 "'Living better, working less...': Spanish ministers agree to cut legal working week to 37.5 hours")
Spanish ministers approved a reduction of the legal working week to 37.5 hours on Tuesday, maintaining current salaries.
The decision advances one of the coalition government’s key initiatives, despite pushback from employers’ associations.
During its weekly meeting, the cabinet endorsed the decrease from the current 40 hours through an executive decree drafted by Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz, who heads the hard-left party Sumar.
“This proposal is about living better, working less and being much more productive and more efficient economically,” Reuters quoted Diaz as saying.
The measure must still receive parliamentary approval, where the centre-left government led by Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez does not hold a clear majority and must navigate the demands of several smaller parties to pass legislation.
Diaz, who also serves as deputy prime minister, has made the plan to reduce working hours by the end of 2025 a key aspect of her party’s support for Sanchez’s leadership.
But the centre-right Catalan separatist party Junts has already signalled resistance to the proposal, while the main lobby for employers, CEOE, has said it would raise Spanish firms’ costs and make them less competitive.
After months of talks between Diaz and unions and employers’ representatives, negotiations with CEOE broke down in November after it insisted the shorter week should not be imposed by law but through collective bargaining to suit each company’s needs.
“The corporate world is in favour of dialogue, but not in favour of monologue,” CEOE chief Antonio Garamendi said on Tuesday.
Diaz has also clashed with Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo, whom she accused of “siding with employers” after he proposed delaying the change by a year to give small businesses time to adapt.
Impact Shorts
View AllSpain’s central bank and former economy minister have both warned that higher labour costs could fuel inflation and curb job creation.
After the cabinet decision, Cuerpo said companies could resist the change given Spain’s strong economic growth, declining inflation and an unemployment rate at a 16-year low.
With inputs from agencies
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