Spain's government approves a bill that reduces the workweek from 40 to 37.5 hours

MADRID (AP) — Workers in Spain may soon have 2.5 more hours of weekly rest.

The Spanish government approved a bill Tuesday reducing the workweek from 40 to 37.5 hours.

Twelve and a half million full-time and part-time private sector workers will benefit from the reduction, expected to improve productivity and reduce absenteeism, according to the Ministry of Labor.

“Today we are modernizing the world of labor and helping people to be a little happier,” said Vice President and Labor Minister Yolanda Díaz.

The measure, which already applies to civil servants and some sectors, will mainly affect the retail, manufacturing, hospitality, and construction industries, Díaz added.

The parliament, where the left-wing coalition government doesn’t have enough votes, will have to approve the bill for it to come into effect.

The main trade unions support the proposal, unlike the business association.

Sumar, the leftist minority partner of President Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Party, proposed the bill.

The Catalan nationalist party Junts, an occasional ally of Sánchez’s coalition, expressed concern over what they said were the bill's negative consequences for small companies and the self-employed.

Spain has had a 40-hour workweek since 1983, when it was reduced from 48 hours.