He Ministry of Labor and Social Economyled by Yolanda Díaz, has just signed the agreement with the unions to reduce the working day to 37.5 hours in 2025. This change, pending its approval in Congress, seems to be close to becoming a reality and could be realized in a few months. It remains to be defined whether the reduction will be gradual, going from 40 hours per week to 38.5 hours and, subsequently, to 37.5 hours. What is certain is that, for the December 31, 2025, the 37.5-hour work day will be in effect.
The reduction of the working day will be implemented with the premise that salaries will not be cutthat is, fewer hours will be worked for the same salary. In this way, employees would not only maintain their salary, but it will increase per hour worked, since the fewer hours worked for the same salary, the hourly salary will grow.
Table with the SMI per hour worked
The Minimum Interprofessional Wage is set in the 15,876 euros per yearwhich distributed in 14 payments, equivalent to 1,134 euros per month. This amount is located in the 1,323 euros per month with extra payments being prorated. Calculated per hour, the salary is 8.21 euros in 14 payments and 8.87 euros in 12 payments. Regarding the minimum daily wage, this is 37.80 euros gross, reaching 53.71 euros in the case of casual workers in the agricultural sector.
| Weekly schedule | Monthly SMI (14 payments) | Prorated monthly SMI (12 payments) | SMI per hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40 hours | €1,134 | €1,323 | €8.28 |
| 38.5 hours | €1,134 | €1,323 | €9.50 |
| 37.5 hours | €1,134 | €1,323 | €9.75 |
As mentioned, the Minimum Interprofessional Wage is not affected by the reduction in the working day. This means that, although the working day is reduced, the SMI will remain the same, that is, 15,876 euros per year. Now, as the working day is reduced, this causes the SMI price per hour of work to increase. Thus, the The minimum wage per hour worked will be 9.5 euros per hour in the case of a 38.5-hour week, and 9.75 euros per hour when the day is reduced to 37.5 hours..
In the following list you can see how the minimum wage per hour worked whether it is reduced to 38.5 hours or 37.5 hours.
| working day | SMI at 40 hours | SMI at 38.5 hours | SMI at 37.5 hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40 hours | €1,323 | ||
| 39 hours | €1,289.45 | ||
| 38.5 hours | €1,323 | ||
| 38 hours | €1,256.85 | €1,305.82 | |
| 37.5 hours | €1,323 | ||
| 37 hours | €1223.78 | €1,271.45 | €1,305.36 |
| 36 hours | €1,190.7 | €1,237.09 | €1,270.08 |
| 35 hours | €1,157.63 | €1,202.73 | €1,234.8 |
| 34 hours | €1,124.55 | €1,168.36 | €1,199.52 |
| 33 hours | €1,091.48 | €1,134 | €1,164.24 |
| 32 hours | €1,058.4 | €1,099.64 | €1,128.96 |
| 31 hours | €1,025.33 | €1,065.27 | €1,093.68 |
| 30 hours | €992.25 | €1,030.91 | €1,058.4 |
| 29 hours | €959.18 | €996.55 | €1,023.12 |
| 28 hours | €926.1 | €962.18 | €987.84 |
| 27 hours | €893.03 | €927.82 | €952.56 |
| 26 hours | €859.95 | €893.45 | €917.28 |
| 25 hours | €826.88 | €859.09 | €882 |
| 24 hours | €793.8 | €824.73 | €846.72 |
| 23 hours | €760.73 | €790.36 | €811.44 |
| 22 hours | €727.65 | €756 | €776.16 |
| 21 hours | €694.58 | €721.64 | €740.88 |
| 20 hours | €661.5 | €687.27 | €705.6 |
| 19 hours | €628.43 | €652.91 | €670.32 |
| 18 hours | €595.35 | €618.55 | €635.04 |
| 17 hours | €562.28 | €584.18 | €599.76 |
| 16 hours | €529.2 | €549.82 | €564.48 |
| 15 hours | €496.13 | €515.45 | €529.2 |
| 14 hours | €463.05 | €481.09 | €493.92 |
| 13 hours | €429.98 | €446.73 | €458.64 |
| 12 hours | €396.9 | €412.36 | €423.36 |
| 11 hours | €363.83 | €378 | €388.08 |
| 10 hours | €330.75 | €343.64 | €352.8 |
| 9 hours | €297.68 | €309.27 | €317.52 |
| 8 hours | €264.6 | €274.91 | €282.24 |
| 7 hours | €231.53 | €240.55 | €246.96 |
| 6 hours | €198.45 | €206.18 | €211.68 |
| 5 hours | €165.38 | €171.82 | €176.4 |
| 4 hours | €132.3 | €137.45 | €141.12 |
| 3 hours | €99.23 | €103.09 | €105.84 |
The reduction in working hours will improve the average within the European Union
If we analyze Eurostat data, we can see that this measure will not only benefit millions of workers, but will also improve the European average. Still, it is important to note that Eurostat differentiates between the legal working day and the average working day, which reflects the actual hours worked weekly in each country. According to the figures, the average number of hours worked in Europe is 37.5 hours per week, but, if this regulation is approved, Spain’s position will improve within that context.
In this sense, Spain is currently in the European average, with an average working day of 37.5 hours per week. However, several countries in Europe enjoy even shorter working hours. In nations such as the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Finland, Switzerland, Ireland and Norway, workers have workweeks of less than 35 hours. The Netherlands stands out with the shortest working day, only 30.9 hours per week, followed by Austria (33.6 hours), Denmark (34.2 hours), Germany (34.5 hours) and Belgium (34.8 hours). hours).
On the other hand, countries such as Portugal, Greece, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia and Poland have longer working hours than Spain, which reflects a significant diversity in work models within Europe.