Both dates fall during the week this year so many will be looking to clock off early on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve to be with their loved ones.
If you’ve lived in Spain for some time, you’ll know that Spaniards are fervent defenders of their time off work, be it public, regional and local holidays or clocking off early during the summer work schedule or on Fridays.
Christmas is no different, as the last thing a Spanish person usually wants is to be behind their work desk when they could be enjoying Christmas drinks and food with friends and family.
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With this in mind, do you as an employee in Spain have the legal right to finish work early on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve (neither of which is a public holiday in Spain)?
In 2023, Spain’s Supreme Court endorsed the custom of leaving work early on December 24th and 31st, in response to the case of a BBVA bank branch in Galicia where the management intended to unilaterally end this Christmas tradition.
Judges argued this was a “consolidated practice”, as for more than 20 years BBVA staff in the northwestern region had ended their work day early at 12.30pm on the 24th and 31st to “enjoy a Christmas aperitif together”, instead of finishing at 3pm as on normal work days.
Therefore, the Supreme Court ruled against scrapping this practice as it would represent a significant change in employees’ established working conditions, even though leaving early on those days wasn’t part of a collective bargaining agreement.
This set a precedent which could well mean that in similar cases in the future judges rule in favour of the employees over management, despite reduced work hours not being stated in a collective agreement. But is it really worth all the legal palaver?
Unless the employer’s business is explicitly linked to Christmas and everything that it entails (retail, hospitality etc), they would have to be a fairly unfair boss to not allow their employees to finish early on such important family days.
Even packed supermarkets such as Mercadona, Lidl or Aldi close earlier than usual on December 24th and 31st to allow their workers to spend more time with their loved ones.
Nevertheless, we have to reiterate that Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are normal work days according to Spanish law, so technically employees are within their rights to keep you working until 5 or 6pm on those two dates, unless otherwise stated in a collective agreement (convenio colectivo).
If Christmas is a particularly busy time for your company or employer, and you were actually expected to work extra hours on those days, then of course you have the right to get paid for them.
READ MORE: What are my rights if I work extra hours in Spain?
If you were also asked to actually work on Christmas Day or New Year’s Eve – both public holidays – then you’d have the right to be paid an extra 75 percent, or the right to an extra free day.
