Reduced Working Hours for Childcare in Spain: How to Request It

Rocío wants to leave two hours earlier to pick up her son from school. Her employer says yes, but that the reduction “has to be in the morning”, and while they are at it, they remind her that people on reduced hours are “the first to go if there are cuts”. If this sounds familiar, this guide is for you. We explain how reduced working hours for childcare in Spain work: who is entitled, how much you can reduce, who chooses the schedule, what happens to your salary and how the law protects you against dismissal.

If your employer is making it difficult for you to reduce your hours or is imposing a schedule on you, you can write to Fernanda Vargas, employment lawyer in Madrid, on WhatsApp or book an appointment on Calendly to review your case before you sign anything.

“The Reduction Has to Be in the Morning”: Rocío’s Request

Rocío is 35, she is from Ecuador and she holds a long-term residence authorization. She works as an administrative assistant at an insurance brokerage in Madrid. She has a split working day: from 9:00 to 14:00 and from 15:00 to 18:00, eight hours a day. She earns 1,600 euros gross a month.

Her son is four years old and finishes school at 16:30. Rocío knows what she wants: to reduce her hours by two a day (a quarter of her working day) and stop working from 16:00 to 18:00. That way she could pick him up every afternoon.

Her employer answers quickly: “If you reduce, the reduction has to be in the morning, which is when we need you least”. And they add a warning: “People on reduced hours are the first to go if there are cuts”.

Rocío does not know whether she has to accept. Let’s go through what the law says, point by point. The figures in her case are an example to explain the rules, but her situation is very common.

Who Can Reduce Their Working Hours to Care for Family Members

Reduced working hours are regulated in article 37.6 of the Workers’ Statute (Estatuto de los Trabajadores). Its first paragraph reads:

“Anyone who, for reasons of legal guardianship, has in their direct care a child under twelve years of age or a person with a disability who does not carry out paid work shall be entitled to a reduction of their daily working hours, with a proportional reduction in salary, of at least one eighth and at most one half of their duration. The same right shall apply to anyone who needs to take direct care of a relative up to the second degree of blood relationship or by marriage who, for reasons of age, accident or illness, cannot look after themselves and does not carry out paid work.”

Put simply, the following people are entitled to reduce their working hours:

• Anyone who directly cares for a child or another minor under twelve of whom they have legal guardianship. Legal guardianship (guarda legal) is the responsibility the law gives you over that minor, like the one parents have over their children.
• Anyone who has legal guardianship of a person with a disability who has no paid work and cares for them directly.
• Anyone who has to take direct care of a relative up to the second degree (by blood or by marriage; for example, parents, grandparents, siblings or parents-in-law) who, because of age, accident or illness, cannot look after themselves and does not work.

Notice the word “entitled”. This is not a favor your employer grants you if it suits them: if you meet the conditions, you can reduce your working hours.

In Rocío’s case there is no doubt. Her son is four, she cares for him directly and she has legal guardianship. Her nationality changes nothing: the right depends on caring for a child under twelve, not on your passport.

There is also a specific reduction for people caring for a child with cancer or another serious illness, of at least half of the working day and with its own requirements. It is a different scheme, with different rules, and we do not cover it in this guide. If this is your situation, ask Fernanda Vargas how it applies.

How Much You Can Reduce and How It Affects Your Salary

The law sets a range: you can reduce between one eighth and one half of your daily working hours. Your daily working hours (jornada diaria) are the hours you work each day under your contract. The reduction is calculated on them.

With an eight-hour working day, like Rocío’s, the range is:

• Minimum, one eighth: one hour a day.
• Maximum, one half: four hours a day.

The two hours Rocío is asking for are a quarter of her working day, so they are comfortably within the range.

And your salary? The reduction comes “with a proportional reduction in salary”. In other words, you earn less in the same proportion as you work less. If Rocío reduces her working day by a quarter, her salary also drops by a quarter. You will find the full calculation below.

Who Chooses the Schedule: Setting Your Hours

This is the heart of Rocío’s problem. Her employer wants to decide when she reduces. But the law says otherwise. Article 37.7 of the Workers’ Statute states:

“The specific scheduling and the determination of the leave and reductions of working hours provided for in sections 4, 5 and 6 shall correspond to the worker within their ordinary working hours.”

Setting your hours (concreción horaria) means choosing which specific hours you stop working. And the law gives that choice to you, not to your employer, always within your ordinary working hours, that is, within your usual schedule.

There are two important nuances:

• The collective agreement (convenio colectivo) may set criteria for choosing the schedule of the reduction. Those criteria may take into account both your work-life balance needs and the needs of the company. That is why it is worth checking your collective agreement before you ask.
• You must give notice in advance: fifteen days, or the notice set by your collective agreement, except in cases of force majeure.

For Rocío, this means that “the reduction has to be in the morning” does not simply stand. Unless her collective agreement sets criteria that say otherwise, the choice is hers. Stopping work from 16:00 to 18:00 falls within her ordinary working hours, so she can ask for it.

Reducing Is Not the Same as Adapting: When You Want to Change Shifts

Reduced working hours have a limit worth understanding well: the reduction always happens within your usual working hours. You work fewer hours, but within the schedule you already had.

If what you need is something else, for example switching from a split day to a continuous day, changing shifts or starting earlier to finish earlier, without reducing hours, the route is not a reduction. It is an adaptation of working hours, regulated in article 34.8 of the Workers’ Statute. We explain it in detail in our guide on how to request an adaptation of working hours in Spain.

The two can be requested at the same time. Imagine that Rocío, besides reducing two hours, wanted to work straight through the morning without the lunch break. That would no longer be just a reduction: it would change how her schedule is distributed, and she would have to request it as an adaptation of working hours together with the reduction.

In her case it is not necessary. The hours from 16:00 to 18:00 are already part of her schedule, so the reduction is enough.

And if what you need is to stop working for a while to care for your child, see our guide on leave of absence, its types and returning to work.

If Your Employer Says No: the Special Procedure

What happens if your employer refuses to accept the schedule you propose? You do not have to give in. Disagreements over setting your hours are resolved in the labor court (juzgado de lo social) through a specific procedure, regulated in article 139 of the Law Regulating Labor Jurisdiction (Ley reguladora de la jurisdicción social).

It is a procedure designed for these disputes, and the key thing to know is that the deadline to file the claim is short. If you let time pass, you may lose the chance to claim.

So, if you receive a refusal:

• Keep your employer’s answer, especially if it is in writing.
• Do not wait: get advice as soon as you receive it.
• Check your collective agreement in case it sets scheduling criteria your employer could rely on.

If Rocío requests her schedule in writing and her employer insists that she reduce in the morning, she can go to court through this procedure. Fernanda Vargas can review her case and prepare the claim in time.

Dismissal and Severance: the Protection of Workers on Reduced Hours

Now for the employer’s warning: “people on reduced hours are the first to go”. The law expressly protects anyone who requests or is on a reduction of working hours.

The dismissal of anyone who has requested or is on the reduction is null and void, unless it is declared justified for reasons unrelated to that right (articles 53.4 and 55.5 of the Workers’ Statute). Being declared justified for unrelated reasons means the employer would have to prove a real cause that has nothing to do with the reduction.

There is a second protection, concerning money. If at any point a severance payment had to be calculated (for example, for dismissal), the reduced salary would not be used. The nineteenth additional provision of the Workers’ Statute establishes that the salary used is the one you would have earned without the reduction of working hours, provided that the maximum legal period established for that reduction has not passed.

For Rocío, this means two things. First, her employer’s warning is not acceptable: dismissing her for requesting or being on the reduction could be null and void. And second, even though she earns less while on reduced hours, any severance would be calculated on her full 1,600 euros, not on the reduced salary.

Steps to Request It and an Example Calculation

How to Request Reduced Working Hours

1. Check your collective agreement, in case it sets criteria for the schedule of the reduction or a different notice period.
2. Request it in writing (an email or a letter you keep a dated copy of).
3. Give 15 days’ notice, or the notice set by your collective agreement.
4. State how much you are reducing: the percentage or the hours per day.
5. State the specific hours you will stop working, within your ordinary working hours.
6. State the start date and, if you know it, the end date.
7. Keep your employer’s answer. If it is a refusal, get advice quickly: the deadline to claim is short.

Example Calculation: Rocío’s Salary

With the illustrative figures of the case, this is how Rocío’s gross salary would look:

Item	Without reduction	With a 2-hour reduction
Hours per day	8 hours	6 hours
Share of working day	100 %	75 % (reduced by a quarter)
Schedule	9:00 to 14:00 and 15:00 to 18:00	9:00 to 14:00 and 15:00 to 16:00
Gross monthly salary	1,600 €	About 1,200 €
Salary used to calculate severance	1,600 €	1,600 € (without considering the reduction)

The math is simple: 1,600 euros multiplied by 0.75 is 1,200 euros gross. It is an estimate: your actual payslip may vary depending on the items you are paid and what your collective agreement says.

How Rocío’s Case Ends

Rocío is entitled to reduce her working hours because she directly cares for a child under twelve. The two hours she is asking for (a quarter of her working day) are within the legal range, and her salary will drop in the same proportion, to about 1,200 euros gross. Choosing the schedule is up to her within her ordinary working hours, unless her collective agreement sets criteria: she can ask to stop working from 16:00 to 18:00, giving 15 days’ notice or whatever her collective agreement says. If her employer does not accept it, she can go to court through the specific procedure. And the warning about cuts is not acceptable: dismissing her for requesting or being on this reduction could be null and void, and severance would be calculated on her full salary, without the reduction.

If you are in a similar situation, Fernanda Vargas, employment lawyer in Madrid, helps you request the reduction and defend your schedule through her employment law service.

Frequently Asked Questions

If your employer refuses your reduction of working hours, imposes a schedule on you or threatens you with dismissal, write to Fernanda Vargas, employment lawyer in Madrid, on WhatsApp or book your appointment on Calendly: she will review your case and tell you how to claim in time.