this First pilot project in all of Spain to test the four-day working week (or 32 hours per week) starting next week. The Ministry of Industry, chaired by Reyes Maroto, will release the opening lineup of the competition this week for SMEs in the industrial sector – and consultants specializing in the activity in question – to apply to win the competition. Grants up to 150.000 Euro If they agree to apply this method of organization for a period of two years, El Periódico of the Prensa Ibérica group has learned.
Ministry of Industry technicians spent several weeks. work against timefirst of all, to solve and process the complex part of the electric car, and in parallel to comply with the commitment of removing the pilot from the four-day workweek before the end of 2022. Maroto complied with the deadlines, signing the decree opening the contest for aid distribution last Friday, which will be released during this week.
This will be the first government experience of a four-day workweek, as Generalitat Valenciana has activated a pioneering project in this regard for almost two years. Spain is thus participating in experiments to reduce workers’ working days. Begins to multiply in Europe. For example, the UK launched its own pilot in 2022 for 70 companies – as many as Spanish companies – and Portugal is testing it, although it is from the public sector.
The Spanish experiment provides more guarantees for the worker, as it attempts to explore the virtues and possible disadvantages of working one day less. the remainder of the time without requiring a salary deduction or an extension of the working day.. And Belgium, for example, has approved the possibility of working four days, but intensifying the hours that are not done for the rest of the working days. And in Spain there are companies like Desigual or Telefónica that on their own reduce working hours but also mean (non-proportional) salary cuts.
Minister Maroto launched an initiative born out of the General Budget negotiations last year, when Más País decided to support the accounts in exchange for the provision of a public budget to support the four-day work week. Since then, the Ministry of Industry has directed and outlined the pilot program. will eventually cover 60 to 70 companiesaccording to preliminary calculations.
10 million budget
this The total budget will be 10 million euros. and companies can receive assistance of up to 150,000 euros to offset their salary costs. That is, either hiring more people to meet the hours not made by the rest of the workforce, or signing profiles that allow internal restructuring to work less. In addition to this transfer to cover salary expenses, the essentials of the meeting were also considered. other help to pay for education workers, increase efficiency same and internal audits to assess the success or failure of measures.
The reorganization of business processes is key in the experience of other countries for the correct implementation of the four-day work week. Eliminating downtimes and increasing work pace and efficiency in the rest, thereby allowing less work and this does not yield greater results stress or is on from templates.
It will be distributed within the scope of aid competitive bidding criteria, that is, the one who applied first to receive them and can prove that he meets all the requirements, will join the pilot first. And once the budget runs out, the following candidates will be left out. Participating SMEs agree to practice working four days a week (or 32 hours) for at least two years among their employees. And the productivity improvements that support this reduction in hours should begin within a year. At the end of the pilot implementation, the Ministry of Industry, which will collect the data, will prepare a report and evaluate the results.