The draft bill on working time reduction is officially on its way to parliament. The text, which aims to reduce the working week from 40 to 37.5 hours without any cut to pay, is the result of 18 months of laborious negotiations and unsuccessful attempts at reconciliation. Spain’s ministry of labour, which had hoped to find common ground with the social partners, had to resign itself to preparing its bill with the sole collaboration of the trade unions, without obtaining the support of the employers’ organisations, despite proposals to amend the text.
As Madrid correspondent for mind RH since 2021, I cover news developments in Spain's world of work, focusing on legal developments and collective bargaining, particularly around work-life balance, equality and inclusion policies, which have been hot topics in the country in recent years.