The gradual reduction of the working day from the current 40 hours per week to 37.5 hours has broad social support. Two out of three Spaniards support this initiative, which is currently being negotiated at the social dialogue table between the Ministry of Labor, the unions and the employers, who failed to reach an agreement for its implementation at their last meeting on December 29. July. However, the government hopes to reach an “agreement quickly” in the coming weeks, coinciding with the start of the political year.
While we wait to see how the negotiation will end, 66% of Spaniards are in favour of reducing the working day from the current 40 hours per week to the 37.5 hours mentioned, according to the Simple Lógica survey for elDiario.es. 25% are against it and 9% prefer not to express their opinion. The group of citizens most susceptible to the reductions are working Spaniards. 68% of active people support the measure (although one in four rejects it), compared to 61% of retirees (28% of this group are against) or 64% of other people who are currently inactive (among whom 26% do not support the reduction).
The difference is more pronounced if we take into account the type of work of the respondents. 71% of employees agree to go from the current 40 hours per week to 37.5%. The percentage is considerably reduced in the case of those who do it for their own account – that is, the self-employed and businessmen – who are in the same proportion of 45% for and against the measure. Among the group of respondents who have never worked, 52% support the reduction, against 29% who reject it.
As a reminder of the vote, all those who supported Sumar in the last general elections, 100%, subscribe to the 37.5 hours per week demanded by the leader of this coalition, second vice-president and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz. 85% of PSOE voters also support the reduction, compared to 10% of socialist voters who are opposed to it. There is a clear gap between the left and the right, since both PP and Vox voters are the majority against the reduction of the working day. 45% of those who supported the Popular Party on 23J reject the measure – compared to 41% who support it – and 49% of far-right voters – 42% say yes.
Younger citizens who are just starting their careers are the most inclined to reduce their working hours, although the initiative is widely supported by the majority in all age groups. Among Spaniards between 18 and 24 years old, support is 70% – against 24% of opponents – and among those between 25 and 34 years old, the percentage of support increases to 74% and 19% of this group shows their rejection. The 34-44 year olds also largely subscribe to the 37.5 hours per week (67% for and 25% against), as do those between 45 and 54 years old (68% for and 27% against) and those who belong to the age group 55 to 64 years old (66% support it and 25% censure it).
The group with the lowest percentage of support – although support remains majority – is among the population aged 65 and over. 59% of citizens in this age group support the reduction of working hours, while 28% reject it.
The survey, conducted between 1 and 9 August, also asks citizens whether they think that the reduction in working hours will positively affect all workers or, even if it is lowered by law for all, a large part of them are not satisfied. affect. The majority, 43.4%, believe that it will have a positive effect, although there are also nuances: one in four (26%) consider that it will be good for the majority of workers while 17.1% predict that it will be positive for everyone. . On the other side of the scale, 37.2% consider that the 37.5 hours per week would negatively affect all employees because they believe that employers “will pass it on elsewhere” and 13.2% believe that the working day “will remain the same for the majority”. .
In total, almost half of those surveyed, 46.7%, consider that their workplace could adapt “without problems” to the new day and 17.4% assure that it would adapt, although “with some difficulties”. On the other hand, 22.7% of Spaniards believe that “it would be very difficult, if not impossible” for their company to adopt the new working day and 9.3% do not know how a reform of the legislation would affect their employment.
At the last social dialogue meeting held on 29 July, the government and the unions perceived a certain change of tone in the employers’ organisations that could facilitate the agreement in the coming weeks, even if the trade union centres are keeping their finger on the pulse with the mobilisations to come in September if an agreement is not finally reached that would envisage a reduction of the maximum weekly working day from 40 to 38.5 hours by 2024 and to 37.5 by 2025.
The government has proposed three key elements to achieve the reduction in working hours: improving the recording and control of time, guaranteeing the right to digital disconnection (not responding to emails or messages outside working hours), already recognized by law, and establishing “sufficient flexibility” to implement the reduction in working hours in sectors that still exceed the limit committed to in the coalition agreement.
Spain is not the only country hoping to take a step forward in the field of work. In a similar but not identical spirit, the Labour Party in the United Kingdom proposed this week, as part of the government’s new plans, to implement the possibility of requiring a four-day working week. Although in this case, the same hours would be locked in a “compressed” way. An option that, according to the British government, will not be imposed on companies.
