The average number of hours that employees work in Spain is 40 hour a week (however, in the public sector it is 37.5 hours a week).
However, new and important changes are coming to the regulations regarding working hours.
In February 2025, the Spanish Cabinet approved a draft bill that includes a proposal to reduce the maximum weekly hours from 40 to 37.5, without affecting salaries.
Although it has not yet been passed into law, in this article we will summarise the key points of this reform.
I. Reduction of Working Hours
This draft bill contains the following provisions:
Article 34. Working hours.
- The number of working hours will be that which is agreed by collective bargaining agreements or employment contracts.
The maximum number of working hours a week will be thirty-seven and a half hours a week of effective work on an annual basis.
Third additional provision.
The established working hours in the present bill will not affect the remuneration or compensation, absorption or removal of any of the more favourable rights or conditions which the employees benefit from.
First transitory provision. The application of the maximum ordinary working hours.
The negotiating committees of the collective bargaining agreements that at the coming into force of this regulation provide for the number of hours being in excess of thirty seven and a half per week, as an annual average, shall have until the 31st of December 2025 to make the necessary adaptations to ensure the compliance with the provisions of this regulation, in particular, with regard to the maximum ordinary working day established in Article 3 of this Act.
II. Digital Register of Working Hours
The draft bill introduces the obligation for companies to have in place a digital registry system of working hours, and the principal provisions in this respect are as follows:
Article 34 bis. Register of working hours.
- The company will maintain a daily register of working hours, carried out by digital means, that guarantees the effective compliance with the provisions set forth in this article.
- The objectivity, trustworthiness and accessibility of the register of working hours must be guaranteed, therefore:
a) Workers will carry out the entries directly and personally, immediately at the start and end of each working day, in such a way that the company cannot condition its content. Equally all interruptions that affect the calculation of working hours shall be registered.
In the same way, the entries will identify in a separate manner whether the hours worked are ordinary, extraordinary or supplementary.
b) In order to guarantee the authenticity and traceability of the data reflected on the registry, the registry must allow for the unmistakable identification of the employee who makes the entry, as well as any potential modifications to the entries already carried out.
c) The information must appear in a format which is manageable, treatable and compatible with a generalised use both for the company and the employees, as well as the competent authorities, which allows for keeping records and obtaining copies of the registry. The registry system will guarantee the interoperability which allows the access and management thereof.
d) Employees, their legal representatives and the Work and Social Security Inspectorate may immediately access the registry in the workplace, and at any time. Furthermore, the registry must be accessible remotely for the Work and Social Security Inspectorate and for employee representatives.
e) The company shall keep the records and summaries provided for in this article for four years. During said period they shall remain at the disposal of the employees, their legal representative and the Work and Social Security Inspectorate.
• Right to Digital Disconnection
The right to digital disconnection, namely, the right of employees to not be connected to digital devices outside their working hours, is already recognised in diverse regulations, such as the Workers’ Statute (article 20), the Remote working Act 10/2021 (article 18.1) and the Organic Law on the Protection of Personal Data (article 88). Nevertheless, this draft bill introduces an important new development: the scope of the right to disconnection is extended beyond the company’s communications, but also to those from third parties with a commercial relationship with the company.
This means that not only the company and its executives must refrain from contacting employees outside their working hours, but also customers, suppliers or other collaborators with whom the company has business ties.
Article 20 bis
- Employees, including those who work remotely and, in particular, by teleworking, have the right to privacy in the use of digital devices made available to them by the company, to digital disconnection and to privacy from the use of video surveillance and geolocation devices under the terms established in the regulations on the protection of personal data and guarantee of digital rights.
- The employer’s duty to guarantee the right to disconnection is specified as the absence of any request to perform a labour service and the absence of communication from the company or the person to whom it delegates, as well as from third parties with a commercial relationship with the company, with the worker by any device, tool or digital means, as well as the right not to be reachable outside working hours. The right to disconnection cannot be waived.
- Collective bargaining shall define the modalities of the practice, the means and the appropriate measures to guarantee the right to disconnection, which shall be aimed at promoting well-being and the right to reconcile work, personal and family life, as well as training and awareness-raising actions on the reasonable use of technological tools to avoid, especially, the risk of computer fatigue. Likewise, collective bargaining may establish exceptions to the prohibition of communication with workers when there are justified exceptional circumstances that may constitute a serious risk for the workers themselves or a potential and serious damage to the business that requires adopting urgent and immediate measures.
- The rejection of or not attending to the communication or the request for labour services by digital means outside working hours shall not generate negative consequences, retaliation or less favourable treatment for the employee.
IV. Impact and how to address it
On 4th February, the Spanish Cabinet passed the draft bill, which must now pass through the Spanish Parliament before becoming law, thus it is probable that the definitive passing of the regulation will not take place at least until May or June of 2025.
While the draft bill follows it parliamentary process, Spanish companies must consider the following:
(i) Part time employment contracts with working hours equal to or in excess of the new maximum working hours shall automatically be converted into full time contracts.
(ii) Part-time employees with working hours below the new maximum will receive a proportional increase in remuneration.
(iii) If the digital register of working hours does not comply with the legal requirements, it must be changed.
Therefore, the changes contained in the draft bill are transcendental, and may affect companies unequally, depending on which sector of activity they belong to and the applicable collective bargaining agreement. There will be companies that will not be significantly affected by this reform, because their collective bargaining agreements already set maximum weekly working hours below the new legal limit. However, for other companies the regulatory change will have a serious impact, so they should now take the time to study their situation.
In this context, we must plan, as the case may be, how to adapt to the new developments of this reform, regardless of whether the entry into force of this regulation may be delayed and the fact that there is still a possibility that changes may be made to the final text.
Satoshi Minami
Vilá Abogados
For more information, please contact:
7th March 2025
