In Spain, the left relaunches the debate on reducing working hours

The issue of reducing working hours is coming back to the forefront of the Spanish political scene. The left-wing coalition, currently in power, wants a change from 40 to 37.5 hours per week “without loss of salary”, despite head-on opposition from employers. In their government agreement sealed on Tuesday October 24, the socialist party of the current Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, and the radical left party Sumar promised to “free up life time” by reducing working time.

“We need to catch up with countries that have a shorter working day”because the latter manage to “better reconcile” professional and private life and are often “more productive” than Spain is, justified Sumar’s spokesperson, Ernest Urtasun. The agreement, which must serve as a framework “programmatic” to the left coalition if Pedro Sanchez manages to be reappointed by Parliament, plans to lower by law the weekly working time to 37.5 hours by 2025. A first step to 38.5 hours in 2024 is envisaged.

It also opens the way to a further reduction in working time, via a “collective bargaining” this time, according to Ernest Urtasun, who says he takes France as a model, where the legal duration has been set at 35 hours since the beginning of the 2000s. A revolution in perspective for Spanish companies, which should adapt their organization. The working week in Spain “had not moved since 1984”, recalled Tuesday Pepe Alvarez, general secretary of the UGT, one of the two main Spanish unions. The measure is, however, far from unanimous, especially within employers.