The second vice president and minister of Labour acknowledges that the electoral call complicates the approval of her pending reforms. For now, neither has completed its processing.
According to information gathered by empleojob.es, the second vice president of the Government and minister of Labour, Yolanda Díaz, admits that the electoral call complicates the approval of the new working hours registry and the reform of salary supplements. Both measures remain pending in her department and affect working hours and increases in the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMI).
Díaz made these statements on Friday, October 23, during a visit to the TándEM Training and Employment programme. She was responding to criticisms from unions regarding the lack of progress on several labour commitments. The minister assures that the regulations are still being processed, although she acknowledges that the political calendar has changed:
“But it is true that elections have been called.”
Díaz did not say whether both measures could be approved before the election date, nor did she announce a date to bring the regulation to the Council of Ministers.
The digital registry aims to control working hours more precisely, with entry and exit times, and to facilitate access to that data for the Labour Inspection. The minister argued that in Spain, 2.5 million overtime hours are worked each week without compensation. According to information from empleojob.es, the Government could still approve the regulation through a royal decree before the elections, as long as it completes the necessary procedures.
The second reform seeks to prevent certain salary supplements from absorbing increases in the SMI. Currently, a company can offset the increase in the minimum wage with payments that the worker already receives, as long as their annual salary reaches the legal minimum. The change would limit that practice so that increases reach more workers.
Unions are demanding these changes. CCOO is calling for an SMI increase of over 5% for 2027 and to modify the absorption rules for supplements.
In her appearance, Díaz also responded to Alberto Nadal, deputy secretary of Economy and Sustainable Development of the Popular Party, who had said that the limit on overtime hours in Spain is lower than in France or Italy. The minister interpreted those words as a proposal to increase overtime hours:
“To the workers, to the women and to the young people of this country, I ask you to take note, because they have made it clear. They want Spaniards to work even more overtime.”
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