The government agreement between PSOE and Sumar announced today includes a reduction of the maximum legal work week without salary reduction of 37.5 hours. Is it a lot or is it a little? It depends on the country with which they are compared, but the truth is that, if the measure succeeds, Spain would become one of the few in the OECD to go below 40 hours, at least on paper.
In most OECD countries, the ordinary week is 40 hours. In Australia and Belgium the figure is lower, 38 hours, and France takes the cake, with 35 hours. At the other extreme are two countries, Mexico and Colombia, with 48 hours, and two others where 45 hours apply, which are Chile and Turkey. If the measure of the agreement between PSOE and Podemos is applied, Spain would be the second OECD country with the fewest hours worked.
There is also a group of countries without a legal limit on the work week, which does not include the United States, where 40 hours are applied as a reference. In Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland there is no ordinary limit, although in practice, except in the last of these countries, the hours worked are lower.
These comparisons have an impediment: the limit set by legislation is not the same as what is agreed in the agreements, which usually include reductions. In Spain, the negotiated week is on average 38.2 hours, at levels similar to other OECD countries. Except for Israel and Turkey, with 42 hours, the rest of the countries are below 40 hours.
The OECD calculates that the legal limit of hours worked has remained almost unchanged between 1995 and 2019. If the year 1970 is taken as a reference, the reduction has been on average 8 hours per week, although the decrease occurred to a greater extent in the seventies and eighties.
Where comparisons between countries become more difficult is the legal maximum number of hours worked once overtime is included. The reference is 48 hours, but the casuistry is extensive. The community directive sets this limit for a maximum of four months, while member states apply the criterion very differently.
Spain is part of countries like Canada or Norway where the regulation of overtime depends on collective agreements. In Belgium, 143 overtime hours are distributed throughout the year, while in Chile 12 per week are allowed. In Switzerland, the limit is two hours per day and 170 per year.
