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Date Published: 20/12/2024

Spain will reduce working hours from the end of next year

The working week in Spain will drop from 40 to 37.5 hours per week

Following months of negotiations, Minister of Labour Yolanda Díaz and the unions have signed an agreement that will officially reduce the working week in Spain from the current 40 hours to 37.5 hours.

The changes will be applied by December 31 next year at the very latest, so that businesses can begin applying the new schedules on January 1, 2026.

“Living better cannot be a luxury, it has to be a right,” said Ms Díaz, adding that the shorter work week will further the rights of workers, who will soon be able to enjoy a little more free time.

One of the key points of the new regulations is that the reduction in hours cannot impact salaries negatively.

In addition, and with the aim of ensuring that all the new measures reflected in this agreement are complied with, the Spanish Government will create a social dialogue table with unions and the main business associations to evaluate the results of the application of the new 37.5-hour work week.

They plan to “continue to make progress in reducing the maximum length of the ordinary legal work week.”

Digital disconnection

The agreement includes the right to “digital disconnection” for all workers, including those who work remotely. This prevents employers from contacting their staff outside of their official working hours through “any device, tool or digital means.”

It also includes the right to “not be contactable outside of working hours.”

However, the legislation does state that employers can reach out to staff in certain “justified exceptional circumstances” that may pose a “serious risk” to the worker or “potential business damage”. Only then can the right to disconnect be bypassed in order to adopt “urgent and immediate measures.”

Activity log

The new agreement establishes that the company must keep a daily digital record of working hours and provide a copy with a summary of the hours worked each month to the worker. This must include "ordinary and additional" hours.

Part-time contracts

Part-time contracts equal to or greater than 37.5 hours will be “automatically converted into full-time employment contracts” after it comes into force, and those who work fewer hours will receive a proportional increase in salary.

For their part, all those who already have a reduced working day will continue to have the right to continue working the same number of hours, but with a corresponding pay increase.

Penalties for non-compliance

Failure to reduce the work week will be treated as a “serious offence” and, at its lowest level, the offence will carry a fine of between 1,000 and 2,000 euros. At the medium level, they will range between 2,001 and 5,000 euros and, at their highest level, the sanctions can be as much as 10,000 euros.

In other news: Spain to buy famous British shipyard where Titanic was built

Image: Archive

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