Spain to Implement 35-Hour Workweek for State Employees by April 2026

Spain's government and three major unions reached a definitive agreement to implement a 35-hour workweek for employees of the General State Administration starting in the first half of April 2026, Minister for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service Óscar López announced on Friday. The agreement, concluded with unions CSIF, CCOO, and UGT, covers all ministries, agencies, institutions, and public bodies linked to or dependent on the AGE. López made the announcement at an elDiario.es conference, stating that the Ministry of Public Service will publish a formal resolution on working hours and schedules within a maximum of 15 days of the agreement being signed. The measure will benefit between 220,000 and 246,500 public employees, depending on the scope of entities included. The agreement had been pending implementation since 2022, according to CSIF.

Union holdouts fell into line this week The path to the final agreement was not without friction, as the three unions reached their respective positions at different moments in the final days of negotiations. At the last formal meeting on Wednesday, UGT gave its green light to the agreement, while CCOO held back pending internal review of the latest proposal, ultimately giving its support in an internal meeting on Thursday. CSIF, for its part, had been pushing for the inclusion of additional employee groups before signing. The sticking points centered on the application of the 35-hour week to special working schedules and the inclusion of groups such as staff at Prison Institutions and teachers and health workers in the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla. The agreement resolves these concerns by stipulating that implementation in areas with specific bargaining tables — including Prison Institutions — will be negotiated separately in those respective forums. The Public Service Secretariat is set to convene the AGE Negotiating Table to formally sign the agreement.

„There are autonomous communities that already apply it, others that do not, but in the AGE the 35 hours will be applied in the first half of April” — Óscar López via El Mundo

Special schedules cut, caregiver figure introduced The agreement goes beyond a straightforward reduction of the standard working week and introduces several adaptations for specific categories of employees. Employees currently working under special dedication regimes with 40-hour schedules will see their hours reduced to 37.5 hours per week rather than the full 35-hour standard. The intensive summer schedule and other existing special work arrangements in certain areas or workplaces will also be adapted through negotiation in the relevant forums, with the stated goal of ensuring compatibility with the 35-hour week while maintaining adequate public services and citizen attention. A notable new element in the resolution is the formal introduction of the figure of the "caregiver" — a reconciliation measure for public employees responsible for caring for a relative or a person living in the same household who requires assistance for a serious medical reason. According to the Ministry for Digital Transformation, this figure clarifies and reinforces rights already contained in the European directive on work-life balance. The ministry stated it is preparing planning, organization, and staffing measures to ensure the reduction in hours does not undermine the provision of public services.

CSIF claims credit for unlocking a four-year impasse CSIF expressed strong satisfaction at the outcome, positioning itself as the primary force behind breaking a deadlock that had persisted for years. The union credited its role in the Framework Agreement for the Improvement of Public Employment and Service to Citizens, signed last November, as the mechanism that finally unblocked the 35-hour commitment. The agreement also extends the scope of the measure beyond the core civil service, opening the way for its application to public companies linked to the AGE in addition to public bodies, agencies, and other public-law entities with their own legal personality.

Spain's public sector workweek has been a contested issue for over two decades. The 35-hour workweek was first applied in parts of the Spanish public administration in the early 2000s but was later rolled back during the austerity measures that followed the 2008 financial crisis, when working hours for civil servants were extended. The Framework Agreement for the Improvement of Public Employment and Service to Citizens, signed in November 2025 between the Civil Service and the three unions, laid the groundwork for the current agreement by establishing the conditions under which the 35-hour week could be reintroduced across the AGE.

AGE weekly working hours reform: Standard schedule (before: 37.5 hours per week, after: 35 hours per week); Special dedication regime (before: 40 hours per week, after: 37.5 hours per week); Caregiver figure (before: Not formally incorporated in AGE resolution, after: Formally introduced for employees caring for relatives with serious medical needs)