Last February, Belgium became one of the first countries in Europe to streamline the four-day work week by including it in labor market reform. Without cutting hours, the state allows to distribute them over four days a week or to make schedules more flexible to give workers more freedom. There are still very few companies in Spain that are encouraged to implement this. So is it a viable system?
Business software development company Software DelSol invested 420,000 Euros to adapt it, thus becoming a pioneer in Spain. “We see the measure as an improvement in workers’ labor and personal reconciliation,” he explains. Ana Arroyois responsible for the selection and development of people in the company. And that’s how it was done without any retouching in salaries for the 184-member group. “We won’t be back,” he says. arroyo. The 20% reduction in absenteeism rate after the implementation, the strengthening of employee confidence, and the continuation of 20% annual growth in invoicing are all positive indicators.
It is possible to make changes. Companies have the opportunity to benefit from the measure through a collective agreement or an agreement between the company and the trade unions. And this may be spurred by the announced agreement between the Government and Más País to run a pilot program linked to the reduction of 32-hour work week for companies wishing to implement it. “Putting a core issue of the workday at the center of the discussion and agenda is an important undertaking,” he says. Carlos Gutierrez, the confederal secretary of research and union education of the CCOO. From the union, they advocate a general reduction in hours worked, with or without the four-day shift. Fernando LujanThe UGT’s confederal secretary advocates this kind of reduction through legislative change, emphasizing that there is a culture of participation in Spain: “It was very common to extend days for the simple fact of working more hours because it seems more work is done but as the days get longer, productivity decreases exponentially. ”
Both unions do not agree that the Belgian option is the most suitable as it does not reduce hours worked as a whole. According to the UGT union policy secretary, “More hours on the workday have repercussions for the safety and health of workers, and they may have occupational diseases, trauma problems, or be exposed to psychosocial risks such as stress and depression.” catalonia, Nuria Gilgado. The option that worker representatives are considering is to reduce the weekly working hours to 32 hours without touching the salary.
The Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), for its part, assures that the implementation of the four-day working day in Spain is not currently an issue at the social dialogue negotiating table.
Pimec, the employers’ association of small and medium-sized companies, thinks that “very few companies consider a four-day shift because it is a fundamental problem and that is a lack of productivity in Spain,” according to the secretary general. Josep Ginesta. “If people are working less, they should give up some of their salary,” he adds. Director of labor relations and social affairs, Foment del Treball employers’ association, Javier IbarlarBetween companies that working four days a week is still an exception, and the working day needs to be made more flexible according to interests through collective bargaining, and not so much to achieve a reduction in working hours by regulation.
They assure employers that this will not be suitable for all industries, but some can afford it. Those with more technological innovations or doing more research will be most advantageous, while others with public interest, such as tourism, will complicate it. Worker representatives are taking advantage of the increase in digitalization to reduce the workday. “We propose to leverage digitization and robotization to make a leap in productivity, but work will need to be done to benefit the majority,” he adds. Gutierrez from CCOO. Psychologists see an increase in productivity with more rest between shifts. Dolors PoundThe vice dean of the Official College of Psychology of Catalonia and occupational health specialist explains that this is because “discomfort caused by overload and stress” at work is reduced.
DelSol Software employee Laura Hidalgo knows the advantages of a four-day shift. “They can compensate us with money or time. Money is just another sweater, but time is investing in yourself and your family,” she says. She optimizes time so that she can do in four days what she did in five days. “It doesn’t matter if I need to concentrate more because then it pays off a lot. Every weekend is a bridge,” she celebrates.