Spain could soon switch to a shorter week with workers enjoying 2.5 hours more rest after the government approved a bill on Tuesday that would reduce official working hours from 40 hours to 37.5 hours.
If approved, the bill, which will now go through the Spanish parliament, would benefit 12.5 million full-time and part-time private sector workers. This is expected to improve productivity and reduce absenteeism, according to the country’s Ministry of Labor, foreign media write, reports Telegraph.
“Today, we are modernizing the world of work and helping people be a little happier,” said Labor Minister Yolanda DÃaz, who heads the Sumar party that is part of the current left-wing coalition government.
The measure, which already applies to civil servants and several other sectors, would mainly affect retail, manufacturing, hospitality and construction, DÃaz added. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government does not have a clear majority in parliament, where the bill must be approved to become law. Major unions have expressed support for the proposal, unlike business associations. Instead, Sumar, the far-left minority partner of Sánchez’s Socialist Party, proposed the bill.
But the Catalan nationalist party Junts, a casual ally of Sánchez’s coalition, expressed concern about what it said would be negative consequences for small companies and the self-employed under a shorter working week.
Therefore, the coalition will have to balance the demands of the Junta and other smaller parties to pass the bill. Spain has had a 40-hour work week since 1983, when it was reduced from 48 hours. Following 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 working week, including a smaller test in Valencia.
The results of the month-long program suggested that workers had benefited from longer weekends, developing healthier habits such as exercising, as well as reducing their stress levels.