Carlos de la Torre on the reduction of working hours | Expansión

The change in working hours from 38.5 to 37.5 hours per week from January 2025 will bring with it important employment implications.

Carlos de la Torre, labour partner at Gómez Acebo & Pombo, analyses in six points the impact of the current draft of the new working day reduction law. He highlights that the law will prevail over the agreements, which will imply automatic adjustments to longer working hours. He said that no transitional period is foreseen, which will limit collective bargaining, and that part-time workers will maintain their current part-time status with a wage increase.

Regarding wage maintenance, part-time workers will retain their current part-time status with no reduction in working hours, but with a wage increase. The latter, he explains, will have a knock-on effect on the negotiation of new agreements. He also mentions the limitation of the action of social partners, as collective bargaining at sector or company level will be ‘intervened’ by the law.

As a final point, he highlights the impact that these measures will have on companies, who will have to assume more labour costs.

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