Working Hours Reduction for Childcare in Spain: How to Apply

🇪🇸 Read the original in Spanish

Balancing work and family life is one of the greatest challenges faced by employees in Spain, especially those with family responsibilities or dependents in their care. Spanish legislation provides specific mechanisms to protect this right, the most common being the reducción de jornada por guarda legal (reduction of working hours for legal guardianship). In this detailed guide, written by the legal team at AbogadoAI, we will analyse in depth how this right works, what your guarantees are against your employer, and the exact procedure to request it with full legal certainty.

What is the reduction of working hours for legal guardianship and who can request it?

The reducción de jornada por guarda legal is an individual right of employees (both men and women) that allows them to reduce their daily working hours, with a corresponding proportional reduction in salary, to take direct care of certain family members.

This right is primarily regulated in Article 37.6 of Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015, of October 23, which approves the consolidated text of the Workers' Statute Law (hereinafter, Estatuto de los Trabajadores or ET).

Situations that grant the right to a reduction of working hours

Not just any family situation allows access to this measure. The Estatuto de los Trabajadores precisely defines the individuals who generate the right to legal guardianship:

1. Direct care of a minor under twelve years old: This is the most common scenario. The right expires on the exact day the minor turns 12 years old.
2. Direct care of a person with a disability: This must be a person with a physical, mental, or sensory disability who does not perform a paid activity. The ET does not require a specific minimum degree of disability, but they must require direct care and not be working.
3. Direct care of a relative up to the second degree of consanguinity or affinity: This includes parents, grandparents, children, siblings, grandchildren, spouses, and brothers/sisters-in-law. To qualify for this scenario, the relative must meet three requirements:

• That due to age, accident, or illness, they cannot look after themselves.
• That they do not perform a paid activity.
• That they are not under the care of another direct relative who is already providing this care.

1. Care of a minor affected by cancer or another serious illness: This is a special scenario (regulated in Article 37.6, second paragraph) applicable during the hospitalisation and continuous treatment of the minor, applicable until the child turns 18 years old (or up to 23 or 26 years old in certain legally regulated cases of disability or persistent illness).

Reduction percentages and financial impact

The reduction of working hours is not entirely open; the Estatuto de los Trabajadores sets minimum and maximum limits that the employee must respect:

• Minimum limit: The reduction must be at least one-eighth (1/8) of the working day.
• Maximum limit: The reduction can reach a maximum of half (1/2) of the working day.
• Special case (serious illness of minors): In the case of caring for minors affected by cancer or a serious illness, the mandatory minimum reduction is 50% of the working day, and can reach up to 100% in some cases if provided for by convenios colectivos (collective bargaining agreements).

How does it affect your salary?

The reduction in salary is strictly proportional to the requested reduction in working hours. This reduction affects both the base salary and salary supplements (seniority, collective agreement bonuses, etc.) accrued based on working time.

Consequently, the pagas extraordinarias (extra double-salary payments) will also be reduced in the same proportion. The only concepts that should not be reduced are those of a non-salary nature that compensate for actual expenses (for example, a transport bonus if you continue to commute to the office on the same days).

Practical examples of hours and salary reduction

To understand the real economic impact, we will analyse two common scenarios with concrete figures.

Example 1: Reduction for the care of a child under 12 (Minimum fraction)

• Employee: Laura, an administrative assistant working full-time 40 hours per week distributed from Monday to Friday (8 hours per day).
• Ordinary gross monthly salary: €1,600 (including the pro-rata share of extra payments).
• Decision: She requests a reduction in working hours of one-eighth (1/8), which is the legal minimum, to care for her 4-year-old child.
• New working hours: She starts working 35 hours per week (reducing 5 hours a week, i.e., 1 hour per day).
• New salary: It is reduced by 12.5% (1/8). Her gross monthly salary becomes €1,400 (a reduction of €200 per month).

Example 2: Reduction for the care of a dependent relative (Maximum fraction)

• Employee: Carlos, a software developer working full-time 40 hours per week.
• Ordinary gross monthly salary: €2,800.
• Decision: He requests a reduction of half of his working hours (1/2) to care for his father, who has suffered a stroke and cannot look after himself.
• New working hours: He starts working 20 hours per week (4 hours per day).
• New salary: It is reduced by 50%. His gross monthly salary becomes €1,400 (a reduction of €1,400 per month).

Protection against dismissal and social security contributions

One of the most important aspects of legal guardianship is the special protection that the Spanish legal system grants to the employee who requests or enjoys it.

1. Protection against dismissal (Objective Nullity)

According to Article 55.5 of the Estatuto de los Trabajadores and the jurisprudence of the Ley Reguladora de la Jurisdicción Social (LRJS - Law Regulating Social Jurisdiction), the dismissal of an employee who is in a period of working hours reduction for legal guardianship will be considered null and void (despido nulo), unless the company can unequivocally prove that there are objective or disciplinary grounds entirely unrelated to the request for work-life balance.

If the company fails to prove a justified and serious cause, the dismissal will be declared null by the Juzgado de lo Social (Labor Court), which obliges the company to:

• Immediately reinstate the employee to their position.
• Pay them the salarios de tramitación (back pay/lost wages from the date of dismissal until reinstatement).

2. Calculation of future severance pay

If the employee is lawfully dismissed for objective reasons (for example, due to economic reasons of the company), or if an unfair dismissal (despido improcedente) is recognized, the severance pay will be calculated based on the salary the employee would be entitled to on a full-time basis (without applying the reduction), as established in the Nineteenth Additional Provision of the Estatuto de los Trabajadores.

3. Protection of Social Security contributions (LGSS)

The Ley General de la Seguridad Social (LGSS - General Social Security Law) protects the employee's future benefits (retirement, permanent disability, maternity, paternity, and unemployment). During the first two years of working hours reduction for the care of a minor under 12, and during the first year if it is for the care of other relatives, Social Security contributions will be calculated as if they were increased up to 100% of what would have been contributed had the full-time hours been maintained.

Step-by-step guide to requesting a reduction in working hours

To exercise this right with full guarantees and avoid conflicts with your employer, it is essential to follow a formal and rigorous procedure.

Step 1: Determine your proposed schedule

The employee has the exclusive right to specify the schedule and the period of enjoyment of the reduction in working hours, always within their ordinary daily working hours. For example, it is not valid to try to change from a night shift to a morning shift if the original contract was exclusively for night shifts, unless agreed with the company. Design your proposal detailing the exact hours you wish to reduce per day.

Step 2: Draft the request in writing

Although the law does not forbid a verbal request, for evidentiary purposes it is mandatory to make it in writing. The document must contain:

• Personal details of the employee and the company.
• The legal cause motivating the request (for example, care of a child under 12, indicating their date of birth).
• The requested percentage of reduction (between 1/8 and 1/2).
• The proposed schedule specification (the resulting time slot).
• The effective date (when the new working hours will start). It is mandatory to give a minimum notice period of 15 calendar days (or the period set by the applicable collective bargaining agreement).
• Date, signature of the employee, and a space for the "received" (recibí) stamp and signature of the company.

Step 3: Submission to the company

Deliver the document in duplicate. Demand that they stamp and sign one of the copies with the date of delivery. If the company refuses to receive or stamp it, send it immediately via Burofax with acknowledgment of receipt and text certification (burofax con acuse de recibo y certificación de texto). This will serve as irrefutable proof in court.

Step 4: Negotiation and agreement (or disagreement)

The company has the notice period to reply.

• If they accept, an addendum to the employment contract will be signed reflecting the new temporary conditions.
• If the company objects (alleging, for example, serious organizational problems or the coincidence of the right with other employees in the same department), a negotiation period begins. The company must propose justified alternatives.

Step 5: Legal action in case of conflict

If no agreement is reached, the employee has a period of 20 business days from the company's refusal to file a lawsuit before the Juzgados de lo Social, through an urgent and preferential procedure regulated in Article 139 of the Ley Reguladora de la Jurisdicción Social (LRJS). It is not necessary to undergo prior mediation before the SMAC (arbitration service) in this type of family reconciliation procedure.

Mistakes you must avoid

When requesting a reduction of working hours for legal guardianship, making certain mistakes can weaken your legal position or even lead to disciplinary action. Avoid the following common mistakes:

• Starting the new schedule without express or judicial approval: Do not self-grant the reduction. If the company does not reply or objects and you unilaterally decide to change your schedule, the company could sanction you or lawfully dismiss you for absenteeism or disobedience. You must wait for the judicial resolution or agreement.
• Not respecting the 15-day notice period: Except in proven cases of fuerza mayor (force majeure), the lack of notice can be grounds for the company to temporarily reject the requested start date.
• Requesting a reduction outside your usual daily working hours: The schedule specification must be made within the limits of your ordinary daily working hours. You cannot accumulate the reduced hours to take full days off (for example, not working on Fridays) unless the collective bargaining agreement expressly allows it or you reach an amicable agreement with the company.
• Not giving notice of the end of the reduction: Just as when starting it, to return to your usual full-time hours you must notify the company in writing at least 15 days in advance.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Can the company deny my request for a reduction of working hours for legal guardianship?

No, the reduction of working hours is a subjective right of the employee. The company cannot deny the right itself. The only thing the company can discuss or negotiate, for highly justified organizational or productive reasons, is the "schedule specification" (the exact proposed hours). If two employees of the same company generate this right for the same dependent, the company may limit its simultaneous exercise for justified operational reasons.

Can I have another job during the hours I have reduced?

The purpose of the reduction of working hours is the direct care of the relative. If you use that free time to work for another company, you would be committing a fraud of law and a breach of contractual good faith, which is grounds for a lawful disciplinary dismissal, unless the new job is fully compatible and does not interfere at all with the caregiving duties that motivated the reduction.

What happens if my child turns 12 in the middle of the year?

The right to a reduction of working hours for the care of a minor automatically expires on the day the minor turns 12 years old. From that date, the employee must return to their ordinary full-time hours, having given 15 days' prior notice, unless they can apply for another form of reconciliation, such as the adaptation of working hours under Article 34.8 of the ET (known as the "a la carte hours").

Does the reduction of working hours affect my annual holidays?

No. The number of holiday days is not reduced. You still have the right to the same holiday days that correspond to you by collective agreement (generally, 30 calendar days or 22 business days per year). The only difference is that during the holiday days you will receive the salary corresponding to the reduced hours you are working at that time.

Summary

• The reduction of working hours is a right regulated in Article 37.6 of the Workers' Statute for the care of minors under 12 years old, people with disabilities, or dependent relatives up to the second degree.
• It entails a proportional reduction in salary of between one-eighth (1/8) and half (1/2) of the working day.
• It offers special protection against dismissal, which would be declared null and void unless serious grounds unrelated to the reconciliation are proven.
• Future severance pay and Social Security contributions (during the first 1 or 2 years) are calculated on the basis of 100% of the full-time salary.
• It is mandatory to request it in writing with a minimum notice of 15 calendar days, detailing the proposed schedule and start date.

General legal information, not personalised legal advice. For your specific situation, ask your question for free at AbogadoAI — answers grounded in Spanish law (BOE), in English.

This is general information, not legal advice. Verify on the BOE or consult a lawyer for your specific case.