Spain health staff face 45-hour week cap in new plan
Health staff across Spain could see their maximum working week cut to 45 hours under a bill approved by the government on Tuesday, 1 September 2026. The proposal also sets a 17-hour ceiling for on-call shifts. It now goes to parliament for debate.
The limit sits below the 48-hour maximum in European rules. Over a three-month period, no more than one on-call shift a week could count towards a worker’s rota.
A normal shift followed immediately by an on-call shift could not run beyond 17 hours in total. Staff would not have to return for a normal shift straight after being on call, while rest time before and after the duty would count as hours worked and could not be made up later.
Fewer on-call duties and extra safeguards
The bill widens the group able to request an exemption from on-call work. It includes staff during pregnancy or natural breastfeeding, people working reduced hours to care for children, and workers whose health prevents them from doing on-call duties. Regional health services could also allow exemptions for staff over 55.
More than five in-person on-call shifts a month on a continuing basis would be treated as excessive workload. Health authorities would then have to take organisational and preventive action, including reinforcing staffing levels.
Regional health services would have up to five years to make the staffing and rota changes needed. They would have to avoid pay losses for workers and any reduction in care for the public. Services still above the equivalent of a 35-hour standard week would also need to move gradually towards that level.
Earlier rotas and new staffing rules
The plan makes work-life balance an explicit right for professionals covered by Spain’s National Health System. Health authorities would be expected to offer more flexible hours and publish shift plans in advance.
It also includes a right to disconnect from work digitally, protection for physical and mental health, and specific plans to prevent and respond to violence against staff.
For permanent posts, recruitment rounds would have to take place every two years and finish within 18 months. Regional health services would also have 24 months from the law taking effect to introduce an open, permanent system for voluntary transfers, with appointments made at least once a year.
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com