General Strike on 11 November 2026: Key Considerations for Employers

What companies can do and what they should avoid during the general strike called for 11 November. The call for a general strike requires companies to pay particular attention to the organisation of their activities, workforce management and respect for employees’ rights.

The general strike scheduled for 11 November 2026 raises, as any strike of this nature does, a number of practical questions for Human Resources departments: can a company ask employees whether they intend to strike? Are employees required to notify the company in advance? How should payroll be managed? Can striking employees be replaced? What happens where minimum services apply?

The right to strike is a fundamental right recognised under Article 28.2 of the Spanish Constitution and regulated by the Royal Decree-Law 17/1977 of 4 March on Labour Relations.

For companies, the issue is not simply how to maintain operations during the strike. The organisation of the working day must also ensure that management decisions cannot be interpreted as limiting or retaliating against the legitimate exercise of the right to strike.

When Will the General Strike Take Place?

The general strike has been called for Wednesday, 11 November 2026, and will last for 24 hours. The call is supported by several trade union organisations, including CCOO and UGT, and is linked to demands concerning housing, wages and the cost of living.

From an employer’s perspective, however, the substance of those demands does not alter the basic rules that apply during the strike.

The exercise of the right to strike must be respected regardless of the company’s position regarding the strike or the demands behind it.

The Right to Strike Is an Individual Right

The starting point for employers should be clear: an employee has the right to participate in the strike and also the right not to do so.

A company cannot sanction an employee for legitimately exercising their right to strike or take adverse measures against them simply because they participated.

Likewise, employees who decide to continue working must be able to do so without being subjected to coercion or interference.

Article 28.2 of the Spanish Constitution expressly recognises the right to strike and establishes that the law must guarantee the maintenance of essential services for the community.

This dual dimension is particularly important for Human Resources: companies must respect both the decision of employees who participate in the strike and that of those who decide to continue working.

Are Employees Required to Notify the Company in Advance If They Intend to Strike?

There is no general obligation for employees to inform the company in advance of whether they intend to participate in the strike.

Companies therefore should not establish a general requirement for employees to disclose their individual decision to participate or not participate.

This has an important practical consequence: companies must be prepared to organise their activities without requiring employees to make a prior declaration concerning the exercise of a fundamental right.

Actual participation may subsequently be established through ordinary attendance-control mechanisms, provided that the limits arising from the right to strike are respected.

Can a Company Ask Employees Whether They Intend to Strike?

Companies should exercise particular caution when communicating with employees about participation in the strike.

The organisation of operations cannot be used as a mechanism to identify in advance who intends to participate or to condition employment decisions on the answers employees provide.

This is particularly sensitive where the request for information comes directly from Human Resources or line managers, since an apparently organisational question may be perceived as a form of pressure.

For this reason, it is preferable for companies to communicate the rights applicable to all employees and the working arrangements for the strike day in a neutral manner, without requiring individual employees to disclose their decision in advance.

What Happens to the Employment Contract During a Strike?

During the period in which an employee participates in a strike, the employment contract is suspended.

This means that the principal obligations arising from the employment relationship are temporarily suspended: the employee is not required to provide services and the company is not required to pay the salary corresponding to the period of the strike.

The Royal Decree-Law 17/1977 establishes the employment consequences of exercising the right to strike.

Participation in a strike does not reduce the duration of annual leave or allow the day to be treated as an unjustified absence.

For Human Resources, the appropriate approach is to record participation in the strike and correctly apply the corresponding employment and Social Security consequences.

Is Salary Deducted for Participating in a Strike?

Yes.

Participation in a strike results in the loss of remuneration corresponding to the period during which the employee stops providing services.

The company should make the appropriate proportional deduction for the period of the strike, taking into account the remuneration items linked to that period.

This deduction is not a disciplinary sanction. It is simply a consequence of the suspension of the employment contract during the strike.

Conversely, a company cannot deduct salary from an employee who did not participate in the strike and worked normally.

Nor should participation in a strike be treated as an unjustified absence for disciplinary purposes.

What Happens With Social Security?

During a full strike, the employee remains in a special registration status with the Social Security system, with the obligation to contribute suspended for the corresponding period.

The company must notify the Social Security authorities in accordance with the applicable requirements and correctly apply the consequences of the strike to Social Security contributions.

In the case of a partial strike, the situation is different, as the company must distinguish between the time worked and the time during which the employee participated in the strike.

Payroll management should therefore be coordinated with Human Resources so that salary deductions and Social Security obligations are calculated correctly.

Companies Must Maintain Safety and Essential Maintenance During a Strike

The right to strike does not eliminate all employer obligations during the working day.

The Royal Decree-Law 17/1977 requires companies to maintain the services necessary for the safety of people and property, as well as the maintenance of premises, machinery, installations, raw materials and any other activities necessary to allow operations to resume after the strike.

This means that even companies that do not provide essential services to the community may have certain safety and maintenance functions that need to remain covered.

The company should identify these needs in advance and determine who should perform them, while avoiding using this obligation as a means of neutralising the effects of the strike.

What Are Minimum Services?

Minimum services should be distinguished from ordinary safety and maintenance functions.

Minimum services apply to certain activities considered essential to the community and are intended to ensure that services which cannot be completely interrupted during the strike continue to operate.

Their determination falls within the authority of the competent public authority and must strike a balance between the right to strike and the constitutional rights or interests that need to be protected.

A private company therefore cannot unilaterally decide that part of its workforce must work as “minimum services” simply because the strike may affect its business.

Where an essential service is subject to minimum services, there must be an appropriate decision or authorisation from the competent authority.

Minimum Services Established for the 11 November Strike

As of the publication of this article, the Spanish Official State Gazette (BOE) has published a specific resolution concerning private security services connected with essential services during the general strike of 11 November.

The Resolution of 30 October 2026 of the Secretary of State for Security establishes minimum coverage percentages for different private security services affected by the strike.

Among other situations, the resolution establishes coverage of 90% for certain security services relating to public transport and telecommunications centres, 85% for certain personal protection services and 80% for other security services, including certain services connected with energy facilities, financial institutions, media organisations and alarm receiving centres.

The resolution also provides that, where shift work applies, minimum services must be maintained from the beginning of the first affected shift until the end of the last affected shift, even where shifts begin before or end after 11 November.

These percentages apply specifically to the scope covered by that resolution and cannot automatically be extended to other sectors or companies.

Who Must Work Where Minimum Services Apply?

Where a company is subject to minimum services established by the competent authority, the employees required to provide those services must be designated according to objective criteria and within the framework established by the relevant resolution.

The company must inform the designated employees of their obligation to work and ensure that coverage remains strictly within the minimum services established.

Designation cannot be used to artificially expand ordinary business operations.

The purpose is to guarantee the essential service, not to maintain the company’s normal level of activity.

Can a Company Replace Employees Who Are on Strike?

This is one of the areas involving the greatest legal risk.

As a general rule, a company cannot hire external workers to replace employees who have decided to exercise their right to strike.

Nor may it generally use temporary agency workers, employees from other companies within the group or third parties to perform the functions normally carried out by striking employees where the purpose is to neutralise the effects of the strike.

Spanish case law has also developed the concept of internal strikebreaking, which may arise where the company uses non-striking employees to perform the functions of those participating in the strike.

The Spanish Supreme Court has held, in certain circumstances, that replacing striking employees through workers from the same company or through a subcontracted company may infringe the right to strike.

Organisational decisions taken during the strike should therefore be analysed carefully.

Not Every Internal Reorganisation Constitutes Strikebreaking

The prohibition does not mean that companies completely lose their organisational powers during a strike.

The key question is whether an organisational or technical measure responds to a legitimate business need or, instead, is intended to neutralise or artificially reduce the effects of the strike.

Using non-striking employees to perform different tasks may create legal risks where this amounts to directly replacing striking employees or artificially altering the effectiveness of the strike.

Before changing duties, moving employees between workplaces or reorganising teams during the strike, companies should therefore carefully assess the proposed measure.

Advance planning is particularly important to prevent an urgent decision from subsequently being considered an infringement of the fundamental right to strike.

What Can Pickets Do?

Employees participating in pickets may provide information and engage in peaceful persuasion.

What is not permitted is the use of violence, threats, intimidation or coercion to prevent other employees from freely exercising their right to work.

Companies should also avoid any action that could be interpreted as a collective response against legitimate picketing activities.

Where conduct goes beyond the legitimate exercise of the right to strike and affects the safety of people or facilities, the circumstances should be properly documented and, where appropriate, referred to the competent authorities.

Can a Company Close Its Workplace During the Strike?

A lockout is not an ordinary tool for managing a strike.

Its use is subject to exceptional circumstances, such as a serious and imminent risk of violence against people or serious damage to property, unlawful occupation of the workplace or other situations established by law.

Article 12 of Royal Decree-Law 17/1977 establishes the circumstances in which a lockout may take place and the applicable requirements.

A company therefore cannot simply decide to close its workplace because it expects a high level of participation in the strike.

Can a Company Discipline an Employee for Going on Strike?

Not merely for legitimately participating in the strike.

The exercise of the fundamental right to strike is not, in itself, a disciplinary offence.

This does not prevent liability for other conduct occurring during the strike. For example, disciplinary consequences may arise where an employee engages in conduct that goes beyond the legitimate exercise of the right and constitutes an established employment breach.

Companies must always distinguish between participation in the strike, which is protected, and specific conduct that may occur in connection with it.

Companies Must Not Pressure Employees Not to Strike

Freedom of choice must be respected in both directions.

A company cannot pressure an employee not to participate in the strike or make professional opportunities, employment conditions or their relationship with the company conditional upon their decision to participate.

Likewise, the strike day should not be used to create informal lists of “striking” and “non-striking” employees for purposes unrelated to the management of the employment consequences of the strike.

Any information collected should be limited to what is necessary to properly administer the employment relationship and comply with the company’s legal obligations.

How Should Human Resources Prepare for the Strike?

Managing a general strike should not begin on the day of the strike itself.

Human Resources departments should review in advance which employees may be subject to essential safety or maintenance duties, what communications need to be issued, how attendance will be recorded and how salary deductions and Social Security obligations will subsequently be managed.

It is also advisable to prepare a neutral internal communication reminding employees of their rights and explaining the operational arrangements for the workplace during the strike.

Companies should avoid any communication that could be interpreted as pressure to participate or not participate in the strike.

For organisations with several workplaces or different shifts, planning should also take into account that the strike may affect shifts beginning before or ending after 11 November where specific minimum services apply.

What Should a Company Do in Preparation for the Strike?

Before 11 November

Do not ask employees who intends to strike. Employees are not generally required to notify the company in advance, and asking them, even for organisational purposes, may be interpreted as pressure. Communication with employees should remain neutral and focus on contingency planning, access to the workplace and how delays should be addressed.

Distinguish between two concepts that are often confused

• Safety and maintenance services under Article 6.7 of Royal Decree-Law 17/1977 apply to any company. They should be limited to those strictly necessary to protect people, facilities and equipment and to allow operations to resume after the strike. The company designates the relevant employees by name, using objective criteria and following the applicable consultation process with the strike committee.
• Minimum services under Article 10.2 of Royal Decree-Law 17/1977 apply only to essential services for the community. They are established by the competent authority. The company does not negotiate or expand them; it simply designates the relevant employees and informs them. For this strike, the Resolution of 30 October 2026 of the Secretary of State for Security establishes coverage percentages between 80% and 90% for certain private security services and extends those requirements to shifts beginning on 10 November or ending on 12 November. These percentages cannot be transferred to other sectors.
• Review any organisational or technological changes planned for that day. In addition to external and internal strikebreaking, the Spanish Constitutional Court has addressed the concept of technological strikebreaking. Before modifying systems, automating tasks or introducing specific technological tools during the strike, companies should check that the measure was planned before the strike was called, responds to a reason unrelated to the strike and that its use on the day is consistent with the company’s ordinary operations. The measure should be properly documented and dated in advance.
• Prepare payroll and Social Security procedures, particularly where partial strikes are expected.

During the Strike

• The workplace should remain open for employees who wish to work. A lockout is only permitted in the exceptional circumstances established by Article 12 of Royal Decree-Law 17/1977, such as a serious risk of violence or significant damage or unlawful occupation of the workplace. It cannot be used simply because a high level of participation is expected.
• Do not replace striking employees. As a general rule, companies cannot do so through external personnel, temporary employment agencies, group companies or subcontractors. Nor should internal employees be assigned different functions for the purpose of neutralising the strike. The situation must be assessed particularly carefully where the company needs to cover a person designated for minimum services or safety and maintenance who fails to attend.
• Record attendance through ordinary mechanisms, solely for the purpose of applying the corresponding employment consequences afterwards. Companies should not create parallel lists of striking employees.
• Where an employee does not strike but cannot reach the workplace because of road closures, pickets or transport disruption, the company may consider remote working where feasible. Where this is not possible, the specific circumstances should be assessed carefully before applying any salary deduction or disciplinary consequence.
• Pickets. Peaceful and informative picketing is lawful. Where there are threats, coercion or damage, the company should document the facts and contact the competent authorities rather than taking collective measures against employees.

After the Strike

• Salary deduction should be proportional to the actual period of the strike. This may include the salary corresponding to the day and the proportional part of weekly rest and extraordinary payments, with an appropriate payroll item. The deduction is not a disciplinary sanction. Annual leave should not be reduced, and participation in the strike should not be used to penalise attendance bonuses, incentives or performance assessments.
• Social Security. In a full strike, the employee remains in a special Social Security registration status without an obligation to contribute during the relevant period. The company must make the corresponding notification through the applicable Social Security system within the required timeframe. In a partial strike, the time worked must be distinguished from the period of strike participation.
• No retaliation. Participating in a strike is not, in itself, grounds for disciplinary action. Disciplinary measures may only be considered in relation to separate and established misconduct, such as coercion or damage, and must be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
• Document everything. Where employees provide an indication of a possible infringement of their fundamental rights, the burden of proving that the employer’s measure was unrelated to the strike may fall on the company under Article 181.2 of Law 36/2011 regulating the Labour Courts. Communications, designations, incidents and organisational criteria should therefore be documented in writing.

HR Checklist for a General Strike

• Before the strike, Human Resources should ensure that the company has a neutral internal communication in place and does not ask employees whether they intend to participate.
• The company should identify and document the necessary safety and maintenance services and, where applicable, designate employees for minimum services strictly in accordance with the competent authority’s resolution.
• Any organisational or technological changes planned for the strike day should be reviewed in advance, particularly where they could affect the functions normally performed by striking employees.
• The company should also establish a plan for workplace access and remote working where employees who do not participate in the strike are unable to reach the workplace.
• Finally, payroll and Social Security procedures should be prepared, including the specific treatment of partial strikes, and an internal channel should be available to record incidents and preserve relevant evidence.

At Suárez de Vivero, we advise national and international companies on employment litigation and collective labour disputes, including strikes, employee representation and collective disputes.

Frequently Asked Questions About the General Strike on 11 November 2026