The reduction of the working day to 37.5 hours per week would affect 10.3 million salaried workers in the private sector, 94% of the total, with a special impact on agriculture, hospitality and commerce. It is in these areas where the hours are longer, and where, according to union sources, it is more difficult to negotiate a reduction in working time in agreements. It is also where the weight of salaries represents a high percentage of the total cost of companies.
According to data from CC.OO., this reduction in working hours proposed by the Government has a “not very significant” impact for companies that fall within the average working hours established in the agreement. Specifically, the reduction to 38.5 hours planned for this year would have no effect, and in 2025, if it goes to 37.5 hours, it would mean a reduction of 39 hours per year. For CC.OO., little significant, although it recognizes that these reductions would be made without affecting salaries.
This applies to companies with working hours located in the average that is being applied, according to the agreements. A different case is those that maintain the maximum permitted working day, 40 hours per week. In this case, reaching 37.5 hours would mean a reduction of 113 hours per year.
It will be the day after tomorrow when the negotiation for this reduction in working hours begins with a meeting of the Government with the social agents, in which CCOO hopes to achieve progress because “a legal modification of the working day is needed because the distribution of productivity over the long term is resolved.” term”, as stated this morning by the general secretary of the union, Unai Sordo. It is a meeting that has already heated up with the exchange of statements between the vice president and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, and the president of the CEOE, Antonio Garamendi. One saying that it would be done with or without the agreement of the employers and the other replying that this is not social dialogue.
For his part, Unai Sordo underlines his willingness to negotiate, stating that “our will is to negotiate, but we are not going to negotiate with the cards drawn and we hope that CEOE is not preparing the scenario of ‘no for no’.” In this sense , recognizes the advantages of a three-way agreement, because it subsequently allows for an easier and faster application of legal regulations to reality, but without giving clues about the degree of flexibility they would be willing to accept. “We must give it a chance. to the negotiation,” he stated,
One of the elements that the Ministry of Labor has announced that it will introduce at this negotiating table is a reinforcement of time control in companies, a rule that was introduced in 2019, but that both Labor and the unions describe as ineffective. “One thing is the BOE and another is life. In the end you can legislate sung mass. If there are no formulas for it to be controlled, non-compliance is systematic,” Sordo stated, adding that the Labor Inspection has a long way to go to improve in this area, even more so with the use of data that can facilitate better control.
These are statements that Sordo has made when presenting the balance of collective bargaining in 2023, which shows that agreements with economic effects last year recorded a salary increase of 3.46%, therefore, practically identical to the average inflation for the year, 3.5%. For CC.OO, a sample of the good functioning of the Agreement for Employment and Collective Bargaining (AENC) agreed with the employers in May of last year, which has had a energizing effect on the signing of agreements and a positive effect on the increase achieved .