Spain may soon move to a shorter week with workers enjoying 2.5 hours more rest after the government on Tuesday approved a bill that would reduce official working hours from 40 hours to 37.5 hours.
If enacted, the bill, which will now go through the Spanish parliament, would benefit 12.5 million full-time and part-time private sector workers and is expected to improve productivity and reduce absenteeism, according to the country’s Ministry of Labour.
“Today, we are modernising the world of labour and helping people to be a little happier,” said Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz, who heads the party Sumar that forms part of the current left-wing coalition government.
The measure, which already applies to civil servants and some other sectors, would mainly affect retail, manufacturing, hospitality, and construction, Díaz added.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government does not have a clear majority in parliament, where the bill must be approved for it to become law.
The main trade unions have expressed support for the proposal, unlike business associations.
Sumar, the hard-left minority partner of Sánchez’s Socialist Party, proposed the bill.
The Catalan nationalist party Junts, an occasional ally of Sánchez’s coalition, expressed concern over what it said would be negative consequences for small companies and the self-employed under a shorter working week.
The coalition will have to balance the demands of Junts and other smaller parties to get the bill passed.
Spain has had a 40-hour workweek since 1983, when it was reduced from 48 hours.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been moves to change working habits with various pilot schemes launched in Spain to potentially introduce a four-day workweek, including a smaller trial in Valencia.
The results of the month-long programme suggested that workers had benefited from longer weekends, developing healthier habits such as taking up sports, as well as reducing their stress levels.