Labor gives until December 7 to make contributions to the bill to reduce working hours

Put the text out for public consultation, which also includes regulating time control and the right to disconnection

Nov. 22 () –

This Friday, the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy put out the draft law for the reduction of working hours for public consultation and has given a deadline from tomorrow until December 7 for contributions to be made to the measure, which is a “commitment” of the coalition government.

In the text, the Ministry defends “adequate regulation” in the limitation and organization of working time as a necessary measure for the health, conciliation and dignity of working people.

Likewise, it is indicated that the rule that will emerge from this bill aims to establish a reduction in the maximum legal weekly working day (annual average) from 40 to 37.5 hours from January 1, 2025, establishing specific provisions for both the part-time work and for short hours.

According to the Ministry of Labor, the reduction of the maximum legal weekly working day is not “a capricious or arbitrary commitment”, but there are “powerful arguments” in favor of its compliance.

Along these lines, the text recalls that since the last regulation of the legal limitation of the maximum weekly working day, which dates back to 1983, collective bargaining has been in charge of cutting working time in each agreement, but with a action that “has left much to be desired in some sectors”, such as hospitality, commerce, agriculture or services, which maintain weekly hours very close to the legal maximum.

These days, according to Labor, contrast with other sectors such as education, financial and insurance activities, or energy – and with its particularities the Public Administration -, which have sought in their areas hours even below the new 37-hour day and mean that is intended to be established.

DEFEND THE LEGAL INTERVENTION OF THE DAY

Therefore, the Ministry headed by Yolanda Díaz defends the “legal intervention” of the Government to compensate for the insufficiency of the negotiation in certain sectors to avoid these “unfair” differences.

Along these lines, it defends a legal modification of the day as a way to enforce article 40.2 of the Spanish Constitution, which says that the public powers “will promote a policy that guarantees professional training and readaptation; they will ensure safety and hygiene at work and will guarantee the necessary rest, through the limitation of the working day, and periodic paid vacations”.

Also to promote favorable conditions for economic and social progress and for a more equitable distribution of personal income (article 40.1) or, likewise, the removal of obstacles and the promotion of conditions for the real and effective equality of individuals entrusted Article 9 of the Constitution.

GREATER PRODUCTIVITY ALLOWS TO REDUCE THE DAY WITHOUT WAGE LOSS

Likewise, the document justifies the reduction in working hours as a way to distribute the productivity that Spain has gained since the last legal reduction in working hours. Thus, remember that, with OECD data, productivity per hour worked increased by 30% between 1990 and 2022, while real wages only increased by 11.5%.

“If we observe the evolution of productivity since 1983, when the maximum legal working day was established at 40 hours, we observe an increase in productivity per hour worked of 54%,” they emphasize.

Likewise, remember that the weight of the remuneration of employed people on the GDP in Spain has been around 48% “for decades”, four points below France or Germany, despite the recovery experienced from values ​​closer to 45% between 2013 and 2018. This is why the Ministry believes that it is “a moral and political imperative” to reduce the working day without cutting the salary.

OTHER OBJECTIVES OF THE STANDARD: TIME CONTROL AND RIGHT TO DISCONNECTION

On the other hand, the Ministry indicates that the draft law that was put out for public consultation this Friday also aims to regulate time registration and unify in a single article the regulation of both full-time, part-time, ordinary and extraordinary work.

Thus, the aim is to develop an “effective” system for recording working hours, so as to achieve an “objective, reliable, accessible and interoperable” system that is accessible to each worker automatically and that can also be accessed by the representation of workers and the Labor Inspection (ITSS) remotely.

The consequences of non-compliance with regard to time registration will also be regulated, both from a substantive legal point of view – presumptions – and from a sanctioning point of view.

Likewise, it is intended to regulate the right to disconnection in a single provision, incorporating some aspects of the Disconnection Agreement negotiated in the European Union and also of the VI AENC.

Thus, the aim is to define the inalienable right of the worker to disconnection outside of their working day, as well as the business duty to guarantee such right by referring to collective bargaining the modalities of exercise, so that the rejection or non-attention of communication by the worker outside of their working day, may not give rise to negative consequences or retaliation or less favorable treatment.