• Spain has approved a law granting employees up to four days of paid climate leave.
• It aims to ensure workers aren’t penalized for staying home during climate disasters.
• The law follows criticism of companies during the devastating floods in Valencia last month.

Spain is enacting a new law granting employees up to four days of paid climate leave following last month’s devasting floods, which killed more than 200 people.

The legislation comes after several companies in Spain received criticism for making employees work amid the torrential rain and subsequent floods in Valencia and surrounding areas, which caused widespread devastation.

The protection seeks to ensure that workers are not penalized for staying at home during extreme weather conditions, and will continue to be paid.

In a video shared with local media, Yolanda Díaz, Spain’s Minister of Labour and Social Economy, described the move as historic.

“For the first time, Spain will have paid climate leave for working people,” she said.

Spain’s Council of Ministers approved the legislation on Thursday, and it is expected to come into effect on Friday.

In an interview with Spanish broadcaster RTVE, Díaz said the paid leave will be relevant whenever an authority issues a climate-related alert that advises people to stay at home for safety reasons.

She told RTVE that it aims to ensure that “no worker must run the risks” of facing off with a climate emergency just to get to their workplace.

There were reports of restaurant workers in a Valencia shopping center working through the first hours of the floods last month and hundreds of workers getting trapped in business parks, according to Spanish newspaper Público.

Speaking on Thursday, Esther Lynch, the General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, said: “This was a climate disaster that turned into a labor disaster because of the negligence of employers and the Valencian government.”

Lynch added: “Bosses who put workers’ lives at risk by ignoring health and safety rules should face the full force of the law.”

Spain’s economy minister, Carlos Cuerpo, said on Thursday that the paid leave applies when employees cannot safely reach their workplace or work remotely, Euronews reported.

He added that workers can opt for a reduced working schedule if more days off are required.

The legislation also mandates that companies implement specific risk-prevention measures for climate emergencies and inform their employees of these.

Last month’s floods damaged infrastructure, homes, and businesses. The Bank of Spain has estimated a 0.2% decline in Spain’s GDP in Q4 after the floods.