Reduced working hours: will it be possible in the near future?

This year, we have seen how a draft bill was drawn up with the aim of reforming and reducing the current working day. In September of this year, that bill was rejected in Parliament, so we are back to square one, and the question is whether it will be possible to approve the reduction in working hours in the near future. In this article, we analyse the situation in Spain, the current regulations and what the prospects are at the moment.

What is the maximum length of the working day in Spain?

To better understand the current situation in Spain, let's start with the regulation of the working day in our country, which is established in Article 34 of the Workers' Statute, which regulates the following:

• The length of the working day shall be as agreed in collective agreements or employment contracts. Therefore, negotiation takes precedence in establishing how long the working day lasts.
• The maximum length of the ordinary working day shall be 40 hours per week of actual work on average over the year. Therefore, those 40 hours per week are the maximum in Spain.

Working hours regulations in other European countries

Regulations in other European Union countries are as follows:

• In Germany, the maximum is 40 hours per week, although in some sectors shorter working weeks of between 35 and 30 hours have been agreed.
• In France, since 2000, the working week has been 35 hours.
• In Italy, the working week is also 40 hours.
• The Netherlands has one of the shortest working weeks, with between 30 and 36 hours per week.
• However, Greece has one of the longest working weeks, with between 40 and 48 hours per week.
• In Sweden, there are sectors with working weeks of between 30 and 35 hours, and the usual working week is 40 hours. However, this country stands out for its flexibility in adapting the working week to each individual.

How long do people work in Spain?

One thing to bear in mind is that the regulation of the maximum working day is not the same as the time actually worked in companies. According to the Labour Force Survey published by the National Statistics Institute, in 2024:

• Men worked an average of 38.4 hours per week.
• Male entrepreneurs worked the longest hours, with an average of 46.5.
• Women worked an average of 33.8 hours per week.
• Female entrepreneurs worked 42 hours per week.

Why is there a desire to reduce the maximum working day?

The explanatory memorandum of the bill to reduce the maximum working day, in addition to citing social and economic reasons, sets out a series of reasons why the reduction is necessary, which are as follows:

• The promotion of shared responsibility in relation to family responsibilities.
• The need to balance personal and working life.
• The need for free time to engage in personal activities other than work, such as leisure, health care, sports or cultural activities, or personal well-being.
• Improving workers' health and safety conditions, as reducing working hours means a reduction in workload and stress.
• Furthermore, by promoting a better work-life balance, it may help to reduce absenteeism.

What will change with the bill to reduce the maximum working day?

The bill to reduce the maximum working day aims to amend several articles of the Workers' Statute. The most important amendments are as follows:

• Amendment of Article 20 bis of the ET, which refers to the right to disconnect, and which is to be clarified so that such disconnection implies the absence of any request to perform work and the absence of communication from the company to the worker by means of any device, tool or digital media. It also includes the right not to be contactable outside working hours.
• Amendment to Article 34 of the ET. We have seen the current wording of this article. The first part would remain unchanged, so that the working day would be as agreed in the collective agreement or contract, but the second part would change, as the maximum working day would be 37.5 hours per week of actual work on average over the year.

What are the prospects for the reform?

At present, it is difficult to know what will happen with the reduction in working hours. We have already seen the arguments in favour (work-life balance, reduction in health and safety risks for workers, etc.), but there are also arguments against this reform:

• Increased costs for companies.
• Lack of need for the measure, as many collective agreements already regulate working hours of less than 40 hours per week.
• Increased workload for employees.
• Reduction in the quality of services.
• Negative impact on some sectors such as hospitality, commerce, real estate and transport.
• Limitation of the scope for collective bargaining that currently exists in relation to working hours.

In short, it is not known what will happen in the future and the effects of the reduction would have to be seen over time.

At G. Elías&Muñoz Abogados, we have been helping workers in disputes with their companies for over 25 years. If you need a labour lawyer in Madrid, please do not hesitate to contact us.