Payroll and Benefits Guide Canary Islands

Standard working hours are 40 hours a week, 8 hours per day.

Overtime

• Maximum Ordinary Hours: The standard work limit is 40 hours per week, calculated as an average over a reference period of one year (Workers’ Statute, Article 34).
• Daily Maximum: The standard working day cannot exceed 9 hours, unless otherwise specified in a CBA.
• Annual Overtime Cap: The maximum limit for overtime (horas extraordinarias) is strictly capped at 80 hours per year (Workers’ Statute, Article 35).
  • Exemption: Overtime hours compensated with equivalent paid rest time within four months are not counted toward this 80-hour annual limit.
  • Force Majeure: Work required to prevent or repair accidents or extraordinary and urgent damage is mandatory and also does not count toward the 80-hour cap.
• Voluntary Acceptance: Overtime is generally voluntary for the employee, unless stipulated as obligatory in a CBA.
• Record Keeping: Employers are legally required to maintain a daily record of all worked hours for every employee.

Overtime Compensation (Statutory Minimum)

Spanish law does not mandate a single minimum premium rate for standard overtime, but requires that compensation be greater than the standard hourly rate.

• Compensation Method (Workers’ Statute Article 35.1): Overtime must be compensated in one of two ways, as decided by the applicable CBA or, failing that, the individual contract:
  • Payment: Compensation must be higher than the pay for ordinary hours.
  • Equivalent Paid Rest Time: Time off in lieu must be granted within four months of the overtime being worked.
• Common Contractual Rate: While the statutory minimum is only “higher than,” Collective Bargaining Agreements for many sectors in the Canary Islands often stipulate a rate of 150% (Time and a half) or higher for monetary overtime compensation.