Reducing your working hours to care for a young child is a legally recognized right in Spain, but it comes with a proportional reduction in salary that's worth understanding well before requesting it, along with the specific protections that come with this right.
Who is entitled to this reduction
Anyone who, for reasons of legal guardianship, has responsibility for a child under 12 (or a person with a disability who doesn't carry out paid work, or certain relatives requiring direct care, under the specific conditions set out in the regulations) is entitled to it, with no requirement that both parents work or that additional reasons beyond legal guardianship itself be proven.
The legal limits on the reduction
The reduction in working hours for this reason must generally fall between a minimum of one-eighth and a maximum of half of the working day, with a corresponding proportional reduction in salary within that same range. Certain collective bargaining agreements may extend these legal minimum limits with more favorable conditions for the worker.
How it affects your salary
Reduced working hours bring a proportional reduction in salary matching the requested reduction in hours: if you reduce your working hours by 25%, your gross salary is generally reduced by that same percentage, since this is a right to reduce hours with a proportional salary reduction, not a fully paid leave.
How it affects your contributions and future benefits
Since your salary is reduced, your contribution base is also reduced proportionally during that period, which can affect future benefits (unemployment, pension) calculated on those bases. Certain supplementary contribution benefits exist for certain childcare periods that can partially offset this effect, depending on the regulations in force at the time.
Special protection against dismissal
As with other work-life balance rights, there's special protection against dismissal for workers enjoying reduced working hours for this reason: a dismissal that fails to prove a real cause unrelated to this circumstance is considered null, similar to the protection that exists during birth leave.
The right to set the specific schedule
Beyond the right to reduced hours, the worker has the right to set the specific schedule during which they'll take that reduction, within their ordinary working day, although in case of disagreement with the company over the specific schedule, they can turn to a specific, fast-tracked judicial procedure to resolve that dispute.
Calculate the impact on your net salary
Our net salary calculator lets you estimate how your net pay would change if you reduce your gross salary by the percentage corresponding to the reduction in hours you're considering.