At the beginning of the year, the Valencian Employment and Training Service, Servicio Valenciano de Empleo y Formación (Labora), published a report with future employment strategies for the Valencian Community. One of the measures it included is the reduction of the working day to 32 hours, in other words, four working days and three rest days. Furthermore, in September 2020, Intersindical Valenciana also drafted five proposals for the rationalisation of working time, which also included this idea.
Today, Las Naves, a public entity of Social and Urban Innovation of Valencia (Innovación Social y Urbana de Valencia), has contacted the Regional Ministry of Sustainable Economy, Productive Sectors, Trade and Labour (Consellería de Economía Sostenible, Sectores Productivos, Comercio y Trabajo) to express its interest in joining this pilot project that is being prepared by the Regional Secretary of Employment (Secretaría Autonómica de Ocupación), which is occupied by Enric Nomdedéu, and that this year’s budget includes an allocation of four million euros to carry it out. The regional secretary for Employment stated that this amount will be used to subsidise companies that reduce the working hours of their employees without having to reduce salaries.
The initiative comes at the request of the legal representative of the workers for Intersindical Valenciana in Las Naves, Javier Ibáñez, who made this proposal at the negotiation table after being elected last February, and has been very well received by the Regional Secretary for Employment.
The first Valencian company to adopt the reduced working day was Zataca Systems, located in Elche, who declared that after the implementation of the measure, the demand for employment in the company had skyrocketed.
The introduction of the four-day working day has many benefits, but the main one is the reconciliation of work and family life. This would reduce stress and stress-related illnesses. All of this would lead to a high level of productivity at work, which would be beneficial for both the company and the worker.
