Do we work more hours than the rest of the Europeans?

These days the press has echoed the agreement between PSOE and Sumar which includes a progressive reduction from 40 to 37.5 hours until the year 2025, without considering any salary reduction.

If it were to prosper, our country would join others that have already reduced their weekly working hours below 40 hours.

But what kind of working week do the rest of the European workers have?

To be able to compare, in DATA and SERVICES we explain which countries work the most hours and which the least, as well as comparing the differences between European and Spanish time.

The most common worldwide is for the working week to be 40 hours per week, excluding overtime, but in the hour of truth we must look at the working weeks negotiated by agreement. In general, this figure is lower than the legally established week, although there are differences between countries.

Our French neighbors have the shortest working week, 35 hours per week, according to OECD data. Other countries, globally, with the lowest legal working days are Belgium and Australia. In both cases it is 38 hours.

There are countries where the working week is not legally established and everything is left to collective bargaining. This is the case in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In the first three, the average week negotiated is 37, 38.2 and 37.4 hours per week, respectively. The Swiss are clearly the worst hit in this context, as they work an average of 42 hours, and the UK goes from 37 to 40 hours.

In Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Norway, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and the United States, as in Spain , the established working day is 40 hours per week. However, thanks to the various collective negotiations, in these countries the weekly hours dedicated to work can drop to 37.

Two of the countries with the least labor rights are Mexico and Colombia, where the working day is legally established at 48 hours per week. Other striking cases are those of Chile, 45, Turkey, 45 and Israel, 42.

Times in Spain

Another issue is the working hours, which in Spain are very different from the rest of the European countries. While the daily activity generally starts at 9 am and ends between 6 and 8 pm, in other countries they start at 8 am and end between 4 and 5 pm.

Meal breaks are also different. Although the intensive working day is becoming more and more common in our country, with a short stop for lunch, about thirty minutes, the split working day is still common, with between one and three hours of rest for lunch. Therefore, in Spain we stop for lunch around 2 p.m., when in other European countries it is around 12 p.m.

This means that the way the working day is distributed and managed is still very different from the rest of Europe. Often this distribution can lead to a series of inconveniences and there are many voices that advocate to implement the same system that they have in our neighboring countries.

The advantages of adapting Spanish working hours to those of the rest of Europe would be significant:

• Leaving work earlier helps to better reconcile work and personal life, which has an impact on increased productivity and lower work absenteeism.
• Shorter meal breaks mean less travel because less time is available.
• Saving energy is important, as the working day would end between one and four hours earlier.

If you need more information, do not hesitate to contact DATA AND SERVICES