New 35-Hour Work Week Begins for Spanish Public Workers
A big change starts today for many workers in Spain. Thousands of public workers now have a shorter working week. Before, they worked more hours. Now, they work only 35 hours a week.
This change is for people who work for regional and local governments. It is part of a bigger plan across Spain. Not all offices have started the change yet.
Some workers already have the new hours. Workers in the Justice system in one region, called the Community of Madrid, now work 35 hours a week. Justice workers help courts and judges do their job.
But not every place is ready for this change. Some offices still use the old work hours. This may cause conflicts between workers and bosses.
Many workers are happy about the shorter week. They will have more free time. But some managers worry about how to organize the work with fewer hours.
People in Spain will watch to see how this change works. More regions may follow the new 35-hour rule soon.
Vocabulary15 words
- working week
- the days and hours a person works each week
- governments
- groups of people who run a country or region
- Justice
- the system of courts and judges
- conflicts
- disagreements or fights between people
- regions
- areas or parts of a country
- administration
- the group that manages public work
- reduction
- making something smaller
- public workers
- people who work for the government
- hours
- units of time used to measure work
- local
- close to where people live, not national
- autonomous
- having its own government power
- courts
- places where legal problems are solved
- managers
- people who lead or organize workers
- change
- when something becomes different
- plan
- an idea about what to do
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Quiz
Answer key
1. A shorter working week for public workers 2. 35 hours 3. False
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Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
A big change starts today for many _____ in Spain.
Thousands of public workers now have a shorter _____.
Now, they work only _____ hours a week.
This change is for people who work for regional and local _____.
Not all offices have started the _____ yet.
Workers in the _____ system in one region now work 35 hours a week.
Justice workers help _____ and judges do their job.
Some offices still use the old work _____.
This may cause _____ between workers and bosses.
More _____ may follow the new 35-hour rule soon.
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