HE Ministry of Labor Employers and unions will be asked to consider sanctions against companies that fail to comply with working hours regulations. The department, led by second vice president Yolanda Díaz, will begin negotiations at half past nine this Thursday morning. maximum working day from the current 40 hours to a week 38.5 hours. One of the points he wants to mention in this context is the regulations that have been in force since 2019 and require all companies to effectively control the daily working hours of their employees. Despite the regulations, which not all companies comply with and respect after their four-year validity period, the Labor Inspector finds irregularities in half of the transactions related to this issue.
Diaz He has already called on employers and unions to begin tackling one of the regulations said to be key in the legislature and currently leading the agenda of other negotiations, such as unemployment benefits reform. Regarding this, there is no appointment planned with social representatives yet, but contacts continue.
Reducing working hours is key due to its impact, despite the fact that many employees in Spain have already agreed to work less than 40 hours per week. trade, manufacturing industry wave hostel It is common to operate even above this figure. Also due to its complexity, since unions exist where working hours are driven by intense workloads, and companies tend to organize themselves around an annual working day, this then obviously translates into weeks of over 40 hours and other weeks with less workloads.
“Just as the government focused on matching the legal retirement age to the prevailing age, we now have to achieve the same for the working day,” one of the negotiators quoted later says January 25. And following the principle that ‘there is nothing that cannot be measured’, Díaz has already announced his intention to reformulate the current regulations regarding the recording of hours; this regulation, after being in force for four years, leaves a questionable balance given the massive non-compliance. companies.
According to the latest data provided by the Labor Inspectorate, half of the companies investigated by the ‘labor police’ between May 2019 (when the rule came into force) and May 2023 failed to pass the inspection. And over those four years Labor has imposed its worth of requirements and sanctions. 6.1 million euros.
Penalties that are not very deterrent
The department under Díaz’s leadership acknowledges that the regulations have loopholes and differences. labor inspectors People consulted by this outlet criticize the ‘loopholes’ that companies take to avoid overtime penalties. The regulations limit themselves to explaining that registration “must be”aim” And “Trustworthy“, but does not specify further or establish common rules for all companies.
This allows many companies to falsify records, thus compromising many audits. The verbal statements of the complaining workers carry little weight compared to the documentary evidence. And there companies have the opportunity to take advantage of the fact that they can record the day with paper and pencil and sometimes impose heavy penalties in case of systematic abuse of the day.
Another gap in the trade unions that the socialist party had previously condemned: Magdalena ValerioThe then Minister of Labor approved the regulation regarding the recording of working hours in 2019. fines. Not having a business day record currently costs between 751 and 7,500 eurosNo matter what the company’s bill is or how many employees it has on staff. This situation, which has little deterrent effect for medium and large companies, may hinder free competition between companies.
Now Yolanda Díaz plans to roll back the update of sanctions for working time violations that have been pending since the last legislature. The electoral advance left fallow this issue, which was foreseen in the Labor Inspectorate’s strategic plan, and now Díaz plans to return to it to strengthen the “deterrent” and “proportionate” nature of the sanctions.