The Government seeks to reduce the maximum working day to 37.5 hours by 2025 and wants to carry out the reform of the Workers’ Statute that would make this possible as soon as possible, given that the first step of 38.5 hours must be effective before the end of the year. year to comply with what was established in the coalition agreement. The Ministry of Labor prefers to do it through an agreement with the employers and the unions, so both parties advance in a parallel table with the aim of bringing positions closer together and measuring their impacts, since in the end, the realization of the new limit will be must be addressed in detail in collective agreements.
The unions want to shield the possibility that this discount on working hours is compensated by more days of rest and prevent companies from maintaining a 40-hour week in exchange for this benefit. This is regardless of the possibility that companies have of making an irregular distribution of the working day – whether with or without agreement with the workers – if they consider it appropriate for the development of their activity. “Not at all. What we have proposed is that the working day has to be considered as 37.5 hours, which is the weekly working day and its quantification in the maximum annual working day,” responded the confederal secretary of Trade Union Action of CCOO, Mari Cruz Vicente. , when asked about this assumption after the last meeting with the ‘number two’ of Labor.
In the same sense, pointed out the Deputy Secretary General of Union Policy of UGT, Fernando Luján, who clarified that the only legislative change that is on the table is to replace the 40 hours that appear reflected in the current article 34 of the ET with the new figure. Afterwards, the distribution of the days in each case will have to be addressed in collective bargaining, but in no case will it be presented as two options between which companies can choose, nor is it something that is on the table, according to sources. knowledgeable about negotiation in this medium. That is, the reference of 37.5 hours whose annual calculation is being discussed will be the new minimum on which companies could introduce improvements.
No changes in the irregular distribution of working hours
“In accordance with the regulations in force and as long as their current terms are maintained, through a collective agreement or, failing that, by agreement of the company and the representatives of the workers, the irregular distribution of the working day can be established throughout throughout the year” explains the Garrigues Labor partner, José Manuel Mateo, who clarifies that the company’s power to alter the distribution of 10% of the working day if an agreement is not reached between the parties “is being seriously questioned. occasion of the transposition of the directive on transparent and predictable working conditions” which includes the right to know in advance not only the changes in your work break, but also the criteria followed to do so.
The expert understands that under this premise a 40-hour work week could be maintained that is compensated with days of rest, although he does not rule out that in the drafting of the norm limits may be established so that the reduction in working hours translates into a reduced effect. . VAT on working hours per week. “The rule could grant more or less freedom to social agents so that they, through collective bargaining and/or company or workplace agreements, determine the compensation regime,” they stated in response to La Información.
“It will depend on what is finally approved,” agreed Labor lawyer at Gómez-Acebo & Pombo, Borja González. “If the reduction is finally approved on an annual basis, the working day could be maintained at 40 hours per week and the reduction carried out with more days of rest or vacations,” he assesses. The negotiators want to agree on the reference in annual terms because this is the value to which most collective agreements are linked, however, the workers’ representatives and Yolanda Díaz call not to lose sight of the figure of 37.5 hours that focuses on the drafting of the article of the Workers’ Statute. In fact, they have denied that an agreement has been reached whereby they will only take the annual number.
The perception of the Labor Specialist and partner of the labor area of Ceca Magán Abogados, Juan Antonio Linares, is that “it does not seem possible that the reduction in the working day proposed by the Government will be able to be compensated with breaks, since, precisely, the development of the standard and its implementation by the Government is to gradually reduce the weekly working hours of workers until reaching 37.5 hours per week in 2025”, according to this media. However, it also refers to the fact that it will be necessary to wait for the publication or development of the law to analyze both its impact and its real application in each sector.
