Should deliberately making employees work unpaid overtime be legally treated as a form of wage theft?
CIVIC LANE
Spain reportedly continues to experience millions of unpaid overtime hours despite substantially higher labour fines. The attached research cites roughly 2.5 million unpaid overtime hours each week. Trade unions argue that companies save billions in wages and social contributions through the practice. Businesses may counter that workplace flexibility is more complicated than simply counting hours. The issue poses a provocative question about whether unpaid work should be treated as an administrative violation or something more serious.