 25% for the following 6 months (months 19 to 24).

The calculation base is the contribution for the minimum base of Bracket 1 of the general contribution table, not a freely chosen base. There is also a prior requirement: not having been registered under RETA (or the Special Scheme for Sea Workers) in the 5 years immediately before. The rules are in art. 35 of Law 20/2007 (LETA), as amended by RDL 13/2022.

What this status is NOT

It doesn’t replace an employment contract if the person doesn’t meet the kinship and cohabitation requirements: in that case, what applies is standard registration as an employee, with payroll and employer contributions, as we explain in the guide to hiring your first employee as a self-employed person. Mixing up the two statuses to “save” on contributions is exactly the kind of thing a labour inspection can reclassify with retroactive effect. If you’re unsure what the employment-contract route would cost, the numbers are in what an employee really costs.

Already have a family member helping you out?

If a relative has been lending you a hand in the business for a while without being registered in any way, now’s a good time to sort it out before someone else notices. We’ll tell you exactly which status applies to them and what reduction you’re entitled to. Write to us at contacto@asesoriamadal.es.