Spanish employees worked nearly 147 million overtime hours in 2017, an increase of 9.8% compared to the previous year, and the highest figure since 2009, according to data from Randstad Spain.

Randstad added that the volume of overtime is directly related to the number of employed as well as the workload. Randstad also analysed the growth of the number of extra hours performed by each employee. The highest figure (9.3 overtime hours by each employee) was in 2008. The figure then reduced by more than two hours the following year (7.2) and registered the lowest figure in 2013 (6). Since then, the extra hours paid increased for four consecutive years until reaching the current 7.8 hours per worker in 2017.

"The use of extra hours as a tool to solve the peaks of activity is effective, but only in a timely manner,” Luis Pérez, Director of Institutional Relations at Randstad, said. “A prolonged increase in the working hours of employees has a negative impact on the productivity and performance of work teams, in addition to exponentially increasing the risk of sick leave.”

"The current labour market offers various forms of flexibility to adapt to the changing needs of companies, such as part-time contracts or fixed-term contracts, which make it possible to solve any work peaks," Perez said.