Adapting your working day is the least used work-life balance tool and the cheapest: you lose no pay. You change when or where you work. Article 34.8 of the Spanish Estatuto de los Trabajadores (Workers Statute) gives you the right to ask, sets how the employer must reply and lets you go back.
What you can ask for and who can ask
Article 34.8 recognises the right to request adaptations of the length and distribution of the working day, the organisation of working time and the way the work is done, including remote working, to make work-life balance (conciliación) effective. Examples: starting and finishing earlier, a continuous day, a change of shift, compressed days or working from home part of the week. They must be reasonable and proportionate to your needs and to the company’s organisational or production needs.
Who can ask:
- anyone with children, until they turn 12;
- anyone who needs to care for children over 12, a spouse or registered partner, blood relatives up to second degree, or other dependants living at the same address who cannot look after themselves because of age, accident or illness. In those cases you must justify the circumstances.
The procedure in four steps
- Check your convenio colectivo (collective agreement). It may regulate how the right is exercised, as long as it does not empty it and does not discriminate between men and women.
- Ask in writing. State what change you want, from when, until when and why (your child’s age, care of a relative). Keep a copy with proof of receipt.
- The employer opens a negotiation as quickly as possible and in any case for a maximum of 15 days. If there is no express reasoned objection in that time, the request is presumed granted.
- Answer in writing: it accepts, proposes an alternative that allows you to balance work and family life, or refuses. If it proposes an alternative or refuses, it must give its objective reasons.
The text does not say whether the 15 days are calendar or working days. Do not treat the request as granted on your own without asking; request in writing that they confirm the reply deadline.
An example with figures
Pedro has a daughter born on 5 June 2018 and earns €2,100 gross a month for an eight-hour day, 9:00 to 18:00 with an hour for lunch. School ends at 15:45. Compare three routes:
| Option | Change | Gross monthly pay |
|---|---|---|
| Adaptation (art. 34.8) | Continuous day 7:30 to 15:30 (8 hours) | €2,100 |
| Reduction of 1 hour (1/8, art. 37.6) | Work 7 hours | 2,100 × 7/8 = €1,837.50 |
| Reduction of 2 hours (1/4) | Work 6 hours | 2,100 × 3/4 = €1,575 |
The difference between adapting and reducing in this example is €262.50 a month (with 1/8) or €525 (with 1/4). If 7:30 to 15:30 is not workable for the service, the employer can propose 8:00 to 16:00 or another alternative. It must explain its objective reasons, and you decide whether the alternative lets you get to school. His daughter turns 12 on 5 June 2030: until then his right to ask as a parent is secure. For the reduced-hours pay table, see reduced working hours for childcare.
If the employer says no
The employer can only say no, or propose something else, with objective reasons in writing. A generic sentence («not possible for service needs») is a weak basis. If there is no agreement, disputes go to the labour court under the procedure of article 139 of the procedural law, the same one used for other work-life balance rights (eighteenth additional provision).
Requesting or using the adaptation protects you: dismissing someone who has requested or is using it is void, unless it is declared fair for unrelated reasons (art. 55.5.b). If it happens, count the deadline in how long you have to challenge a dismissal.
How to go back to your previous situation
You have the right to return to the previous situation when the agreed or planned period ends, or when the reasons for the request no longer apply. In other cases, if a change of circumstances justifies it, the employer can only refuse the return for reasoned objective grounds.
How to write the request
You do not need a special form: an email or letter is enough, as long as it carries a date and proof of receipt. Include four things: what adaptation you want (specific hours, shift, days of remote working), from when and until when, the reason (your child’s age or the care of a relative, with the circumstances justified) and a sentence showing you are willing to negotiate. A short example:
Under article 34.8 of the Workers Statute, I request a continuous working day from 7:30 to 15:30 from 1 December 2026 until my daughter turns 12, in order to look after her. I am available to negotiate an alternative that allows me to balance work and family life and meets the needs of the service.
That text sets no legal figures: it asks for what is already your right and creates a date from which to count the negotiation period.
Why your case may be different
- Your collective agreement may regulate the procedure with other deadlines or criteria. The Statute leaves the terms of exercise to the agreement and applies the 15-day procedure only in its absence.
- If you ask for remote working, the employer may argue that your post does not allow it; it must give reasons.
- If your schedule is fixed in your contract, the change may need a modification of conditions; see what your employer can impose on hours and duties.
- The working-hours record still has to show your start and finish times; we explain it in the working-time record.
All of this is without prejudice to the leaves in articles 37 and 48 bis, which are separate rights.
If you need time away from work, compare this option with voluntary leave of absence in Spain, particularly the rules on returning.
This is general information. With deadlines or money at stake, speak to an employment lawyer (abogado laboralista) or a union.