During the last weeks, many politicians, businessmen and experts have been offering different points of view about the possibility of introduce a four-working-day week. In this way, it is proposed to extend the weekend, although at the moment it is an abstract question, without there being a bill on the table on which to debate with “foundation”.
However, and for the time being, the agreed pilot project between the Government and More Countryabout which so much is being debated, seems to consist of an aid program for those companies that, voluntarily, want to take advantage of this work model, which consists of reducing the working day to four days a week, and three days off, well concentrating the 40 weekly hours of work in those four days, or by shortening the weekly shift to 32 hours.
From the Abencys office, they see this new format as a viable alternative in certain sectors, and as long as it does not imply an increase in business cost as a consequence of the need to carry out new contracts.
Teresa Ezquerra, a lawyer for Abencys, believes that “in certain sectors of activity it would be a feasible work model, and not just a utopia. Let us not forget that until just two years ago the teleworking model seemed like a utopia that was difficult to achieve, which has not only turned out to work in certain segments of activity, but also, after the Covid-19 pandemic has been overcome, many companies have decided to establish it definitively”.
Although a four-day work week may be viable for certain formats, activities or jobs, seems complicated as a general regime applicable to any sector, since the needs of the market would make it difficult to implement it in the sector of certain services. As Teresa points out, “At the moment, it seems to be an optional measure, since it is difficult to implement at the national level within a legal framework applicable to all companies and their employees”.
What about the Public Administrations?
On the other hand, the four-day working day will hardly be able to be made effective by companies at a general level if it is not applied officially also to public administrationsTeresa nuanced “Let’s think, as an example, of the lawyers, who could hardly rest three days a week if one of those days the Courts worked normally for the purposes of notifications and accusations.”
Namely, “at the moment it seems a matter of internal organization of the breaks of the workers through rotational shifts that ensure the rest of three days in a row, regardless of what days they were”. However, “if what this model wanted is to make Friday official as a non-working day, it will be difficult to fit in if it is not transferred to all areas”.
In any case, in Teresa’s opinion, “What is relevant is that companies can continue to provide their services in conditions of competitivenesswithout increasing personnel costs due to the need to carry out new contracts and without putting their viability at risk”. Let us not forget that some of the agents involved in the pilot project are in favor of reduction of the working day to 32 hours per week without salary reduction. This, as Teresa understands, “It would entail an inevitable increase in labor and social costs for companies, which would be forced to hire new workers to cover the remaining hours in order to cover the same hours of service, in some cases putting the viability of the companies at stake”.
In short, it is a measure whose implementation requires significant reflection and adequate development that gives security to all parties, facilitating conciliation for workers, but does not involve a cost to the employer. For now “We will have to wait to see how many companies benefit from this new regime and what implications it has on the economy and the generation of employment in the different sectors of activityTheresa concludes.
